effin colgate

[30West]

Is PDT the end-all-be-all of airlines? Hell no.

However, if someone is seriously trying to make a comparison between Colgan and PDT as far as regional pay, QOL and workrules go, it is THEY who need to put down the cheap whino juice.

PDT comes out ahead in every objective category... Period. True regionals generally suck. True you work your arse off at all of them. But my days off, vacation and pay are better at PDT than they would be any day at Colgan.

Oh and Colgan's 400 rates? I can't believe them. Insane.

True PDT comes out ahead, but there are worse than CJC also.
Hell I remember back in the day 10 years or so ago PDT was THE place to be. Great pay, QOL etc, from the guys I knew who worked there.
But look how far all regionals, collectively, have fallen. Guaranteed, none have yet touched bottom.
It's easy to throw stones at a certain pilot group, but be careful because there is nothing that guarantees your regional won't be next. Not even ALPA.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

True.

The fortunes of all airlines ebb and flow. Thats why I laugh so hard at the "Goin' to CHQ upgradin' in 2 months United in a year" Piedmont new hires. Maybe or maybe not homey. Hell, on 9/10/01 I was 6 months from upgrade at PDT. It took me 3.5 more years.

I had a lady CHQ EMB-145 CA once tell me that the "growth here (chq) will NEVER stop." Even though I was sitting in her jumpseat, I laughed out loud. Thanks for the ride, really, but you might want to get some glasses for that lack of foresight. Could be deadly to your expectations...

And no, ALPA can't guarentee anything. But some representation beats none at all hands down.

 

[vectorvictor]

True.



And no, ALPA can't guarentee anything. But some representation beats none at all hands down.

That's for sure my friend. Hey one thing nice about Colgan, I do sleep at home just about every night. (For now.)

 

[G2T]

I don't talk to the hired help.

Ooooo, a WO shot at the contracts, nice. Unfortunately being owned by UsAir doesn't mean everything! Big Brother is rather oppressive, and definitely not the kind of guy I'd introduce my sister to.

 

[flyforfood77777]

If you have the luxury of automatically getting hired somewhere as soon as you get that magic turbine PIC number, fine, go to that substandard regional. But if you may have to spend more than 2 years there, you may want to actually do some research on things like contracts, quality of life, and financial benefits beyond hourly pay (healthcare, profit-sharing, other bonuses). All regionals are a joke to some extent in terms of pay, but you can at least have decent quality of life. And I am sick of hearing that "I need to pay the bills, feed my family" bs rhetoric. You can make more with a decent cfi/135 job than year 3 at a lot of these companies. In terms of ALPA, they don't do a ton in terms of making this a viable career, but they do tons in terms of job protection and the potential to have a decent contract that management actually adheres to.

 

[Thurman Merman]

Don't start threatening the jumpseat. Myself, no matter what airline you work for I bust my butt to get a jumpseater on. If there is an open seat on the airplane he gets on, period. I've put Pdt. guys on when we were ferrying to lga because of lack of a FA. We have a lot of Pdt. jumpseaters and I do not deny a one, I suggest anyone thinking otherwise should do the same, Colgan or Pdt.