"Never been a better time to be a pilot..."

[ferlo]

http://www.erau.com/er/hotcareers/pilot.html


Where's that barf bag?

 

[The Drizzle]

says Cass Howell who i believe was involved in the tailhook scandal

 

[The Drizzle]

feel free to google before anybody cries about it

 

[PunchTheClown]

what a joke

 

[727Plumber]

"It's the Harvard of the sky" best quote yet.....ROTFLMFAO

 

[D-Bo]

http://www.erau.com/er/hotcareers/pilot.html


Where's that barf bag?

D*mn. I have a degree from Riddle and am a little
embarrassed by that brochure.

 

[ackattacker]

“When the interviewer asks where you did your flight training and you say Embry-Riddle, it’s done"

 

[Purpled]

says Cass Howell who i believe was involved in the tailhook scandal

Well, at least he did something worth doing before going to riddle

 

[TheDogsBollocks]

ERAU & Kit Darby-both smoking the same crack pipe!

 

[Captain Overs]

Funny how they fail to mention the huge debt load you'll accumulate, unless mommy and daddy pay.

 

[Whale Rider]

Keep the toilet paper stories coming.......its good reading on the can.:laugh:

 

[propjob27]

Many are aiming for a job like Sharon Sweeney’s. The first officer with United Airlines flies a 777 from New York to London, Tokyo, and Singapore.

Wait, what year was she hired?

 

[ferlo]

Wait, what year was she hired?

The OTHER year it was never better to become a pilot...

 

[pilotyip]

There is world wide pilot shortage and it is coming to the US, watch the hiring take off next year as the 2007 hiring boom kicks in. True there will never be a shortage of pilots, but the experience level of the entry level pilot will continue to drop. We will see pilots hired in 2007, that could not get an interview in 2005. We already see it at the regional level.

 

[xjlifer]

There is world wide pilot shortage and it is coming to the US, watch the hiring take off next year as the 2007 hiring boom kicks in. True there will never be a shortage of pilots, but the experience level of the entry level pilot will continue to drop. We will see pilots hired in 2007, that could not get an interview in 2005. We already see it at the regional level.

Yea but the regional level is the true sh!t hole of the universe right now. It always has been like triple A baseball only now you have to pay for the gas to ride on the rickety bus to crappy city's.

 

[Gorilla]

"Never been a better time to be a pilot..."

Oh, really. Exhibit A: 1960's era major airline pilot. Cash equivalent of $500,000/year. Era of free love. Hot flight attendants fight over you on layovers.

Exhibit B: 2006 ERAU grad, huge debt, hired by any number of cheap a$$ outfits. Earns $25K; does turns to Ramen city. Any FA's are tired old gals who live with cats and hate you.

It's a tough decision...

 

[TheGuat]

He's good! Riddle taught him to fly anything! And he
has a guaranteed inteview at CAL!

June 8, 2006
It has been a while since my last entry! I have been sooo busy here in Houston. Busy enough in fact that I couldn't even travel last weekend. Today I just took my checkride in the MD-80 simulator here at Continental. I passed and am now a MD-80 captain and my instructor commended my crew partner and me on what a great job we did. He asked if we had flown the MD-80 before and I said no, but Embry-Riddle does prepare you to fly just about anything.
Tomorrow is our LOFT flight which stands for Line Oriented Flight Training. We will be flying a flight from Houston to Austin and then coming back to Houston to see what pilots experience on a daily basis. So far in the simulator we have been dealing with emergencies, engine failures, and the like so it will be nice for a change to just fly and enjoy it. The best part about the whole sim training is that Continental uses the MD-80 for interview flights. Maybe if I am lucky they will still have it here when I interview in a few years and I will still remember the systems and flows which will make the interview flight that much easier.
Our instructor has been a huge help to us. He is a 737 instructor and really knows his stuff. Everyone here has been so nice to us. They see that we are interns and ask how things are going, where we are from, and then give us their business card and say if there is anything you need just give me a call. It really is a family here and I can't wait to be a part of it.
May 25
It's Thursday night and for every Continental intern that means packing time! Every Thursday night we get our travel bags ready to jump seat to the destination of the weekend. For me that place is Seattle , Washington. My roommate and I are traveling out there for the weekend and meeting up with a friend of his. We aren't sure where we are saying or how we are going to get around but that's half the fun of just jumping on a plane somewhere.
This will be a nice vacation from the MD-80 ground school I have been in for the past week. We are cramming all the systems and operating procedures of the airplane in our heads in only a week's time. Next Wednesday we begin our actual simulator training with an instructor in the full motion simulator. I can't wait!
My time here is going by so fast because they keep us so busy. I haven't had a free weekend to explore Houston except for the first weekend we were here. After that I flew to Washington D.C. , then to Orlando, and this weekend Seattle. Not sure yet where I will go next weekend but I'm thinking San Francisco or maybe Boston. I'll check the flights next Wednesday and make my mind up then. For now though I need to pack!
May 15
It's been a busy week here in Houston. I had my first jump seat experience this weekend and it was amazing! I flew from Houston to Washington, D.C. to visit my parents for Mother's Day. I have flown into D.C. a hundred times but never seen the flight from the flight deck. I learned so much about flying large transport category aircraft by just observing the crew. It is a great learning experience and the free travel isn't bad either.
I begin MD80 simulator training next week and I am scrambling to learn all the aircraft systems and checklists before the first day of ground school. I am in the first group of interns to take part in the simulator course and am not sure what to expect or exactly what to study , so I will just have to study everything.
Tonight some of the interns and I went to the Astros baseball game to see Barry Bonds try to hit homerun number 714. Even though the Astros lost and Bonds didn't get his homerun it was good to sit down with the other interns to talk about what we have been doing. We really don't see too much of each other, at least the interns we don't room with. We wake up early and stay late at work or at the training center studying MD80 systems. I t seems like I walk into the apartment and it's already 9 p.m. I haven't eaten yet, still in my dress clothes, catch up with my roommates and by the time I look over my e-mail and relax it's midnight and time to head to bed to wake up at 6 to catch the shower rotation. But I can't complain , I love it here and look forward to every day.
This week I'm planning on jump seating down to Orlando to visit my girlfriend, I'm a little worried because it can be tough to get flights into and out of Orlando, especially in the summer months. But ill check the loads before I head out to the airport.
May 8
I'm sitting in my Houston apartment, it's 8:30 pm and I am exhausted but can't wait for tomorrow to begin. Today was day one as a Continental Airlines Intern. I still can't believe I'm here; it seems like a dream still.
The day began early with my alarm sounding at 5:15 am. I had worked out a shower schedule with my roommates so we would be out the door by 6:15. The drive to work had been given a dry run in the days before. I had come out to Houston four days earlier with my girlfriend and just explored the city. We took in an Astros baseball game (we won and I'm now a life long fan), visited the aquarium, took in some of the Houston night life and celebrated Cinco de Mayo in one of the many Mexican restaurants within Houston. Two days ago I moved in to the apartment that I share with two other Continental Interns. There are 12 Interns in all, 10 in Houston, one in Newark , and one in Cleveland .
The department I'll be working in for the next four months is the Flight Safety Department at Continental. I am so happy that I've been given the opportunity to work in this department. As a safety minor within the Aeronautical Science degree program the knowledge I have acquired over the past three years will be put to good use. I will be entering data into the computer system as well as traveling to other airports to perform safety audits. These audits are to ensure that Continental ramps, gates and concourses comply with federal regulations. On top of my daily work we will be taking high altitude training, sitting in on Boeing 777 ground school classes, visiting the airport rescue and firefighting facility, traveling to Newark to visit the east coast hub, and the crown of the internship, MD-80 training. And let's not forget about the unlimited domestic jump seating. We are encouraged to travel on weekends and see the world, from the flight deck.
For now I still have to iron my shirt for tomorrow, study some manuals, study up on the company for the safety meeting I'll be sitting in on tomorrow and most important Ill be getting some sleep.

 

[Black Hawk]

Basically this silly ad is just spelling out how relatively low paying jobs that used to be considered stepping stones are now career destinations.

 

[TheGuat]

Basically this silly ad is just spelling out how relatively low paying jobs that used to be considered stepping stones are now career destinations.

Exactly!

 

[Andy]

Wait, what year was she hired?

Sweeney, SB DOH: 10/28/91

 

[Patriot328]

He's good! Riddle taught him to fly anything! And he
has a guaranteed inteview at CAL!

I can't believe I'm about to jump into this, but what the hell... First, I hope he really didn't say Riddle teaches them to fly anything.. man what a tool, albeit an enthusiastic tool. However, I imagine most interns do really well during those MD80 training courses (I wasn't an intern and never did one) because they are college students who are in "study mode" and are obviously very very very excited about the material. I'm sure if you take Captain Riddle up to EWR and drop him off at C74 and said take that MD80 parked at the gate down to DCA today, he might have a little difficulty.

As far as getting an interview at Continental, just about every former intern gets one. It's part of the "benefits package" of being an intern. There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of former interns hired at CAL since the last hiring cycle began in 05.

 

[TheGuat]

Name: Frank

Major: Aeronautical Science
Age: 18

Originally from: Tucson

Favorite Movie: Joe Dirt maybe, I don't really know

Favorite Book: Anything Stephen King

Favorite Band: Led Zeppelin

Favorite TV show: Family Guy

Goal: Become a professional pilot for an airline or corporate company

Interests: Working on my 1963 Ford truck Rat Rod, Building R/C planes, playing the Bari Sax

Why did you choose ERAU?: Seemed like the place to be. Good name and reputation, close to home, and not nearly as cold as the other choices.

​

Without my folks, I’d be screwed. There’s no way I’d be here at ERAU, I’d probably be in a community college at best. They still pay my gas tab, my food bill, my car insurance, and most importantly, the student loan. Thanks guys. April 22, 2006
Wow, only one more week left of the semester.
It feels really weird to be coming up on the end of school so soon. It almost seems like only yesterday that the year started. Classes are drawing to an end, and it’s making for a weird feeling. I am REALLY hoping to get my check ride before they make me leave for the summer. I was hoping to get signed off for it after my flight on Friday, but I was having problems getting my soft field landing right. For a while the problem was a shaky approach, and then I wasn’t flaring up soon enough, and coming down rough. I was having trouble gauging when to bump the throttle, and the nose was touching down too soon. My next flight is supposed to be with another instructor, to help me get it straight for the check ride. The issue bothering me now is that the year is almost done for now, and I’m not squared away yet. I have to re-do both sections of the check ride, and that typically takes a few days to get done. I can get extended to stay in the dorm until May 7, but no longer. I suppose in the very worst case I could be a floor-guest in my roommate’s dorm. He’s staying for the Summer A session, and so will continue to have a place to live.
I’m going to try to get a job over the summer, only issue will be the fact that I’m going to NYC with my family in the beginning of July. That might preclude my ability to get hooked up some place. I’m actually hoping to score a job with FedEx; I learned the other day about how exceptionally good they are to work for. One of the guys in my writing class made a presentation about them the other day, and really opened my eyes. I have always been mostly set on an airline, but not opposed to cargo; but now my goals have been altered.
FedEx it turns out is an excellent place to fly. Because there are no passengers involved; flight time requirements to get hired are lower, there is less of a crunch to be “on time” so it is more laid back, and business is a lot more regular. Granted, a lot of cargo flies in the middle of the night, but at least it would be a regular, consistent schedule. There would be no “on call” status- when a pilot gets called into work on his day off, and is expected to be there in 20 minutes. I would get to come home on a daily basis, and therefore wouldn’t have to live exactly the life of an airline pilot; they are typically away from home for 3-5 days, living in cheap hotels and eating 90 percent of their meals in crappy restaurants.
FedEx, for a flight operations company has a relatively large number of planes, and a small number of pilots, due to the fact that their types of operations and laws will allow this. This is a good thing, as it allows for pilots to climb the ladder of seniority quicker, and allows the company to pay the pilots better. The captains of their big planes make over $200,000 in a year; and because of the structure of the company and the fast seniority ladder, one can make it to that level in roughly ten years of flying with the company.
The way FedEx does business with its employees, though, requires that every employee has to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb their own way to the top. My Business Management professor worked as upper management for both FedEx and UPS, and knows the ins and outs of both. I believe she is of the feeling that FedEx is better, but that really doesn’t matter. My point however, is that she said that she was hired by the companies with a direct purpose of being upper management. She was well qualified, and would have been hired straight in, but that isn’t how it works. They made her start at the bottom, just like everybody else. She drove a truck in the middle of the AZ desert, crashing into mesquite trees and such to build enough seniority to get her job. After about 5 years of working with the company, you’re pretty much guaranteed an interview for the position you desire.
This is why I’m hoping to score a summer job at the hub in Tucson. It has odd work hours, but it would be worth it. I would probably be working as a package handler, sorting and moving boxes into and out of the trucks. The typical shift is 2-7 am; which would hurt a bit, but could be dealt with. I could definitely deal with the ugly schedule, as I can also deal with the great pay- They start at $9 an hour. I could positively live with $225 a week. I would be going to work with my dad basically, well, a bit earlier I guess. But FedEx and Pepsi, where he works, are in basically the same neighborhood. I just have to start building time with the company as soon as possible, so I can get a pilot slot ASAP. They also have a FedEx hub in Prescott Valley, about 20 minutes from here. I could possibly maintain the job up here too, working on a transfer status between here and Tucson. Whatever: enough jibber about my new dream-job.
Last night at about 1am, my roomie and I decided to alter the artwork on “the rock”. You see, the rock is the centerpiece of the campus- where students can go to make a “school appropriate” statement. It’s a huge boulder that is caked in spray paint- the paint is over half an inch thick in places. We wrote out the entire lyrics to the LLAMA SONG on the front of it. We were in a strange mood, and did a strange thing. I’m sure weirder things have been scrawled on the rock, but I bet that is pushing the limits.
We drove to Jerome tonight, and ate at the Haunted Burger. It was expensive for a burger, but it was worth it- The patties were ½ pound each. I got a double with chili, and it was GOOD. I got leftovers too- and I’m looking forward to eating it. Jerome is such a weird little town, precariously perched on the back side of Mingus Mountain. When we were done at the restaurant, we drove up to the hotel on the hill; an old mental asylum. It’s really a cool place, with some interesting architecture going on- especially considering the fact that it was built as a nut house.
The road between here and there is fun, it’s SO twisty. Going through the mountain, the switchbacks in the road are so tight that the suggested speed limit seems almost too high on a few turns, at least in my truck. My truck handles about 300% better than it used to before I put in the sway bars, but it still isn’t a mountain rally racer by any means. On one turn, the tires were squealing at 20 mph. There were a lot of people on that road that really didn’t want to shut off their high beams; I think I got blinded at least 5-6 times. It sucked.
Well, I dunno what else to write about, so I guess I’ll blog everybody again next week, which may be the last.

 

[pilotnbr1]

This is where ALPA and the pilot group drops the ball... Any pilot wannabe should be educated on how it really is out here. Any 17/18 year old fresh from highschool only hearing the B.S. that places like Riddle shovles daily in order to attract new suckers is going to signup. Once they have invested 100k plus, realise what its really like and have a worthless degree in Aeronautical Science are committed at that point and then only perpetuate this "race to the bottom". Bitching about it here on flight info isnt enough, people going to places like Riddle should at least do so making an informed decision.

 

[Rook]

right now. It always has been like triple A baseball only now you have to pay for the gas to ride on the rickety bus to crappy city's.

More like the cape-cod league. At Triple-A, at least there's always a chance of a late season call-up.

Rook

 

[pilotyip]

All the more reason if you want to be a pilot fly airplanes, build time and do your degree on the side. By the time the ERAU graduate goes into the job market he is competing with the HS grad who has 2000 hours by age 22 and a good chance of turbin PIC. At age 26 when the ERAU grad has his 2000 hours the HS grad has his on-lline degree 4000 hours and is more competive for that airline job. Plus he has no debt.

 

[AceCrackshot]

All the more reason if you want to be a pilot fly airplanes, build time and do your degree on the side. By the time the ERAU graduate goes into the job market he is competing with the HS grad who has 2000 hours by age 22 and a good chance of turbin PIC. At age 26 when the ERAU grad has his 2000 hours the HS grad has his on-lline degree 4000 hours and is more competive for that airline job. Plus he has no debt.

Plus, without the degree he has almost no chance at a decent job at a first tier outfit! Yoo HOO!

 

[Scrapdog]

"Never been a better time to be a pilot..."

Oh, really. Exhibit A: 1960's era major airline pilot. Cash equivalent of $500,000/year. Era of free love. Hot flight attendants fight over you on layovers.

Exhibit B: 2006 ERAU grad, huge debt, hired by any number of cheap a$$ outfits. Earns $25K; does turns to Ramen city. Any FA's are tired old gals who live with cats and hate you.

It's a tough decision...

Look at the root cause of exhibit B, which you just mentioned...it's the fact the hypothetical clown in your example went to Embry Ridiculous in the first place. If you don't go to Embry Ridiculous, then exhibit B doesn't happen at all. There are plenty of other aviation routes into professional aviation besides Embry Ridiculous.

 

[bubbers44]

I agree with pilotyip and scrapdog. I went to ERAU back in 66 for a couple of months and realized I could get the same training for half as much at the local airport. Nobody was impressed with them. The ads they put out sucked me in but did nothing to help. Get the good time and if you feel you need the degree get it on line while flying full time and showing you can fly any kind of approach to minimums all day long. That is what they are looking for, not college degrees.

 

[kingairyahoo]

Plus, without the degree he has almost no chance at a decent job at a first tier outfit! Yoo HOO!

...read the quote (that you yourself quoted) one more time there, silly goose :smash:

All the more reason if you want to be a pilot fly airplanes, build time and do your degree on the side. By the time the ERAU graduate goes into the job market he is competing with the HS grad who has 2000 hours by age 22 and a good chance of turbin PIC. At age 26 when the ERAU grad has his 2000 hours the HS grad has his on-lline degree 4000 hours and is more competive for that airline job. Plus he has no debt.

 

[ils2minimums]

The huge debt load and useless degree aren't really all that bad considering a few of the positives...

1) You get a cool class ring
2) You get to tell people you went to "Riddle"
3) From the day you graduate, til the day you die, your sh!t never stinks again!