PFT mistake

[fastguy]

I may have made a mistake and I need to know what you guys think about it. I paid for a few hundred hours in the right seat of a turboprop at a company that required an SIC. It was a great experience because I wasnt "babysitted", I was a required crewmember that had an equal share of duties. People at my flight school (including CFI's and cheif pilot), and other airline pilots encouraged me to do it. But, I just joined flightinfo.com about a week ago and ran a search on PFT (too late i guess). There were so many negative and violent comments toward people who PFT'ed that it bothered me. Some of them are so mean that I'm sure if I met one on the street I'd be beaten up, I mean, look at some of these posts!!! I am now being paid at the company which is rare because they usually dont hire the guys that pay for their time. It's only happened one other time in the past 2 years and I am fortunate to have a job, although I would prefer a 121 job.
But now I'm thinking I made a huge mistake. From reading the posts about PFT, I think I'm doomed from the airlines because I did this. The regionals are obviously my goal and I'm hoping the PFT on my record will not hinder that. Go easy on me

 

[Be200pilot]

I think you'll be ok.
It's good that you got hired after your paid time was up.
Most major airline pilots really dont care, mostly its the new regional guys who have bad things to say about it.
Don't stress man

 

[CaptWidgeon]

It's cool dawg...

don't sweat it too much fastguy, you're getting paid now. with the time you have you've got a bit more flying to do before a regional so just keep doing what you're doing. if it were to come up in an interview, which i doubt it would but that is only an opinion, i'd say be honest. tell them you were new in the industry doing what you thought would be best and you didn't realize what PFT was all about.

from people that i've known who have PFT i've never heard anyone say they think they didn't get a job because of it.

just my .02 cents. Good luck!

 

[T-Gates]

Dude I am in the same situation. The fact is that you already PFT'ed and can't change it. Just roll with the punches and enjoy your new job.

PM me if you have any questions...

--03M

 

[skylane58]

Your alright, I wouldn't stress about it. Even if you didn't get hired, I think it would still be alright in your situation. You do what you can in this buisness, esspecially nowadays. Live and learn, and you'll do fine.

 

[FL000]

I personally don't condone what you did (as if anyone cares what I think), but I don't think it will be an issue in the interview. Outside of asking the question directly, which won't happen, I can't think of any way the issue will arise. It's just another job on your resume that you can talk about with your interviewer. Compensation, or anti-compensation in your case, probably won't come up.

The worst that could happen is that some militant crewmember finds out what you did and slam-clicks on you at the overnight, but that's not always a bad thing.

 

[stillaboo]

Ever notice that it's the regional guys who have the biggest problems with PFT, bring politics into the JS, and fight over the particular strength of various low-paying contracts? In the same way that GA pilots learn the ways of the industry through flight instruction, flying freight, and PFT scams, regional guys are also learning that the bitter infighting over petty issues ultimately hurts pilots more than it helps.
Don't worry about your past PFT. It's in the past, and, provided you don't exhalt in the idea of paying for a position that could have been a paid position to another pilot, you really won't get called out on it unless you bring it up. Shhhh . . .

 

[AWACoff]

Politics in the jumpseat isn't for the regionals only. There are PLENTY of mainline pilots that use the jumpseat as a weapon. Why don't you go ask any of them what they think about RJs? I wouldn't if I were you. Now you know why I commuted on American and MidEx to and from DEN instead of riding United. The majority of the crews were treating express guys very poorly (until chapter 11). Ever notice how pilots (me included...doh) tend to lump things together and make blanket statements?
Blue skies...remember, correct for adverse yaw.

 

[B190Captain]

Don't worry about a thing fastguy. No one cares about that. It's not like you got violated or anything. So don't stress it.

 

[acaTerry]

You did WHAT?!!!!

Just kidding. Really, people go to this board in the hotel, after crappy WX, broken airplanes, etc that put them in a bad mood. I dare to say a lot of the ire in here is heat-of-the-moment stuff.
Worrying about a PFT mistake is about as pointless as a guy getting hired at Mesa 5 years from now worrying about asking for a jumpseat because of the Freedumb fiasco that happened long before he even had a private pilot license.

Some of the stuff that goes on in here is real no-sh1t rage, especially when the bar gets lowered instead of riased. Too often we go after our fellow pilots instead of the real bums who are responsible for it all.

 

[B190Captain]

I agree Terry,

I was jumpseating once on UAL and the Captain actually looked me up on the ALPA Blacklist. I told him there was no need for that, I was in high school when all that sh*t with Eastern was going on.

 

[metrodriver]

B190: that captain might also be looking for folks who are using an id fraudulently.

 

[slickmagneto]

FASTGUY

You have a paying job and a lot of guys don't. It seems to me that you're better off than you think.
Just keep humming to yourself the song DON"T WORRY, BE HAPPY

 

[duksrule]

There are two questions you need to ask yourself. Once you answer them, move on with your life and don't waste another second worrying about it. The answer to #2 will be the exact same as whatever you answer to #1.

1) Are you currently being paid to fly while there are numerous pilots looking for work?

2) Did you do the right thing?

 

[bobbysamd]

Ex post facto P-F-T reaction

I will dispense with my usual Faust-inspired anti-P-F-T rhetoric. You cannot unring the bell. You did what you did. Now, you must deal with it.

You need to prepare answers to anticipated interview questions about why you did what you did. I suspect that you will encounter a few hostile interviewers who did not P-F-T and resent those who have or do. I sure wouldn't trumpet it at an interview.

I suspect that this board reflects more anti-P-F-T reality than Jim believes. More people than one might believe do not appreciate those who cut in line ahead of them with their checkbooks.

acaTerry's point is valid about P-F-T purveyors. They are the real cause of the problem and they should be dealt with. But how??

Best of luck with your career.

 

[T-Gates]

Re: Ex post facto P-F-T reaction

I suspect that this board reflects more anti-P-F-T reality than Jim believes. More people than one might believe do not appreciate those who cut in line ahead of them with their checkbooks.

I won't dispute the fact that many, many, pilots out there do not like PFT or those who did, but those represented on this board are a vocal minority in the real world. For every one pilot that would verbally bash a PFT'er, there are 10 that wouldn't. Postings on a message board are a medium for everyone to express thier opinions in a open forum. No one knows who you really are, you are just a screename. In the real world you are a face and a real name. You would risk a whole lot by verbally be-rating someone in public or on a flight deck. Some pilots out ther would take the risk others will not. PFT is an unpopular choice, but when educated about it and once you understand the ramifications of what you did, it is a desiscion you can live with.

--03M

 

[80/20]

There are various opinions about what Fastguy did. Some might disagree and criticize, but few would condemn Fastguy forever as if he had crossed a picket line and taken the jobs of others on strike. Most would agree that this is not a career breaker. Airlines have many pilots that invested in additional ratings and experience after their initial training. Some will say that this is the best investment they have done. Others that stayed longer at low salaries/more basic equipment do not appreciate "paid shortcuts".

We should try to live by the standards set in our industry. It can be a funny world. Some foreign pilots can tell how their airlines have hired pilots with no previous experience. They train and even pay salaries during training (private, commercial, instrument, multi and type ratings). This is normal in several countries. Other foreign airlines have had sponsorship programs where they have paid for training and promised future jobs. Salaries for experienced instructors can reach more than 50.000 USD in some countries. I have heard foreign pilts say that they would never pay for any training and that what we do in the US is wrong. Pilots that come from such systems will naturally say that if all US pilots would refuse to pay for even private, commercial and so on, than the airlines would have to pay more. They will suggest that instructors should not work for almost anything. We seem to draw the line at the type rating and experience level. From a pilot's view we would like to see the airlines pay as much as possible. Obvious there should be a standard and this is not a suggestion to legitimize taking someone else's job, but where do we draw the line?
Who gets to draw the line?
When is it justifiable to criticize?

 

[bobbysamd]

Face time with a P-F-T'er

In the real world you are a face and a real name. You would risk a whole lot by verbally be-rating someone in public or on a flight deck.

Of course. For one thing, it would be unprofessional. It would be poor human relations and CRM, especially if you must fly with that person all that month.

Doing so in an interview would also look bad. I dunno if that is done in interviews; if it is done those people had forgotten that they are representing their company and are portraying an image to the applicant, who is a guest on their property.

(I attended an Express I cattle call nearly twelve years ago to this date; the captain who spent maybe five minutes with me was somewhat abrupt, which I did not care for.)

Despite your feelings for P-F-T'ers, you have to get along with them if they are your co-workers, or else you look bad. I had similar experiences in radio. I worked hard for years to get where I finally wound up, which was a major radio station in a large market. Our news directors frequently hired reporters who had little or no experience. I resented how they got where they did in such a short time, and felt they degraded the newsroom by their inexperience and/or incompetence. But I kept my thoughts to myself and worked with them - though I never really accepted many of them.

 

[wil]

PFT? Get a rope!!

 

[B190Captain]

B190: that captain might also be looking for folks who are using an id fraudulently.

How would he verify if my ID was genuine by looking at a Scablist?