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Is this possible @ PCL

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Casper

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Posts
83
I don't know how much truth is in this however I spoke with one of our check airman today who does interviews he said that they are so desperate they are interviewing people that have not yet recieved their commercial license and if they make it through the process they are offering a conditional offer of employment which is contingent upon passing their commercial checkride.
Has anyone else heard this ? How much lower can it go ? Or should I say how much more dangerous can it get ?
 
bullsh*t
 
I don't know about all that. It's my understanding that there isn't a First Officer shortage at Pinnacle. It's a Captain shortage.

g
 
I don't know how much truth is in this however I spoke with one of our check airman today who does interviews he said that they are so desperate they are interviewing people that have not yet recieved their commercial license and if they make it through the process they are offering a conditional offer of employment which is contingent upon passing their commercial checkride.
Has anyone else heard this ? How much lower can it go ? Or should I say how much more dangerous can it get ?

Arent they already offering jobs to FUTURE ATP career program grads?

-Rob
 
Those ATP guys are pending completion of the CRJ transition course. They still have (at the minimum), Commercial/Inst/ME.

The lowest mins I've heard of someone getting on with Pinnacle was about 206TT and 20ME (C/I/ME), and that was through Jet U.
 
Heard that someone recently made it through the whole interview process and ground school at Pinnacle, only to be discovered on his/her oral exam that they did not possess a multi-engine rating. Somehow had slipped through the cracks.

Sad, if true.
 
not like 300 hours more around the pattern would make 'm better pilots...
 
I don't know, the guy I spoke with has been here for quite some time and I have talked to him on several occasions he seems like a stand up fellow I don't think he would be the kind of person to gossip.
 
I hope it's true. Isn't that like how it was 40 years ago, or so?

The only problem is that 40 years ago a newhire might fly right seat in a DC-3, not a jet. Regional captains shouldn't have to be CFI's.
 
That DC-3 was a heck of a lot more difficult to fly (from a stick and rudder standpoint anyway) than an RJ.

And from a personal experience stand point I can tell you the power plants on a DC-3 are a HELL of a lot harder to manage than an RJ. Your argument carries no weight lindsay. That said, a 200 hour pilot is going to be worthless to a captain for anything other than folding the gear and making PA announcements.
 
The pilot issue shortage is not a PCL problem or a national problem. It is a global problem.

ICAO has a way to get zero time pilots into large narrow and wide body jets with 250TT. Your competition is global.....
 
Going back to the original post, there was a guy at the local flight school that I know of who got hired there before having his comm. He then finished his training and then started at 9e with less than 300 hrs.
 
Don't remember his name off the top of my head, It just happened a few months ago so we're probably not thinking of the same guy. As I don't think he would be a captain yet, but you never know.
 
It's absolutely true that pilots were hired at >200 hours and pre-COMM ratings 40 years ago, albeit to fly sideways for 6-10 years. In fact, companies like PanAm would send recruiters to local FBA's to scrounge up new SO's.

I flew with several who did their COMM checkrides in a DC-8.

p.s. It's also true that an RJ is considerably easier to fly than anything with a DC in front of it.
 
The only problem is that 40 years ago a newhire might fly right seat in a DC-3, not a jet. Regional captains shouldn't have to be CFI's.

Actually, 40 years ago, a newhire prolly rode sideways on the panel but good point, nonetheless...but I don't think the DC3 had autofeather or auto anything for that matter.
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdutchman
not like 300 hours more around the pattern would make 'm better pilots...

Yes it would.
Especially if they applied themselves and did something other than just fly around the pattern. Why do people think that being a CFI is nothing more than showing up and checking off the boxes on the syllabus? Or that they wont do anything but PPLs? Are they too lazy to really learn instruments to the point where folks will seek them out? Is it because they were trained at a puppy mill and dont know anything different? They think that they are so put upon to have to get 1000+ hrs before flying 50,000lb aircraft at 500mph. Look at some of the recent threads asking if suchandsuch time would be enough to get hired.

Now granted, when you can get a job at a regional with way less time than you can get one risking your life nightly flying checks or car parts in a sh!tty Aztruck, I would probably do the same thing. Seniority is everything. I dont know if I blame the kids (or the grown-ups like me that came into this gig later in life), but if its not their fault, the system is surely broken.
 
Am I the only one that thinks everyone should do a little single pilot, night fieght prior to flying 50 plus people???
 
That DC-3 was a heck of a lot more difficult to fly (from a stick and rudder standpoint anyway) than an RJ.

One of my Commanding Officers in the Navy said that if you could land a
DC-3 in a crosswind, you could fly anything.

I don't think he was kidding.
 
Just talked to a ASA CA in the van the other night doing IOE. His student had 202 hrs upon hiring at ASA.

As for the low flight time. Global airlines have been hiring guys with 200-250 hrs for years. It is just recently that the US is doing it. I would be more concerned with the guys that do just enough than the low flight time alone.
 
Single-pilot freight/charter work is the way to go if you want to improve your piloting abilities. Unfortunately, we all suffer to varying degrees from the "I want it now." mentality. All those hours spent making decisions on your own to keep yourself alive will be wasted however, when you strap yourself into an RJ with a Captain who never did anything before more challenging than flying around a traffic pattern in Florida or Arizona, or repeating "right rudder" while warily watching a level two thunderstorm build on the horizon. You'll likely end up frustrated that you took the road less traveled to build skills that you'll likely never use anymore.

Your Captains will appreciate your skills...that's about it.

That's funny about talking on the radio. Don't know how many times I call the tower to report a midfield downwind for runway XX though.

Today's "regionals" are flying into the busiest airspaces in the world. 250 hour pilots are a liability more than an asset in most cases. As a pilot, I can't blame them for accepting the opportunity given them. I wish the system worked differently.

Time will tell if an increase in accidents/incidents will be enough to stop the business practice of destroying a profession to the point where the best and brightest are no longer interested in pursuing the career because they can do better elsewhere.
 

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