Comair class date

[Caveman]

FWIW, I have a friend that interviewed in late September. He got the call yesterday for a 1 Dec class date.

 

[F-eagle]

I interviewed Aug 19th or something like that, got the call Thurs. for a Dec. 1st class. I along with two others I know of have passed on that class. They said they will call back for a Dec. 15th class. Great company, nice people, but, with everything going on over there I'm afraid of getting stuck on the bottom of the list. It's amazing how fast things change within this industry.

 

[AFELLOWAVIATOR]

I interviewed Aug 19th or something like that, got the call Thurs. for a Dec. 1st class. I along with two others I know of have passed on that class. They said they will call back for a Dec. 15th class. Great company, nice people, but, with everything going on over there I'm afraid of getting stuck on the bottom of the list. It's amazing how fast things change within this industry.

That is interesting. Are you working now? We are hiring at least 130 next year. I can absolutely see your point, but I think you are making a mistake. I have heard some several sources that we are getting the dojets. Good luck.

 

[F-eagle]

I am working now, with 31/2 years seniority. Believe me, this is one hard decision to make. Comair is a great company. After I interviewed DCI asked for concessions, and my company announced a large expansion. I think I am looking at about 3 years to upgrade were I'm at, with 400-500 below me 12 months from now. The Dojets may or may not happen and I cannot make a decision based on rumor. Now if they make some announcement in the next week or so about the Dojets, or any other expansion then my decision will probably change. It's a coin toss.
Thanks for the comment.

 

[N813CA]

F-eagle


The 8 70 seat Rjs are confirmed. Comair will be hiring 130 pilots next year at least. That is the minimum they are going to hire. If we get the do jets then there would be more. But they are getting the 8.

 

[F-eagle]

I am aware of the hiring plans for next year. To clarify, what I mean by stuck on the bottom, is stuck on the lower half of the list. I am worried about getting over there and not upgrading for 6 years. That would be a total of 9 1/2 years in the right seat at a regional.

 

[NRHPilot]

I am to with F-Eagle and on the fence. We both interviewed the same day and are now faced with this decision. If I was on the bottom of our list I would be gone in a heartbeat. Sharon called me on the 8th for a class date on November 17th, but I had to pass since that would not give me an adequate two weeks notice. So she said maybe I would get a call for a Dec. 1st class but after today (the 15th) If she calls I would have to bypass since it will not allow two weeks notice. It is really tough to give up almost 4 years of seniority and a commute that gives me 3 flights a day to CVG vs. about 18 flights a day to DFW. I guess there a lots of issues to look at when making a career decision. Comair is a great company and the pay is great, but I should of interviewed there 4 years ago. (called me on a Friday for an interview and had a class date with Eagle on the following Monday.) Oh well, I guess it is all a roll of the dice.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Upgrade

I believe that your 6-year upgrade prediction is a little over-optomistic.

Here is another thread in which this was discussed.

Comair Vs. Eagle Thread

Here is the specific thread that I wanted to share with you. I believe that now that future growth at Comair is in question (and downsizing may even be a possibility according to the recent letter from Don Osmondson), this specific post may be relevent to the discussion.

On 09/09/03 Treme said:

"Paco said, "Upgrade time at AE is down the toilet."

"Unless you've read something that I havent read regarding Comair aircraft deliveries for 2004 and beyond I would guess that Comair upgrade times are in the "greater than 7 year" toilet as well.

Now, of course, somebody is going to come back and say "no, upgrades are running 2.5 - 3 years at Comair!"

I think those days are gone.

There are roughly 1800 pilots at Comair at last count.

Lets keep the math simple. roughly 10 pilots per plane -- 5 captains and 5 f/o's.

Lets assume that most Captains are around number 1000 and below.

In order for number 1801 -- the next newhire -- to upgrade you have to assume that one of two things will have to happen:

#1. roughly 800 guys leave Comair or retire, or...

#2. Comair will have to acquire another 160 airplanes.

(example: 160 airplanes = 1600 additional pilots. That would make our guy #1801 out of #3400 -- around 52% down the list)

I realize that the cutoff for Captain upgrade isnt at exactly 50% since some people don't have the time and bypass the upgrade and some people wait until they can hold a line etc... but you get the idea.

The 3 year upgrades that people are enjoying right now were generated by people leaving in the late 90s, and rapid aircraft deliveries (which are about to come to a stop).

I admit my numbers are a bit basic, but it seems to me that somebody hired at Comair today will likely not upgrade for 7 - 10 years unless the company takes delivery of more airplanes.

Make sure you take everything into account before you leave Eagle. Good luck!"

 

[jetflyer]

FurloughedAgain,

I agree with your theory that it will take a long time to upgrade. As any airline becomes larger it inevitably is going to take longer to upgrade to Captain. That is the one of the MANY crazy reasons EAGLE UPGRADE is so long. They are really huge.

It's going to be a long long long time for newhires at Comair to become captain. Anywhere from 6-10 years is accurate I'd say. Only time will tell. Let's hope Comair grows like gangbusters (not likely) and people leave to other airlines or retire. That will make things better.

 

[Heavy Set]

Not to rain on the parade, but Comair will be competing with ASA, CHQ, Skywest and maybe MESA (Leo would like to pay less...) for growth in the future. It is true that Comair could get the D328Jets in the near future, but a lot of pilots would come with them. AE will likely not see the same level of competition for growth.

Good luck with your decision.