Capital City

[hjheitka]

Confirmation?

Can anyone else confirm the above post? Other comments are appreciated as well!

 

[rogerball]

hj - you pm'd me (curious to know how you got that) but I'll answer it in public. I'll respond to the above posts which should answer everything you asked:
shegavemeclap-not too specific but accurate. would add that we've also got a 402 and a 414.
jergar999-accurate, boring? i guess that depends on what you are into, great fishing and hunting here, but if you are expecting hundreds of beautiful freight pilot groupies anxious to fulfill your every sexual fantasy - Pierre probably isn't the place.
kamikaize - 90%bs - starting pay is now $1800, full medical and dental, 401k with match after 1 year. I agree a/c ARE old but maintained well, avionics outdated?, no gps or heads up displays here, autopilots-some work, some don't, not required for cargo 135, charter aircraft all autopilots work or they don't fly. a$$holes - i wouldn't go that far, sometimes a little extreme, but if you take care of your run and your aircraft as though your paycheck depended on it (which it does), you won't have any problems. This individual whose name I won't mention in a public forum did not have this attitude, he wanted to get the multi engine part 135 time in his log book and get paid but didn't care what image he projected, he even had a major f--k up with an airplane and he still did not get fired or anything placed in his pilot record book. You would think one would be thankful for that instead of talking trash on the internet. For the record I was not the pilot supervisor at that time. Weight and wx - you will never be expected to fly overweight - however if you fill your tanks with 4+50 hours of gas for a 0+50 minute trip and leave freight on the ground because of all that gas then yes there will be some counseling. You won't be expected to fly in wx that most other companies won't fly in. But, as glsoar later says you better be able to fly instruments and yes in this part of the country that means down to minimums, but if there are big Tstorms, freezing rain, etc you aren't expected to be flying.
glsoar - good pilot -accurate for the most part when he was working here, i think the training is more like $6-800. The reason we do that is because we don't have an employment contract requiring you to stay for a minimum length of time. Leave when you want (with the courtesy of a couple weeks notice appreciated) and we aren't out a bunch of time and money for someone spoonfeeding you the basics which is what you get on the computer based training. You get taught the company specifics at Pierre. There are books and charts to go along with the computer based training.
passion for flying - 100% BS starting from saying we had a run that went through Mitchell - never did, duty time violations - don't think so, before my time but I'm pretty sure in 3 years I would have heard about it.
habib - lost some runs-yes, are we going to run airplanes at a financial loss like some other companies just so we can say we are working?-no. Have we laid anybody off or let them go? -no. Are we hiring?-no but I'm confident that we'll get some more worthwhile work. Last paragraph - your call.
In your pm you asked my thoughts on this place - I've been here about 3 years. I wouldn't stay here if I didn't like it. My pay is alot better than that mentioned above but I am worth considerably more yet. However I enjoy the people I work with, and I like where I live. I'd like to get back into a jet but will not move to a metropolitan area to do it, I want to live here or further west excluding the coastal states. So I guess I'm limiting myself geographically.
You asked how the pilots are treated. I'm treated great. How do I treat the guys under me? Do a search for USMC principles of leadership. That's what I strive for. We try and find guys who we can tell "Here is an airplane, your run goes from Point A to B to C, with these time restraints. Keep the clients happy and let us know if you have any wx or mx issues. See you at 100 hour. Get it done." Those that can handle this autonomy love it. Those that can't handle it (generally due to inability to keep a schedule or uncomfortable flying in wx) hate it. These are the people that come up with creative excuses for their lack of ability to perform. This should answer your questions but if not stand by as I'm sure there will be some interesting responses to follow.

 

[passion4flying]

All of these are peoples opinions (including mine). Take what information you want. But, I left for a reason. Let me give you an example. One night in January, a friend of mine was told to take off when the weather was forcasting SEVERE icing in clouds from 1000 feet to the tops which were around 10000 feet. We took off (I flew that night) he got to about 9000 feet trying to get above the stuff, he stalled the airplane and lost around 5000 feet. The plane was so heavy it stopped flying. If I remember the regs right. No airplane is certified for severe icing, but we were told to go anyway. Like I said that was a while ago, things may have changed. And to Roger Ball, don't say my post was 100% bull**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**. Fist off you were not even there to see my experiences first hand. So I would say you are not a subject matter expert on my post. Just give your opinion on what is happening now, and try not to criticize other people, it does not make for a professional member of our industry. Hjeitika, good luck on your career. If you need anything PM me.

Passion

 

[Habib]

You said it.

Just give your opinion on what is happening now, and try not to criticize other people, it does not make for a professional member of our industry.

Passion:
I respect your point of view, but you said it yourself, talk about what is going on now, and that is what rogerball is trying to do.

I know a lot of these smaller and even bigger 135 cargo outfits were more coyboy back in the day, but I think most have done a lot to change their ways.

I know some guys there and I don't think that they are forced to fly into anything anymore. And they do like it, but I know there is only so long you can fly a piston, and everyone wants to move on, some time.

And Roger, I did not realize that a few of thoes guys left, and that Capcity did not let them go, sorry for the incorrect post.

And I respect the fact that Capcity does not want to go broke like Priority will, I think ICS may be bad news. Sounds like they only care about the bottom line and just get it thereitis.

Habib

 

[hjheitka]

Helpful!!

Hey thanks fellas for your input. the information provided is appreciated. As you can tell I'm relatively inexperienced with cargo flying and just trying to get informed whether it be good or bad. It sounds like an opportunity, and in this time an opportunity is better than nothing, not to mention the airplanes are bigger than a C172. Keep the comments coming, nothing needs to be left unsaid.
Hjheitka

 

[GLSoar]

RGR

Hey, RGR

well said, thanks for clearing up the training thing!