Focus Air Second Officer

[iflysky]

Quick question. I noticed on their website, they posted mins for their second officer program. Is that a form of PFT deal or is it a ligit position with pay and benefits

Thanks

 

[kevdog]

Quick question. I noticed on their website, they posted mins for their second officer program. Is that a form of PFT deal or is it a ligit position with pay and benefits

Thanks

They were taking people from the CAPT program over at Riddle. Don't know if that program even exists anymore. With all the furloughs and layoffs going on in south florida about now I would think everyone will be sending in resumes to Focus. Between Polar and Tradewinds alone there are many current and qualified crews. Good luck!

 

[Flying Ninja]

Focus is still taking folks that gradaute out of CAPT. Cadets go into Focus and be a schlep for a year before they offer you into their Flight Engineer training. You do that for a year before they offer you the SIC training. It's the only leg that CAPT can stand on right now. The only other two airlines that even looks at CAPT are Pinnacle and ASA. ASA's minimum requirements are higher these days. I suspect they might have done that to not look at CAPT resumes anymore. CAPT is no longer under Riddle's banner. They're trying to sell their program and may have a buyer already. Announcements are supposed to be early this month.

As a side note, whoever they fall under next, just make sure you tell everyone interested in flight training to stay FAR AWAY from them. The management there won't lose any sleep hanging you out to dry like they did me. Very little help in post-graduation placement, despite what they try to sell you to get you to fork over an obscene amount of money to them. With the LOW time they graduate you with, if they don't like you, you're pretty f*cked. Without them pushing your resume along, all you are is pilot who paid WAY TOO MUCH money to a program that doesn't give a sh!t about you and a logbook of useless time in the eyes of the regionals.

 

[Whale Pilot]

Focus is still taking folks that gradaute out of CAPT. Cadets go into Focus and be a schlep for a year before they offer you into their Flight Engineer training. You do that for a year before they offer you the SIC training. It's the only leg that CAPT can stand on right now. The only other two airlines that even looks at CAPT are Pinnacle and ASA. ASA's minimum requirements are higher these days. I suspect they might have done that to not look at CAPT resumes anymore. CAPT is no longer under Riddle's banner. They're trying to sell their program and may have a buyer already. Announcements are supposed to be early this month.

As a side note, whoever they fall under next, just make sure you tell everyone interested in flight training to stay FAR AWAY from them. The management there won't lose any sleep hanging you out to dry like they did me. Very little help in post-graduation placement, despite what they try to sell you to get you to fork over an obscene amount of money to them. With the LOW time they graduate you with, if they don't like you, you're pretty f*cked. Without them pushing your resume along, all you are is pilot who paid WAY TOO MUCH money to a program that doesn't give a sh!t about you and a logbook of useless time in the eyes of the regionals.

Perhaps you might try the "Old Way" like most civ's and instruct or try your hand in the military. This is how most of the pilots I know built their time. Not trying to knock your ideas but .....

 

[Whale Rider]

Quick question. I noticed on their website, they posted mins for their second officer program. Is that a form of PFT deal or is it a ligit position with pay and benefits

Thanks

Unfortunately, not many things are ligit about the airline industry these days.

 

[Smash312]

Unfortunately, not many things are ligit about the airline industry these days.

They're not 'legit' at all. You're right.

 

[big_al]

Perhaps you might try the "Old Way" like most civ's and instruct or try your hand in the military. This is how most of the pilots I know built their time. Not trying to knock your ideas but .....

not everyone wants to spend 10 years in the military or instruct for pennies a day for a few years. and by the time you are done with all that, the industry could be in even worse shape

 

[Birddog]

not everyone wants to spend 10 years in the military or instruct for pennies a day for a few years. and by the time you are done with all that, the industry could be in even worse shape

RANT ON

I read quite a bit here about people who do not want to instruct, who do not think they are cut out for instructing, or who think it is a waste of time, and yet complain about how they cannot get enough hours.
I know very few people who WANT to instruct. I sure didn't WANT to. Those that do are few and far between and are truly a rare resource. The majority of former instructors I meet did it because they had to. No one gets rich doing it. You do it because it is necessary. You do the best you can to provide your students with the absolute best education you can give them because you are a professional. If you are not good with students, you find a way to become good with them because you must. This job is filled with things I don't want to do. I do them so I can do the things I DO want to.
If you are not willing to do the difficult things you must occasionally do, find some other field of work that doesn't require it.

There are never any guarantees about the state of the industry. Everyone finds thier own way of coping with the uncertainty.

RANT OFF

 

[PHXFLYR]

Hey Birddog;


I don't think that was a "rant" at all. What it was,though was an excellent post. The sooner one realizes there are no shortcuts around the nasty gritty work that needs to be done to move forward in a chosen career field the better off they will be. As the Nike ads say "Just Do It"

Really beginning to wonder about the work ethic out there ,,,,,


PHXFLYR

 

[McNugget]

Hey Birddog.......


Nice post!

 

[big_al]

shortcuts? you call being taken advantage of as the "right way" to do it? I call that shady, whether you believe it or not. Why would somebody want to spend 10 years of their lives flying in the military (especially if they arent happy with the militaries role in current events) or be forced to live basically off poverty level wages flying for smaller airlines or instructing? you call that paying your dues. I call that getting screwed and coming back for more.

 

[mikecweb]

Yeah instructing is a pain in the butt but its all apart of the deal. Back when it was still a dream did you really think you'd have to sit next to random people and tell them how not to kill the two of you and somehow make them a pilot in resonable amount of time...hell no! But if you got further then your PPL and thought you could get to the airlines without instructing then you just were ignorant or didn't do any research.
The thing I hate reading all the time and hearing from all of my friends in the industry is all the excitement about landing an airline job and then almost immediately all of the b*tching and moaning about how much it sucks to be a regional pilot. Ummmm didn't you hear everyone else b*tching and complaining before you? Did you just think that you would get the happy experience and makes loads of money? And does complaining about your own careers decisions on FI or other websites somehow take the sting away? This is a different job then any other in many respects. Is it kinda crappy the way employees are treated and paid close to nothing.... yeah. But didn't we all know that going into it?
For some reason highlighting you're own ignorance about complaining about an industry you selected to go into seems pretty stupid if you ask me.

 

[L-1011-500]

shortcuts? you call being taken advantage of as the "right way" to do it? I call that shady, whether you believe it or not. Why would somebody want to spend 10 years of their lives flying in the military (especially if they arent happy with the militaries role in current events) or be forced to live basically off poverty level wages flying for smaller airlines or instructing? you call that paying your dues. I call that getting screwed and coming back for more.

So do you believe that paying huge money up front to jump into a jet is the way to go? Yes I truely feel sorry for any young guy out there today wanting to be a commercial pilot. But part of the flying instruction and working your way up gives you something money can't buy. That's experience and the respect of your fellow pilots. I went into the military when I was young and am still in the Guard today. I don't agree with our involvement in some of these countires but we have young men and women dying there every week. So I feel a responsibility to stay in and keep flying beans and bullets to the guys who are also there whether they believe in it or not too. I was also at CAT for a very short time and saw first hand how the 250 hour wonders who paid there way into my cockpit made flying unsafe for the rest of us who paid our dues. Or as you call it getting screwed. Somethings in life require hard to work to achieve. How you get there through the military or flight instruction on up is not an easy road. If you don't like the choices to get where most of us here are today I suggest you take a different career path.

 

[doh]

L10,
I knew you would have to respond! I think you are wasting key strokes.:beer: Here's to BBQ chicken and ribs!

 

[Draginass]

Oh, what a great idea! A "just-barely-qualified" recip pilot, not flying for a year doing mailroom duty, then onto the panel of a 747 (good luck, sonny . . it ain't a 727), then to the right seat after a year sitting sideways and two years since getting his license. That is stupid in the extreme.

Back around 2000, the supply of experienced heavy pilots dried up and Atlas starting having to take recip and RJ pilots. The reality is, the Captains I know there all complained about the lousy quality of the FOs they started getting. The company didn't care . . . they just made the Captains bear the burden. But at least the FE's were well experienced. It's not the Captain's job to make up for the years of judgment, skill, and knowledge that his crew ought to have . . . . things that only years of experience working one's way up the ladder can earn.

The 747 isn't a 414 or a Barbie jet, and flying internationally and especially in South America isn't for novice beginners.

 

[kevdog]

Oh, what a great idea! A "just-barely-qualified" recip pilot, not flying for a year doing mailroom duty, then onto the panel of a 747 (good luck, sonny . . it ain't a 727), then to the right seat after a year sitting sideways and two years since getting his license. That is stupid in the extreme.

Back around 2000, the supply of experienced heavy pilots dried up and Atlas starting having to take recip and RJ pilots. The reality is, the Captains I know there all complained about the lousy quality of the FOs they started getting. The company didn't care . . . they just made the Captains bear the burden. But at least the FE's were well experienced. It's not the Captain's job to make up for the years of judgment, skill, and knowledge that his crew ought to have . . . . things that only years of experience working one's way up the ladder can earn.

The 747 isn't a 414 or a Barbie jet, and flying internationally and especially in South America isn't for novice beginners.

Sounds like the captains are complaining if they can't get a better job where the entire crew is qualified to fly into crappy airports like in South America.

 

[Classicdriver]

The 747 isn't a 414 or a Barbie jet, and flying internationally and especially in South America isn't for novice beginners.

SA isn't a good place for even experienced crews, if the experience wasn't in SA. Driving back and forth across he Pacific won't prepare you for the fun down south.

 

[Flying Ninja]

I was also at CAT for a very short time and saw first hand how the 250 hour wonders who paid there way into my cockpit made flying unsafe for the rest of us who paid our dues.

Did you mean CAPT? And it's 225 hour wonders by the way...if they even finish flying out those hours. Many have less than that entering the regionals from that crap program.

 

[Flying Ninja]

The 747 isn't a 414 or a Barbie jet, and flying internationally and especially in South America isn't for novice beginners.

Makes you wonder about their CRM and Safety philosophy, doesn't it?

 

[big_al]

I never said pay for flying is the way to go, but how can you blame some people for doing it? Their only other option is pretty lame and basically screwing you over anyway. Just look at all the people who drop down thousands for a 4 year degree and never even use it in the real world. to some, paying for time is not that bad. but again, I would not do it. I realise its all about paying your dues and instructing is the best way to learn to be a great pilot.