Champion Air

[bafanguy]

I see Champion Air up in MN is looking for pilots. What can anyone tell about pay, working conditions, quality of mtc, the usual ? Thanks Did the search but no really current info.

 

[Thedude]

Not much time to reply but I will try to give you the skinny.
Starting pay is about $35/hr dont quote me on that but it is close. We are an ALPA carrier with out first contract. The contract ends Mar '05 and the current one has huge holes in it. You start as an F/E and will probably be laid off in May of '05. Maintance is pretty good except for the DTW station. We have a unique realtionship with Northwest. At one point they pretty much owned us but now (at least on paper) they dont. I think it was primarly due to scope reasons. Most of the upper managers are from NWA and still have they mainline mentality and thus we have too many people that work in HQ. We have also moved from a FSDO to a CMO... I dont know of any other supplemental carriers that are under a CMO. Currently we have 11 173 seat 727 and 6 59 seat 727 and we may be getting 737 or A 320 in the next couple of years. (Belive it when I see it). Our crew bases are DEN, DFW, DTW, MSP, LAS, and STL. We now base re-bid about evry six months along with hiring and furloughing. This practice started in Sept '02 and it will hopefully go back to TDYing in the near future.

So unless you have a burning desire to be an 727 F/E for about six months I would NOT suggest coming to work here.
Hope this makes a little sense to you and the one big run on sentance doesnt confuse you.

 

[bafanguy]

thedude,


Thanks.

 

[Heavy Set]

Not much time to reply but I will try to give you the skinny.
Starting pay is about $35/hr dont quote me on that but it is close. We are an ALPA carrier with out first contract. The contract ends Mar '05 and the current one has huge holes in it. You start as an F/E and will probably be laid off in May of '05. Maintance is pretty good except for the DTW station. We have a unique realtionship with Northwest. At one point they pretty much owned us but now (at least on paper) they dont. I think it was primarly due to scope reasons. Most of the upper managers are from NWA and still have they mainline mentality and thus we have too many people that work in HQ. We have also moved from a FSDO to a CMO... I dont know of any other supplemental carriers that are under a CMO. Currently we have 11 173 seat 727 and 6 59 seat 727 and we may be getting 737 or A 320 in the next couple of years. (Belive it when I see it). Our crew bases are DEN, DFW, DTW, MSP, LAS, and STL. We now base re-bid about evry six months along with hiring and furloughing. This practice started in Sept '02 and it will hopefully go back to TDYing in the near future.

So unless you have a burning desire to be an 727 F/E for about six months I would NOT suggest coming to work here.
Hope this makes a little sense to you and the one big run on sentance doesnt confuse you.

Can you give us an example of the types of routes you fly? Are they mainly resort destinations - LAS, MCO, Cancun? Can you give me an example of an average rotation (sectors in one or two days)? How do you like the 727? I enjoyed flying it many years ago...

 

[kevdog]

Any reason this is on the cargo board?

 

[bafanguy]

I thought Champion was a cargo outfit...I must be mistaken.

 

[Heavy Set]

Champion Air Status - What's going on?

Any movement at Champion lately? Any recent hiring? Also, what's the likelihood of a newhire getting a LAS base (if hiring resumes)?

I have conducted a search (hence this old post) and I'm looking for an update. If you start on the panel, how long before you could expect the right seat (a couple years)?

 

[Thedude]

Not much in the way of movement.
There is supposed to be a class in the fall. I am guessing Oct-Nov.
Don't plan on upgrading in the next 3-4 yrs.
New equipment (probably A-320) is at least two yrs away.
Vegas is fairly junior and they have banker's hrs for flying but not much flying in the typical day.
Managment was asked what their 5 yr plan was and the responed with the answer "We dont have a crystal ball"
The exodus from this company has already begun.

 

[n5374f]

The truth aabout Champion Air

The pilots that you fly with are a great bunch of people. The pay is the lowest in the industry. You will be an FE for 3 to 4 years, upgrade time to Captain is 6 years. Management couldn't care less about the pilots. They believe pilots are a dime a dozen. History has shown that they hire in November and Furlough in May except for this year. They interviewed over 300 applicants last year for 30 positions and barely got those position filled. Out of those 30 people some have already quit others are being railroaded out of the company because as probationary pilots can be fired at will. This year instead of the usual furlough they are firing pilots. Management does not back up the pilots if crew scheduling tells you to do something and you don't do it you get written up. If you call in sick for a trip you get wriiten up. The pilots are getting ready for a mass exodus. The contract is up and a new one is nowhere in site. The pilots that are not looking for other jobs are preparing to go on strike as soon as an impass is declared. Rumors of new aircraft abound but don't hold you breath. Training is the worst. You go to class and look at porn. Company has many engine failures and turnbacks. Everytime something goes wrong the pilots are seconded guessed by management. Usually the pilots are guilty until the management can find someone else to blame. If you want something done it is always some on else's responsibility. Everyone is so scared of being fired that they won't make a decision. No backup from upper management always guilty until proven innocent. Do yourself a favor stay away and get a flying job not a back seat job. Very few flight engineer jobs out there anyway the B727 and the flight engineer is a deadend position and will do nothing for your career consider the fractionals pay is higher, equipment is better and you will be flying. Flight engineer time doesn't count for anything anymore.

 

[ShizeyMcPilot]

hmmmmm... interesting. I just recieved a response and application today for an interview in the mail from Champion Air. Let me get this straight - all new hires start out as FEs or can you go to the right seat? I am not FE qualified or nor have I taken the written...SmcP