Comair or stay with Eagle a fifth year?

[Caveman]

I have a friend that I worked with as flight instructors. He went to Eagle. Last year after 2 1/2 years at Eagle he bailed to come to CMR. Although he said it was one of the toughest choices he's ever had to make he can not believe how much better it is over here. His 1st paycheck after IOE was bigger than ANY paycheck he ever got at Eagle. He's now a lineholder and loving every minute of it. He also said that he will still upgrade here 5 years before he ever would if he still worked at Eagle. He did say that the training at Eagle was a bit more organized.

One bit of caution. Until the economy recovers and the impact of scope resets and mainline concessions are worked out the amount of growth at CMR is finite. As of right now there are no 40/50 seat RJs scheduled for delivery in CY '04 and only 7 confirmed 70 seat RJ's in '04. Based on this I believe that growth at CMR will slow to a snails pace. That means you may be on reserve a bit longer than what has been the norm and Capt upgrades might start to slide back towards the 4 year mark. This is pure speculation on my part. The future at CMR is still very positive and hiring will steadily continue. We are on track to hire about 350-400 this year. I think until the dust settles that number will slow to 150-200 for next year. Again, this is only my uneducated, somewhat informed, biased opinion.

Under the circumstances I still think that CMR is a better place to be if you are an FO at Eagle. If I were an RJ Capt at Eagle I would stay put. The real tough choice is what to do if you are a Saab Capt at Eagle. It would be hard to walk away from the seniority and livable pay to go to the bottom of someone else's list. It would be equally hard to stay quagmired in a stagnant position with no hope for upward mobility within the next decade.

Make the switch. Good luck to you.

Caveman

 

[ACE]

Goodstick,
It is always a tough decision to give up seniority to go back to the bottom with another company. All I can say is just way the pros and cons. You will come up with your own answer.

 

[LearLove]

Welcome to the downgrade club

"Now, well I am being displaced back to first officer. No one likes to go backwards in a career because all pilots (well most) are motivated to keep going. "

Yeah baby, join the party in the rt. seat. The best is when you fly with a Capt. who wants you to do all the work (e.i. paperwork, call dispatch for another alt. ect.) just because you were a capt. once so you know how to do it bla, bla, bla. At least now you don't have to wear your hat, apperantly somewhere ther's an unwritten rule where downgraded guys don't need to have a hat.

have fun

 

[Dr. Hootie]

If you can get an interview with Comair - take it and best of luck to you. It's a no brainer.

 

[English]

Go GO GO!!!

I left Eagle a couple of months before 9/11. There were naysayers around every corner criticizing me for leaving a "stable" position for the unknown.

So much for the unknown. What I do know is, if I would have stayed at Eagle, I'd be a Saab first officer still with no upgrade in sight. I'd be living with my parents because I would not have been able to afford the house I just bought.

Instead, I jumped ship. Now I have found a different branch of aviation that I really enjoy. I have three type ratings and am much more marketable than I would have been had I stayed at Eagle. I've learned a great deal more than I would have if I'd stayed flying in a base with only six destinations.

I truly appreciated Eagle because of the training I received. You will probably never experience such organized training again in your career. Eagle training was better than anything I have experienced since, including Flight Safety. There is no comparison here. But unfortunately, there is only one positive on the list of why to stay at Eagle, unless you have other quality of life issues. Opportunities are better elsewhere.

 

[SomOne]

Goodstick

I understand that everyone situation is different. But here is my.

I'm leaving Eagle next week to start with Comair on June 16th. I've been with Eagle for over 2 1/2 years. I thought about going to Comair about a year ago, but never got too serious about it until couple months ago. I stay at Eagle this long because I always thought that things would get better soon, and of course it's not easy to start all over again. Then again, there are a lot of 15 year captains who have been saying that all along... it will get better soon. Well, I have nothing against them or anyone else. They have their reasons to stay, and I have mine.

Here are some of my main reasons to go to Comair:
1.) Medical insurance is half as cheap as at Eagle. I'm paying about $190/mo at Eagle for a family of 4. At Comair, it will only cost me about $95/mo.
2.) I won't have to pay D2 charges any more. I used to pay about 80 -100 dollars a month to commute from CA to TX.
3.) Comair has a Pension Plan. It is very important to me, because I'm almost 40.
4.) I will make more money on second year pay (37/hr or 41/hr) at Comair than what I'd be making at Eagle as a 8 yr FO.
5.) I don't see any upgrade coming up any time soon. So if I'm going to be stuck as an FO, I might just well be stuck with a company that has better pay and contract.

Well, there are more to talk about, but those are the main ones.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[kommutrdog]

How did you get your Comair interview? I'm trying to jump ship after 4.5 years at my current job...the ship is sinking and I too need to plan for some retirement.

Did you have any recommendations, or go to a Career Fair ??

At 4500tt and lots of part 121 exp. I think I'd be somewhat competitive, but who knows now days.

Thanks.

 

[SomOne]

Kommutrdog

I faxed my resume and had one walked in about a year ago. I then called John Smith up couple of times, and each time he told me that I'm on the preference list. However the poeple who went to the job fairs always got ahead of me. I skiped 2 job fairs and never got the call for the interview. I finally went to one few months back and got the interview set up right there.

So, if you're serious about it go to the job fair. I know it's kinda expensive, but it's worth it.

 

[kommutrdog]

Thanks !

Thanks for the info. I am planning on going to the job fair in June. I don't want to shell out more $$, but at this point, I really don't think it matters.

Thanks again.