Corporate Airlines

[petepilot]

Hello, I am Looking for information about Corporate Airlines, Heard they are interviewing/ running classes? Are they planning any growth or is this to replace attrition?
Couldn't find any recent interview gouges for them, if anyone has any info about what the interviews are like please let me know,
Thanks!

 

[BoilerUP]

www.corporateairlines.com

I can't speak from a pilot's perspective, but CorpEx flies mainly to cities out of STL as AmericanConnection using Jetstream 32s. From my observations, the pilots don't seem overly thrilled to be here, big reason I see being pay. CorpEx has been on a pay freeze for a while, but all the pilots tell me its better to have a low-paying job than no job at all. Also, most of the pilots seem to be easy going guys and gals, good to get along and work with.

Prob wouldn't be a very bad place to spend a couple-three years, if they start upgrading people. But what do I know, I'm just a GSA! Oh yeah, and they recently took the FAR AND AWAY best overnight away from the pilots - LAF!



3C Bagslinger

 

[belchfire]

Great people to work with for
the most part, not a good place
to be stuck. Pay frozen May of
2002, no end in sight. The
company line is
that the 19 seat market is viable
and they are dedicated to it...do not
go there thinking there will be
anything but the Jetstream, period.

But it is a flying job...

They operate BAE JS-32s. Good
aircraft that will keep you on your
toes. If you can fly it, you will be
able to get past just about any
sim ride.

Most attrition lately has been in the
FO's. They are going to Mesa, CHQ,
Comair, and anywhere else they can
go. Why? Because in two years they
will be making more than the CA's,
and they might upgrade sooner some-
where else!

Send them a resume. If you get a job,
keep sending out resumes! BoilerUp
speaks the truth, proving that we even
have good bagsmashers!


PM me for more info, and good luck!

 

[DOGTIRED]

Does anyone know of any growth plans, new bases, etc? Do they require a training contract? Also, do they pay you during training? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[DOGTIRED]

Does anyone know of any growth plans, new bases, etc? Do they pay you during training? What about hotel rooms? Any word on a training contract? According to their website, they're hiring. And they did go to Air inc's job fair in ATL. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[avpro91]

CorpEx is gearing up for expansion into Raleigh Durham again as an american connection. Last i heard, it was gonna be in february or so with three cities to start. They are running a class right now, and have another scheduled for first week in Jan. Thay are interviewing everyday.

Guess its an ok place to work..know some guys there and have some ties. The pay sucks...the lowest of all commuters. But upgrade for this first class or two is supposed to be 6 mths to a year. They only operate the J32 though, no RJ to look forward to here. But hey if you can get 1000 pic 121 in the junkstream and then hang somewhere else for a while you might be in good shape. I'd have to agree this isnt a place you want to spend more than a year or two.

Sending a resume in is the way to go i think, i you can get someboy to walk it in, you'll get an interview, and probibly the job.

 

[flyweight]

What does the interview consist of?

HR questions? Tech? Sim?
any info would be appreciated! Think pay is: up to 1500 tt $17 hr.
1501-2000 tt $18 hr.
>2000 tt $19 hr for Fo's.
I'm pretty positive thats what it is, but please double check.

thanks in advance for any info
flyweight

 

[belchfire]

They have had growth plans since 1995
The standing joke is "SAAB's by Christmas"
but nobody knows which year!

$25/day during training, on payscale
at completion of PC

Hotel rooms covered during initial
training. Recurrant training they
only cover motels if the training
doesn't occur in your base...they
used to do all of them in the good
old days...ie, you are based in
BNA but commute, you will not get
a room during your recurrant (4nights
mind you) ground school, but if you
need one for sim training (STL) you
would get one...STL guys get a room
in BNA for recurrant, but not in STL
for the sim...get it? They also won't
get you a room if the plane breaks
or wx goes on its a$$ and strands you
at your "base"...it's your choice
to not live in your base, see?
(note:All policies regarding hotelrooms
for crewmembers are subject to chance
without notice and will be in order to
save money!)
RDU, IF IT HAPPENS, probably not till
late spring or summer...codeshare not
determined to my knowlege...

 

[KingAirer]

I saw recently where they had put in for service from DCA to WilmingtonNC, Clarksburg WV, and Morgantown.

 

[DOGTIRED]

Does anyone know if there is a training contract?

 

[belchfire]

By way of a training contract,
you are supposed to stay there
for a year. I don't know how
enforcable it is, and I know people
that have bailed.

As for the DCA stuff...been about
a year that they were awarded
a departure slot, and we were told
that a stand-alone wasn't econmical.
that was just for DCA-ILM. Don't know
anything about the others, and have
not heard anything recently.

Mesa, Pinnacle and Chitaqua and comair
also doing alot of hiring! Have had people
leave for three of the four...

So many rumors, so little time...

 

[throttlejockey]

Here is the "real deal" about Corpex:

1. Training Contract - expect to have to sign one. It will either be a 1 year or 2 year contract. It is prorated by months spent at company.

2. $25/day while in training, hotel is included except if you are training where you live (i.e. live in BNA, they will not buy you are room). Pay and bene's start the day you finish IOE.

3. There is no pay scale at this time since pay is frozen. Expect to be paid commensurate with your TT, until you upgrade to CA. At that time you will be paid CA paid commensurate with your years of service.

4. Growth expectations - still just a bunch of talk. All hiring is currently FOR ATTRITION ONLY. There is talk of expanding into new cities next year but do not get your hopes up. The company has been talking about expanding for as long as anyone can remember. Anyone who talks of six months upgrade NEEDS TO GET A HEAD EXAM. Expect 18-24 months.

5. Do not expect to fly any other type other than the JS32. There has been talk of different aircraft since I have been here and it has never happened and probably never will as long as the people who are in charge remain in charge. We would need a big infusion of $$ to see a bigger plane. Folks in charge do not want to spend it.

6. Bases are STL, and MQY. MQY is located 15 miles from BNA and it is not a commutable base. STL is commutable and the schedules are also commutable, IF YOU CAN HOLD A LINE. Big cutbacks at AA have made the commute to/from STL much harder than in the past. Bite the bullet and move to MQY, you will save yourself a lot of heartburn.

7. Great pilots to work with, however, morale is low. Expect a lot of gnashing of teeth when you hit the line. Pay is very low. Corpex captains with 4 year seniority are paid less (in some cases) than 2 year FO's at many other regionals. If you want to be paid what you are worth DO NOT FLY HERE.

8. Do not have the scoop on the interview. Used to have a sim eval, but I am not sure. They are pretty firm on the 2000TT although they have hired folks with FAR LESS recently. If you want to take the chance in order to fly the mighty JETPIG, send in your resume anyway. It won't hurt.

9. Lastly, if you do decide to come here please do not bring a crappy attitude with you. There is enough of that going around. (including yours truly) What you see is what you get. If the QOL improves and you move up the seniority list quicker than expected, consider it a big bonus. But do not come here expecting big things - you will be disappointed.

Good Luck!

 

[belchfire]

Ya all need to read all of
throttlejocky's fine print

Amen Brother!!!

Mesa is hiring!!!

BOHICA Forever!!!

 

[tarheel87]

throttle jockey YOU ROCK!

I'm thinking throttle jokey needs to start a "Dear Abby" type tread on flight info to fill in all us wantabeairlinepilots in on the real world of 121...

Thank you for your frank comments!

 

[probablecause]

Well said TJ.

 

[belchfire]

There are two possible errors
in throttlejocky's post, and they
probably stem from the fact that
noone really knows what the heck
is going on there...otherwise, a
very good description including the
moral of corpex. No offense to
the author...his disinformation
probably comes from the same
place as mine!

1) Upgrade pay...my understanding
is that you will upgrade to whatever
you are frozen at. For new hires,
that would be first year...$27.50
I think...

(See next post after this...the motel
room policies have become muddied
in an effort to not spend any money
on the flightcrews...sorry TJ, you were
right! edited 12-01-03 BF)

2)What I was told (er, for what that
is worth) is that initial/upgrade/transition
(yeah, transition to what, an AN2?)
motels will be paid for regardless of
base. After all, and especially for the
newhires, they don't know where you
will be based.

Disclaimer: We are talking about the
policies of an airline...anything expressed
here as truth is subject to revision

Hows it hangin probable? I see that I
am in good company lurking in this
dungeon. BOHICA!!!

I want my two dollars!!!

Ha...hahaha

 

[belchfire]

Throttlejocky

I'm sorry!!! I retract my two errors...think that pay will still be frozen at first year, however, I just found out about what they
have done to a couple of new hires!!!

It is completly wrong, and against what was told to one of these
individuals in the interview process, but everyone needs to know!

Management found out that one of the Corporate Airlines newbies
lives about 1.5 hour drive from MQY and come to the conclusion
that (even though they had paid for it for 2 weeks) they didn't need to put him in a motel during training.

He is now sharing a room with one of the other guys, and they are both paying out of their own pockets. This is a Violation of
all previous policies regarding training and housing.

I want everyone to know the training department was left out
of the loop too, and had nothing to do with this.

This is a classic example of what is going on at Corpex, and should be factored into any thought process involving employment

 

[JayDub]

AAAHHH yes, their *cough* "training" department. The only place on earth check airmen routinely get 40% pass rate on their written exams in recurrent. All so one individual can prove his career wasn't a waste by not getting on at a "real" airline like a lot of his buds. Don't get me wrong B.L. is a good dude that has routinely gone to bat for his goslins. The only problem is they wouldn't be in trouble in the first place if he didn't try to convey the material through E.S.P.

At least you'll get twice the opportunity to fail than everyone else. It kindda sucks when you realize almoste half your current Captains aren't qualified like you thought they were. Again though, excellent people in their training dept. They just need a few loose ends tied up and it would be great.

Respectfully,


JayDub

 

[belchfire]

I believe that every employer
has something good about
them...maybe I shouldn't say
it here for fear of jinxing it...
it has to be corpex's training
dept...

it was kind of funny last winter

 

[VADriver]

Here is the "real deal" about Corpex:
If you want to take the chance in order to fly the mighty JETPIG, send in your resume anyway. It won't hurt.
Good Luck!

http://hometown.aol.com/mitch3p/page1.html

 

[belchfire]

The real question is why are they interviewing so many of these
poor suckers???

 

[belchfire]

www.corporateairlines.com

I can't speak from a pilot's perspective, but CorpEx flies mainly to cities out of STL as AmericanConnection using Jetstream 32s. From my observations, the pilots don't seem overly thrilled to be here, big reason I see being pay. CorpEx has been on a pay freeze for a while, but all the pilots tell me its better to have a low-paying job than no job at all. Also, most of the pilots seem to be easy going guys and gals, good to get along and work with.

Prob wouldn't be a very bad place to spend a couple-three years, if they start upgrading people. But what do I know, I'm just a GSA! Oh yeah, and they recently took the FAR AND AWAY best overnight away from the pilots - LAF!



3C Bagslinger

Three Years??? the current time to upgrade!

 

[belchfire]

Any rumors on when the pay will
get unfrozen?

 

[belchfire]

just trying to keep this one on top!!!

Err...Mesa is at least getting their
raises!

 

[upndsky]

I interviewed there earlier this week and had a really enjoyable experience. All the Corpex folks we met were very friendly and went out of their way to make us feel at home. I don't know if I got the job yet, but we're supposed to find out by 12/12. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The issue of pay freezes was brought up. What we were told was that the CFO doesn't like the freezes and that the company acknowledges that something needs to be done about pilot pay. There was the suggestion that the freezes could be lifted in 2004.

The current crop of newhires is to fill attrition (captains to SW and Airtran, FOs to bigger regionals) and possible expansion, most likely a new base in RDU in April. This has been a rumor for some time, but I'm RDU based and all my sources here say that barring a last-minute set back, it is going to happen. We'll see.

We were also told that any additional aircraft would be J-32s or J-31s re-engined to 32 standards. No Saabs or anything else like it. So I guess that rumor is officially dead.

Overall, it seems like a good company to hang your hat for a year or two and get good quality time. I was told upgrade in a year to a year and a half, another guy was told a year and a half to two years (don't know why we got different time frames), perhaps quicker if the expansion happens as planned. There is a training contract but it's only for $6,500 prorated throughout the year. They don't expect you to make a career there and encourage you to move on. All they ask is that you give them a year.

 

[belchfire]

Sounds typical. Beware the Blue Koolaide!

Before the payfreeze, there was the rumor
of the payfreeze for three months. The
next rumor was that it went into effect two
weeks after the CFO's DOH anniversary!

Current pay rumor is that the gaurantee
is going to be reduced to 70 hrs/mo. That
will, for the benifit of any management
spies, go over like a turd in a punchbowl.

My advice to anyone going to work at this
establishment is...don't plan to upgrade.
Get some 121 turbine time and go some
where that gives the rasies, has a contract
and so on. If there were places hiring that
were good move , (Midway looked good
in the day), Fedex, ups, etc., and the upgrade
times were still 8-12 months, and you could
get 1000 hrs in 24-36months it would be
worth it. But you won't. Getting your time
and moving on is not happening! The people
leaving are FO's! In Two-Three years, the
people leaving will be making more than our
CA's, regardless if the pay stays frozen or
not! Even on Mesa's rj fo payscale!

Give them a year, then move on, regardless.
Things are not improving, nor
are they likely to for a miriad of reasons,
including the dedication to the continuing
viablity of the 19 seat market. There is a
sad underlying air that if it weren't for the
employees, that they could make some
money. Being privately held there is no
profit/loss statement, a mortal fear of
unions and contracts or anything else that
costs money.

Corporate airlines views themselves as a
stepping stone for the flightcrews...this
is the company line, period. What kind of
growth can a corporation aspire to with
that attitude toward the employees?

NONE!

I leave you to ask yourself what you can
expect in your relationship with such a
corporation, and beg to remind the gentle
reader that it is a much longer leap to any
other stones than it used to be, and they
are far more slippery!