Great Lakes VS. Colgan

[BSkin]

Is Colgan hiring with less than published mins?

No, but they'll sure as hell fly below published mins....at least when I was there.

 

[AutoCars Armed]

Colgan is slightly better...Great Lakes is called Great Mistakes for a reason

 

[WhiteCloud]

Well you guys beat me to it.
I have an opportunity to buy a car, the 2 I have to choose from are a 1990 Ford Tempo 2 door and a 1983 Chevy Chevette. What would you choose?

Which one has the better maintenance history?

 

[AdSo81]

Colgan is slightly better...Great Lakes is called Great Mistakes for a reason

Look...a rhyme!

 

[NickASA]

Aside from Great Lakes being a tough place to work, they have the best pilots and some of the most difficult flying you could ask for the continental US. You might want to talk to a few lakers before going over there. I would also add that they pay is awful and I would not recommend commuting, not one bit. Additionally great lakes has probably put more pilots in the front of big jets than any other commuter. Touch place to work, awful pay, militant training = quick upgrade.

Colgan is slightly better...Great Lakes is called Great Mistakes for a reason

 

[HughBeamont]

No, but they'll sure as hell fly below published mins....at least when I was there.

Come on now BSkin, Colgan's dispatchers would never put us in harm's way

I love when I pick up a release to see who is dispatching me and find that it's "Dispatcher Training".

Hello, could I please speak with "Dispatcher Training"?

 

[BRA]

Well i think BSKIN was referring to certain outlaws flying the planes. "1000 above, on profile. 500 above, on profile. 100 above. Minimums, no contact. 100 below, on profile. 150 below, runway in sight. Landing. Geez, this thing lands hard from the left seat, i spit up chew all over my shirt. "

 

[Guitar Guy]

As for the issue of GLA vs. Colgan, I agree with Crossky that where you want to live should play a big role in your decision. Commuting stinks, period, and if you can live in your domicile, either job would likely be tolerable if you are able to tough it out to get your PIC time. Both airlines pay low (Lakes being the lower of the two) and you are at the mercy of scheduling. But at either company, you should have the opportunity to move to the left seat fairly quickly and hopefully move on after that.

I spent 4 years at Lakes and I gained a lot of valuable experience there. And I know that most of the captains that I fly with at my current employer all remark that pilots coming from the turboprop operators like Colgan and Lakes can really fly and handle going into small as well as large airports.

 

[Kaman]

Profiles...We don't need no stinking profiles! Alright, theres the hospital...make a 90 degree turn...viola...runway in sight! Oh crap...there's those **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ed turkeys again...Yeah? We'll just land a little long...MAX reverse...no sweat...


Oh the difference between Colgan vs. Great Lakes:

Let's see...A Root Canal vs. A Colonoscopy...(works for either carrier)

 

[cpierse]

I'll agree that commuting makes your QOL pretty low. Colgan's fine if you can live where you're based, but remember that we have something like 25 bases. Your chances of staying at your base through upgrade is pretty low. You could be an FO in Presque Isle, ME and then a captain in Tyler, TX - no sh!t. At least Lakes has just a couple bases...

Either way, these are both great jobs to improve your experience.... just a little painful sometime. Of course, I can't talk too much smack with my unimaginative screen name.

 

[idratherfly4283]

Out of curiousity is Colgan really as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and after flying with colgan where do most go? To other regionals, where they take a step back, or corporate where they are on call all the time and sit around an FBO's for hours?

 

[19pilot]

After being FURLOGHED from lakes i had 10 interviews at different regionals within two weeks. Every interview that i went to someone mentioned how tough lakes training was and how hard it is. They have an awsome repuation for putting out good pilots.

The pay does suck but you will be living in awsome city right by the rockies instead of mannassas virginia or IAH. You tell me! I can promise that you will never find a better group of pilots than at lakes. Everyone is in the same boat and makes the best out of it!

 

[Flying_Corporal]

Out of curiousity is Colgan really as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and after flying with colgan where do most go?

Nope. Some pilots left Colgan for "greener pastures" now to find themselves bitter sitting as 3d year FOs in shiny RJs because their former Colgan classmates are pushing 2K PIC as Saab/Beech captains.

The maintenance does suck, schedules are ok and pay is low. But most of us come from CFI background and it's a night and day difference in the positive direction. Just be happy and make the best out of it.

There is also no reserve after training (a buddy of mine at COEX sat for 4 months before he actually got a line out of EWR).

I can promise that you will never find a better group of pilots than at lakes.

Just because out of 2-3 regionals you've worked for Great Lakes has best pilot group doesn't mean that they're the best in the entire industry.