Wow, I go away to work and come back to find an entire page added here. Now for my $.02 (that's 2 cents, not .02 cents....;-))
I have to agree that everyone needs to be more sensitive about bagging on others' aircraft. Seems that this is a touchy-feely sort of board and people get pissed quick when you call their plane a piece of crap.
I flew in a shorts when American Eagle (or whoever the hell they were in 1987) was flying them out of ORD. It was a POS then and it's doubtful it's gotten much better with age. It's ugly but at least it has a nice paint job. Don't take it personal, as long as you enjoy you job, that's all that matters.
As for the PFT issue, it's a joke. Some guys were getting into Alpine for $3k then all of a sudden it was $13k. $11k for Trans Air? And what are the guarantees. How many hours do you get for this $$? What about the sorry individuals that get their xxx hrs and don't get retained?
It is amazing to think that folks would pay $11-13k for some "training" and to be slapped around by a company in order to build multi time. WP can't fill their classes so maybe people are scrambling to get that elusive 200 multi to interview there. Whatevahs.
The biggest issue for TransAir will be logistics. Word is that they are looking to squeeze into the space between Island Air and Pacific Wings in HNL. Mahalo was there once. There's no room on the ramp for anyone with WPs expansion and not much space inside the terminal.
So many questions, so little time.