Colgan Air

[Beech Balls]

So.....what's new over at the Pinch-Nickel??
It's just too quiet.
No new scandals??
I'm dissapointed, I was expecting to see more Colgan p00-p00 on this board.

Your brother in T-prop 'dom

 

[Beech Balls]

Are you guys serious??
Is the morale THAT bad?
Not one iota of info or bitching?

 

[great cornholio]

The Colgan guys on here have been pretty quite for a while now. Only really big thing that I've heard in a long time was that Tom Brink just died a few weeks ago of cancer.

 

[Thurman Merman]

Were too busy flying our collective butts off on the line with min. days off.

 

[johnsonrod]

Any initial impressions of flying the Q400s (beyond the very low pay)? Fun/easy to fly?

 

[SmitteyB]

The Q400 operation has really improved.

Colgan fell short of an operational incentive of 99% completion factor for April. They only had 98.2% completion factor.

The line are made up mostly of day trips, which doesn't pay per diem.

The SAAB flying is up in the air. Word on the street is that Colgan met with US Airways last week to decide whether to continue the US Airways SAAB flying. Consensus is that it will be gone in October as PNCL Corp doesn't like it.

 

[suupah]

The SAAB flying is up in the air. Word on the street is that Colgan met with US Airways last week to decide whether to continue the US Airways SAAB flying. Consensus is that it will be gone in October as PNCL Corp doesn't like it.

Thats only half the company. thats not good.

 

[Beech Balls]

I hear that FOs on the Q don't even get to bid a line....it's assigned.
And I hear that the Q operation still is awful.

I have friends that have been there 3-plus years and are being treated worse than ever.

Pilots there are considered a mechanical part, not a human being with a life. Trust me, I was there almost 4 years.

What a shame...it was soooo much better before the Continental flying (and that's a great operation apprently)

 

[Striptyler]

Why flame? Do you really care how it's going? the beech is still getting screwed.

Nothing significant beyond a sick call policy. Q schedules arn't what people hoped, and it takes weeks to get on the line.

doubt much will happen with the saab right now. I could see issues if UAL/USair merger was going to happen, but there is not much overlaping route structure... we've been picking up sabb flying for UAL anyways. The planes are all leased.. colgan wouldn't jump out unless they had somewhere else to send them.

Try asking again in 7 months...

 

[IslandDriver]

Yeah Real Bad.....June schedule: 3 on 4 off 95 credit with 17 days off....it will suck when I move on....

Sure I am in the top 50% of seniority but at colgan it did not take too long to get that like at other regionals.

Plus the upgrades...last guy to upgrade on the SAAB had to wait 100 hours past the FAA mins...can you believe that? Poor guy!

Yeah I guess things are pretty bad.....

Look around and see who is flying without pilots on the street after the summer....

I already know "about to be furloughed" guys calling their old buddies here trying to land back in the left seat!

It is all a matter of perspective....

Keep smiling!

 

[Long Time Gone]

The line are made up mostly of day trips, which doesn't pay per diem.

That's sad if you don't get per diem on a day line. You're still at work and away from base. It should be paid, just taxed.

 

[Spotswood]

Heard that CAL got rid of their CLE flying in the Q4

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
I think that PNCL Holdings would be wise to pull out of the USAirways Express flying, and re-trench with another legacy carrier flying the same routes. Perhaps feeding a different hub, and with an eye toward re-capitalizing the fleet with more new technology turboprops as it becomes available.
UA/US just broke off merger talks, and UA/CO merger looks like it might be on the table now. US Airways CEO Doug Parker stated that there was an excess in capacity within the legacy airlines. Ironically, after all the rhetoric and attempted buy-out of DL. I think it's going to be US thats going to ultimately be the legacy that goes out of business in either late 08' or early 09'. It's most unfortuante for the employees and personally I hate to see anyone loose their jobs. I've got more than a few friends that have already had the chair yanked out from under them.
Colgan Air needs to have a union on the property to negotiate some decent work rules, however there is nothing that the pilots can do to force the airline to change their crew manning model. Unfortunately, the timing is poor for the Colgan Air pilot group to have any leverage to negotiate with PNCL Holdings. A company thats not known for a stellar record for maintaining good labor relations with it's pilots or negotiating period.
I agree with Beech Balls, when we were both new-hires about four years Colgan Air wasn't a bad place to work, even with the 91 ferry flights and some of the other nonsense that we did have to contend. After the CO deal things changed a great deal, and beyond recognition after the sale.
I think that Colgan Air will emerge as the premier large turboprop regional, but it's not set in stone. PNCL Holdings has a real chance to make this happen, but they are simply going to have to put aside the current mentality of treating their employees as costs to be controlled vs. assets to be fostered and rewarded for the fruits of their labor.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[Beech Balls]

Why flame? Do you really care how it's going? the beech is still getting screwed.

Nothing significant beyond a sick call policy. Q schedules arn't what people hoped, and it takes weeks to get on the line.

doubt much will happen with the saab right now. I could see issues if UAL/USair merger was going to happen, but there is not much overlaping route structure... we've been picking up sabb flying for UAL anyways. The planes are all leased.. colgan wouldn't jump out unless they had somewhere else to send them.

Try asking again in 7 months...

Actually, i do care how it's going. I still have a lot of friends at Colgan. I spent damn near 4 years there...2.5 of them in the Beech.
There is usually a little bit of information on the forums, some flame bait as well....I just try to approach things with a sense of humor, and yet remain connected to a point.
I do miss the people and the flying. The management (save one or two people) can get lost for all I care....

 

[Beech Balls]

By the way Kaman... your last sentence hit the nail on the head.

 

[GEORGE DUBYA]

Colgan Rules. I heard they may change the call sign anyone hear about this? I have heard showtime and pathfinder however my write in vote is Chocolate thunder.

 

[Thurman Merman]

The back up in IOE is due to 11 checkairmen, one reason why my days off are counted in hours not days. I miss the Saab but the Q400 is a good airplane, just ask all the jumpseaters now. Full bags up front and in back plus 74 and a jump with fuel. With all this money coming in some needs to trickle to the pilot and FA group.

Dispatch reliability has got a lot better becuase the pilots have more line experience. Issues cropping up were in part pilot induced. Pilot action can cause many of the mtc. issues on this aircraft, I've witnessed it first hand. From FO's pressing buttons when they shouldn't or moving the flaps with no hyd. pressure to captains feathering the condition levers prior to hyd cont. being shut off. The biggest is starting engines on GPU with the batteries off then disconecting the GPU, big ol' "POWERPLANT" non resettable message.

There, I feel better, thank you.

 

[bell47]

How much longer will Colgan operate the Beeches?

 

[WSurf]

Colgan Rules. I heard they may change the call sign anyone hear about this? I have heard showtime and pathfinder however my write in vote is Chocolate thunder.

Naw, 'Sexual Chocolate' would be better.

 

[DoinTime]

PNCL Holdings has a real chance to make this happen, but they are simply going to have to put aside the current mentality of treating their employees as costs to be controlled vs. assets to be fostered and rewarded for the fruits of their labor.

Boy....I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that hope to come true.

 

[Prop2Jet]

How about "V1 crash" as the call sign? Sexual chocolate!

 

[vectorvictor]

Colganator?

 

[cpierse]

There was a controller in IAH who just retired, but he always pronounced it "Cold one."

I'm sure many pilots there view it as a stepping-stone, but there are several things I miss.

The camaraderie at Colgan was way better than it would ever be at a much larger airline. The fact that we had small bases and flew with the same guys all the time made it a lot more fun... right Beech Balls?!

There's a lot to be said for all those day trips. I know it sucks not getting per diem, but being home every night (or back at a fun crashpad if you commute) is a pretty good deal.

Unfortunately, unless you're a single dude, or independently wealthy, it's pretty tough to get by on those wages -even if you live in West Virginia.

 

[LanceAir]

Beech guys still getting beat up with the schedule, although they all "apparently" got raises...(I'll believe it when I see it)...Beech is supposed to disappear in November.

Saab guys think they have it good because of the better scheduling, but they don't realize that while they are getting 3 on 4 off, that they still can't raise a family on current wages or have any guarantee that there jobs won't be given to someone who will do it cheaper...(pretty hard to undercut, that's the security)

Q400 operations gotten alot better, we all have our fingers crossed that CAL will finalize the rest of the options, and that one day we will stop flying them for 50 seat rates...:laugh:

oh yeah, BeechBalls, your buddy in LEB tower was asking about ya, I told him you had escaped the chaos here and moved on.

 

[Beech Balls]

yes Yes YES!
I have moved on from the chaos..I am in the hotel room now and the party starts TONIGHT!!!!
I miss my Colgan Homies a lot though....
CPierse, the camaraderie got even better towards the end because we all united against the head of the snake...

 

[Beech Balls]

In fact, the Dulles crew-base, was decorated with various emails people had sent to mgt. in Manassas.

There was even a butt-plug, yes the sex toy, a real plastic butt-plug, and it was painted in Colgan 'capt america' theme colours....It had 'Colganoscopy' written on it.....that was a shining moment of glory for someone. noone knows who pulled that one.

Our then-chief-pilot-now-director-of-ops took that and the emails to Buddy Casey so he could get a sense of the morale of his 'troops'. Don't know the result....would love to know.

 

[Mr Wu]

Hey BB, now that you have left are you going to come clean about hitting the redhead in LEB?

 

[WSurf]

Hey BB, now that you have left are you going to come clean about hitting the redhead in LEB?

Loved to hear this story! Don't tell me, she had like a butt load of cold sores on her lips?

 

[Beech Balls]

Loved to hear this story! Don't tell me, she had like a butt load of cold sores on her lips?

???
I have no idea...I kept on the straight and narrow up there....never know what diseases might come out of the NH and VT woods...some stuff that ain't discovered yet.
No, I never did anything up there....maybe you have me confused with someone esle.

 

[benbpilot]

Saab guys think they have it good because of the better scheduling, but they don't realize that while they are getting 3 on 4 off, that they still can't raise a family on current wages or have any guarantee that there jobs won't be given to someone who will do it cheaper...(pretty hard to undercut, that's the security)

Yes but I can tell other pilots I don't work for peanuts flying a 74 seat turbo prop that breaks even at 33 to 34 passengers. Plus, you are at Colgan. No one else will do it cheaper in any plane we fly.