Pinnacle Pilots.. Is it true?

[Lear70]

My stuff was in last summer as soon as I crossed the 500 121-PIC mark! Now I've got over a 1000, been to two Air Inc fairs, and had three AirTran guys walk my stuff in and recommend me to SG. Still can't get a dang call!!! I don't know what the deal is. If you've got any advice, I'd love to hear it. Driving 25 minutes from my house to the employee lot in ATL sounds a heck of a lot better than my ATL-DTW commute from hell.

I emailed Steph tonight and asked her what the scoop is.

If/when she gets back with me I'll shoot you a PM.

Later,

 

[falconpilot]

falconpilot, if you have a GOOD corporate job fling any one of those Falcons on your list, especially the 900, and you leave to get into the REGIONAL airline world, I'll be happy to join the lineup b*tch-slapping your stupid a*s.

Seriously, man, WTF are you THINKING??!!

Or maybe it was just a big joke (and a slam on PCL pay, which is well-deserved), in which case I apologize. Humorous sarcasm doesn't translate well over these boards...

Well here's the scoop.... I have a good job... Im 28 and Im a Falcon 50 Captain.. The money I make is decent, but its not industry standard.. I fly alot for a corporate job, about 500 hours a year with 5-6 trips international. (Russia, Europe, Austrailia). My ultimate goal is SWA.. I interviewed last June, but didn't get the job... One of my interview questions was.. "How come you didn't stay at your airline? You know, here at Southwest we like to hire people with significant 121 time." The only reason I even considered this was the fact that I could supposedly make close to what im making now, plus it would be another stepping stone to get towards SWA.... The problem with corporate jobs is that they can be here today but gone tomorrow... The first thing to go when a company gets in trouble is the airplane and everything that goes with it.... Look at Enron... It was a huge company, then things went down hill QUICK. That's not to say that Airlines can't be the same way.. I got hired at Eagle when I was 21 then furloughed a year later... Sometimes you gotta take a few steps back in order to reach the long term goal.. That's how I was approaching this... But after doing a little more research, Im pretty sure that Im just going to stay where Im at and keep trying for SWA...

 

[NEDude]

Out of curiosity, is the street captain thing pretty definate? What is the junior base for reserve captains? How many days off on reserve? How much do reserve captains fly?

Thanks

 

[ataopsdave]

I think it is pretty definite although they are talking about changingupgrade mins to give more credit for time at Pinnace...Junior base for Captains is DTW...not sure how much they fly andthey get 10 days off...Hope this helps

 

[Casper]

You will get 10 days off they will fly you until you beg for the firing squad and you will be on reserve for the rest of your life expectency.

Hey but at least you are a captain.

 

[Papps]

id rather have a guy in the left seat with 2500 tt and 1500 hours CRJ

than a guy with 4000 hours and 1000 hours turboprob PIC.

Time in type is the most important.

I see your point but i totally disagree. Jets are actually easier to fly than turbo props (i know...it sounds crazy). Some F/Os have been sitting there for 1500 hours just staring at the PFD, not paying any attention to the radar, fuel, wx. The guy with 1000 PIC turboprob has dealt with the big picture. My F/Os are all really good at flying and know their stuff, but they never look at the radar, weather at destination, possible alternates if crap hits the fan. Only half of them look at the fuel enroute, and alot of them have no idea what to do if something breaks and they need to defer it. Nothing wrong with that, they are all really great at flying and will be really good at the other stuff after about 500 hours in the left seat. But you don't learn it well until your ticket/arse are on the line for every small/big decision. but i do think a street captain should have either prior 121 time, or longer OE. 121 is eaisier than other kinds of flying but its different is some ways

 

[F16fixer]

Whats wrong with hiring street captains??? Especially if you are short on qualified pilots. The regionals put this on themselves, they constantly lower their minimums and then they cant upgrade their FO's. If you were sitting in the back would you rather have a 1500 hour captain or a 5000 hour captain. C'mon man there is nothing wrong with hiring street captains.

You missed the whole point I was trying to make. I don't care if they flew the space shuttle before they came to pncl. Experience was not the issue. It's the quality of life change. (Never mind man. If your not working here, your not going to get the joke) So come on board and lets have a beer on our long over night in Des Moines, IA together.

 

[Lear70]

You will get 10 days off they will fly you until you beg for the firing squad and you will be on reserve for the rest of your life expectency.

Hey but at least you are a captain.

BINGO!

Falcon, I'd definitely stay put. If SWA is your ONLY goal, then the PIC 121 isn't going to be as big of a deal. If, however, you're also interested in other majors, you might want to rethink it.

That was MY thinking when I got laid off the winter prior to 9/11 and had the choice between Netjets and PCL street CA. I knew I wanted to fly in the airline world SOMEWHERE, so I went the PCL route to get the 121 PIC.

Best and worst 3 years of my life, mainly because the company had good QOL when I hired on but changed everything about a year later including god-awful short overnights EVERYWHERE, trips became uncommutable, and what was SUPPOSED to be 6 months of reserve became 3 years of the above-mentioned treatment by scheduling.

I used sick calls religiously just to get a break after an especially grueling 6-day flying marathon just to get a few days off at home. No WAY I could have survived that being married without moving into domicile.

The crews were what made it the best 3 years. The DTW domicile was VERY small and had just opened and everyone knew and partied with each other. It's not like that so much anymore, but guys still have a good time from what I understand.

If I hadn't done that, I'd be home-based with Netjets as a 7th year CA making just shy of $100k a year with 14 days off a month.

Since I DID go to PCL, I'm now starting my 2nd year at AirTran, averaging 16-20 days off a month. Only making $50k a year. Again. But upgrade is 4 years or so and it's nice having almost zero responsibility and flying 2 or 3 legs then going into a 14, 16, or even 20 hour overnight on the beach.

Speaking of which, I'm headed out to the beach before it rains. Good luck!

 

[Lear70]

You will get 10 days off they will fly you until you beg for the firing squad and you will be on reserve for the rest of your life expectency.

Hey but at least you are a captain.

BINGO!

Falcon, I'd definitely stay put. If SWA is your ONLY goal, then the PIC 121 isn't going to be as big of a deal. If, however, you're also interested in other majors, you might want to rethink it.

That was MY thinking when I got laid off the winter prior to 9/11 and had the choice between Netjets and PCL street CA. I knew I wanted to fly in the airline world SOMEWHERE, so I went the PCL route to get the 121 PIC.

Best and worst 3 years of my life, mainly because the company had good QOL when I hired on but changed everything about a year later including god-awful short overnights EVERYWHERE, trips became uncommutable, and what was SUPPOSED to be 6 months of reserve became 3 years of the above-mentioned treatment by scheduling.

I used sick calls religiously just to get a break after an especially grueling 6-day flying marathon just to get a few days off at home. No WAY I could have survived that being married without moving into domicile.

The crews were what made it the best 3 years. The DTW domicile was VERY small and had just opened and everyone knew and partied with each other. It's not like that so much anymore, but guys still have a good time from what I understand.

If I hadn't done that, I'd be home-based with Netjets as a 7th year CA making just shy of $100k a year with 14 days off a month.

Since I DID go to PCL, I'm now starting my 2nd year at AirTran, averaging 16-20 days off a month. Only making $50k a year. Again. But upgrade is 4 years or so and it's nice having almost zero responsibility and flying 2 or 3 legs then going into a 14, 16, or even 20 hour overnight on the beach.

Speaking of which, I'm headed out to the beach before it rains. Good luck!

 

[PCL_128]

I emailed Steph tonight and asked her what the scoop is.

If/when she gets back with me I'll shoot you a PM.

Later,

Thanks, Rich. Maybe I can overlook those drinks you owe me.

 

[Lear70]

Thanks, Rich. Maybe I can overlook those drinks you owe me.

No, no,,, no overlooking, I still owe you a c-note worth of frosty adult beverages.

I honor my bets.

Check ur PM's, I talked to Steph this morning.