Need 411 on Empire Air

[wingit]

apply

apply, go work there, get quick upgrade, leave when your training contract is up to get job with major, live happily ever after. it is a stepping stone, not a job to keep until retirement. it is a good job, and the people you work with there are great. don't let what you read here get you down on the company. it is what it is. if i believed everything i read here i wouldn't want to work for anyone. just pilots venting. normal. don't worry about what other people think.

 

[blingair]

I think what Wingit said is a little misleading. A quick upgrade could be quik-er or be forever. I only know of one person, ever, who has gone on to a major airline and he just got hired a few months ago and after working at Empire for over 5 years and after working at a jet operator for two years after Empire.
If you sign on, you will have to be here for a year and a half, if you upgrade the minimum is 2 and a half years (1 1/2 years for your F/O contract and an additional year on top of that for upgrade, you must pay one before starting the next) and thats assuming you get your 1000 TPIC which will almost surely take longer (most bases only fly 10-12 hours a week with 10+hours in hotel or apartment. Thats a long time to have someone else have total control over your life. Its a impossibly long time if you have a wife and kids.
I do think that if Empire wanted to, it could be a retire from kind of company. These many pilots who are being honest with people on FI are not just venting but are talking about serious QOL issues that aren't being addressed. Yes the pilot group is filled with awesome people but people who also desperately feel they have no other choice but to leave. It cant be helped but to fill the cockpits with the constant vinegar of "why is this happening" conversations.
If your really want a stepping stone, go to Skywest or Ameriflight. You will at least know what you are getting and without a contract. I know that I would want all the truthfull info on a company if I were looking to work there. Its ironic that not one pilot I know would recommend a friend to work here but many are risking their careers to improve the situation before we move on.
Make a decision but make an informed one. If you want to know what a village is like ask someone who lives there and not the travel agent.

 

[blingair]

I'll correct myself, three have gone to the majors, 1 Southwest, 2 Alaska.

 

[atr42flyer]

what happend to the public forum on the EPG?

 

[blingair]

Threats against our wonderful webmaster closed the O.P. Since the open communication process has been terminated due to failure the EPG website is now just a B.B. It seems a new feeder (all feeder companies) website is in the works and will be open to all pilots, dispatchers and even management. Of course mass anonymity will guarantee the site stays open and objective.

 

[skydivinguy]

the open forum being shut down sucks!

maybe you guys can come back here for your gripes?!?