Is PFT back?

[Vik]

Doesn't Northwest Airlink have a PFT deal?

It was easy a few years ago to say I would never PFT but now that the economy has changed, why spend $15k+ buying 200hrs of twin time? As long as it isn't like Gulfstream, I'd really have to think about it .. considering I had that kind of money lying around.

 

[SelectZoneFive]

Is that inner dialogue Vic, or are you telling us something?

 

[ultrarunner]

I was just wondering, are any airlines back to PFT yet? And I mean PFT in the original form, Pay the Airline or FSI for training and get offered a job as long as you pass training? I am not referring to the Gulfstream Airlines type of thing where you buy 250 hours of time.

Is it back yet?

If it's not back in one form or another, it will be. IMO it's strictly a function of supply and demand. And we know where we stand on that issue right now.

 

[bobbysamd]

Oh, no, another P-F-T debate?

Vik's point is poignant, in a way. I can relate. Hopefully, he's only thinking out loud (?) as he types, but he describes the situation I faced ten years ago. I won't start up again about my efforts to get hired, unless requested, but, for me, it boiled down to P-F-T or not to P-F-T (apologies to Shakespeare).

It was important to me, personally, that I be hired on my quals, which I possessed. Proof of that is I was called in for interviews at non-P-F-T commuters. I did not want others, and especially my peers, to think that I was hired strictly because I could pay, and be treated accordingly. Further, I found it outrageous that I would have to give an employer money after being hired. I thought it was the other way around - after you are hired you work and the employer gives you money. Finally, although it might have been a job I would have loved, bottom line was it was just a job. I knew there was plenty of other flying I could do without having to P-F-T.

To answer Vik's question, I understand that Pinnacle is connected somehow to Airlink and to get to Pinnacle you have to P-F-T, either via Gulfstream or elsewhere. My understanding may be wrong, but that's what I've gathered.

 

[Ty Webb]

As for the 300 hour wonders in the right seat . . . . Funny, the captains I talk to say something different.

They say they come out with a good technical knowlege, but have very little experience , so once they get out of their little box, they get confused and overloaded very quickly, which makes a lot of sense.

I had a Mesa RJ Captain tell me that he was trying to get out of there ASAP because he felt his certificate was in jeopardy all the time, flying into O'Hare with a 350 hour guy in the right seat.

At 300 hours, we are talking about a pilot who hasn't even seen four whole seasons in any one part of the country, let alone the high-density airports . . . . at a time when there are readily available guys with good, solid experience behind them, I say let these guys go get some experience first.

Please, no comparisons to the military, and spare me the stories of European Ab Initio, those aren;t the same. They don;t screen the same, they don't cost the same, and even if they produced little 300 hour Bobble-headed Chuck Yeagers, I still wouldn't want one in my right seat . . . . .

 

[bobbysamd]

European ab initio and military v. P-F-t

Please, no comparisons to the military, and spare me the stories of European Ab Initio, those aren;t the same. They don;t screen the same, they don't cost the same . . .

(emphasis added)

Point very well taken, although I understand that MAPD grads do well and Comair grads do well. There are also MAPD grads who wash out of training, even though they've been totally immersed in Mesa procedures from Day One and even have 1900 time.

In the European programs, those ab initio students are hand-picked from tons of applicants and become employees of the airline after being chosen. Comparing them to the military is valid.

 

[JetPilot500]

Bobbysamd

Hey Bob,

btw, sorry for reopening this topic, but I was curious.

LOL!
JetPilot500

 

[bobbysamd]

No problem . . .

So am I.

Aside from you-know-where in South Florida, I don't know of any truly-out-and-out P-F-T programs. I suppose it's debatable if FSI/ASA is P-F-T.

 

[Rook]

If you're under 1200/200 then you sign a check at Northwest Airlink (Pinnacle). They also implemented a program with Gulfstream(insert profanity here)Airlines where if you drop the check and fly the 1900 for a few months you go right into the right seat of the CRJ. Still not sure what to think about this program. But the ads make me laugh.

Rook
600' AGL autipilot on.
'WHEW!'

 

[CRJ200FO]

If you're under 1200/200 then you sign a check at Northwest Airlink (Pinnacle). They also implemented a program with Gulfstream(insert profanity here)Airlines where if you drop the check and fly the 1900 for a few months you go right into the right seat of the CRJ. Still not sure what to think about this program. But the ads make me laugh.

Rook
600' AGL autipilot on.
'WHEW!'

Actually, PCL is no longer requiring PFT for those under 1200/200. They haven't in quite a while. They do still reserve the right to though, so it could change at any time.

Check your facts about the Gulfstream thing. GIA pilots still have to interview to get a job at PCL. They don't just drop a check and go to the right seat at PCL. I didn't pay PCL a dime to get a job there. I simply passed the interview and the ground school just like any other airline.