Pinnacle...should I stay or should I go now..

[CRJohn]

Well, the latest upgrade awards are out and I am not even close.

I have over 4,000 hours, most of it in jets. I am thinking about throwing in the towell and heading somewhere that I could expect an upgrade in the next two years. Part of me says to stick it out, but another part is looking for a better opportunity.

Any suggestions about companies to look at would be appreciated.

Thanks,

A man called John

 

[viper548]

It's a huge gamble choosing a carrier that will have an upgrade at 2 years if you get hired now. You're probably better off staying where you're at.

 

[English]

The Clash...80s....loved 'em!

 

[flyinglow]

The other question is did you go there for the street captain gig and not get it, if so get the he!! out. Do you really want to be FO to some gulfstream punk.

 

[BlackPilot628]

If you have invested a lot of time at PCL and you for see upgrade with in the next 2 years or so; you are probably better off staying where you are. Of course there are other variables: Pay, QOL, and your Commute.

Best of luck in your Decision.

 

[Lear70]

That's a pretty easy one, as long as everything remains constant (which we know in aviation nothing does).

1. Pinnacle is done growing... probably for a LONG time.
2. NWA is going to file Chapt 11 in the next few months and during the process probably completely renegotiating our ASA, making it VERY difficult, if not impossible, to get good contract improvements and probably drawing out our negotiations MUCH longer as we still insist on some basic items.
3. Everyone senior to you is building the time to upgrade, so by the time awards MIGHT get to you, people senior to you will get them (happened the last several years, probably will happen again).
4. Quality Of Life, for the most part here at PCL, sucks.

All that boils down to LONG upgrade times here at PCL. IMHO anyone who has solid jet time and is marketable at another carrier where the QOL is better and upgrade times are quicker should probably get the h*ll out.

The upside to that is by the time we get ready to vote and you're still here, you'll either a.) be ready to give in for a chance at upgrade or b.) be so pissed off that you'll be ready to vote NO to anything but the best of contracts. Personally, I like B, but I'm not holding my breath.

Good luck!

 

[Meiguy]

If you bolt what is the airline your saying has a quick upgrade? I think I may try to stick it out. Especially if you've been there a while and can hold a decent schedule. I would question any lateral move at the moment. The quick upgrade you might be thinking of might come to a halt by the end of the year. Or you could just roll the dice and see what happens.

 

[CapnVegetto]

If you're a PFTer, go f-ing instruct.

 

[Lear70]

If you bolt what is the airline your saying has a quick upgrade? I think I may try to stick it out. Especially if you've been there a while and can hold a decent schedule.

That's the problem here at PCL,,, unless you live in domicile, there ARE no good schedules. Average days off are running in the high 12's, low 13's and lines are, for the most part, uncommutable (unless you're in MEM and then the trips are so unproductive you still end up with 13 or 12 days off if you're trying to fly 85 hours or so).

If the schedules / management practices here were better I'd tend to agree with you, but they're not.

 

[Waylon]

My advice would be to stay. We had FO's leave during our contract negotations and most of them would now be Captains. Wait and see what happens at NWA and that will be a good indicator if you should jump ship.

 

[dondk]

I would wait and see as well, but not for too long... The NWA game is in play with some results by the end of the year.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Every now and again a thread like this shows up on here and I find myself in the unique position of potentially helping someone to help themself.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chicken Little.

I tend to be a little bit skittish about our profession. After 4 furloughs, you would be too.

Over the course of my career i've jumped around from airline to airline to corporate flight department etc... out of fear that the sky is falling.

Had I stayed at (or returned when recalled from furlough to) any one of those companies -- i'd have been just fine. I would have upgraded within 3 - 5 years, be a mid-seniority Captain, and be making a good living.

Instead I always found myself getting nervous. Wondering when the furloughs would start. When they would park airplanes. What would happen in the event of bankruptcy etc.

So i'd leave...and start over somewhere else.

The big problem with starting over in this industry is that you cant take it with you. Any experience you've gained up to that point is worthless once the interview is over. You are no better than the 500 hr wonder-stick who happens to have been your sim partner.

So if you're like me -- take this advise: The sky is falling. Buy a helmet. Build a shelter. But do NOT hop from airline to airline. Because the minute you crawl out from what little shelter you have... <<SMACK!>> The sky will fall. Right onto your career expectations.

Good luck in whatever decision you make!

 

[Lear70]

Sorry to hear about your luck CL, but my luck has been a little different.

I was working flying Lears several years ago and the owner started breaking a bunch of regs; rather than get caught up in it, I bailed... to Flexjet. Now that particular Lear operator is down from 8 aircraft to one and is about to lose that one to the bank.

Then Flexjet turned into one crappy place to work; a BUNCH of us bailed, having heard a lot of info about how much worse things were going to get. I got on with a 727 operation making the same money in the right seat, upgraded to 727 Captain at 28 years old making $100k a year with 16 days off a month. Had I stayed put, I'd just now be capping $60k in a Lear 31 or 45.

Then we heard rumors that FedEx was taking over the postal operation and most of us were going to get furloughed; went to the VP of Flt Ops and he said, "Yes, but we think it will only be for a short time." Not trusting that, several of us took other opportunities, myself as a Street Capt here at PCL. 8 months later Express One Int'l no longer existed.

Now every story can't turn out so luckily and I'm very grateful for "divine providence", even though this place sucks it's still a decent paycheck and 12-13 days off a month, but the point is:

Sometimes you're better off following your instincts.

 

[psysicx]

Check out avanti air. You could get hired to the left seat and build multi pic.

 

[Flybet3]

Well, the latest upgrade awards are out and I am not even close.

I have over 4,000 hours, most of it in jets. I am thinking about throwing in the towell and heading somewhere that I could expect an upgrade in the next two years. Part of me says to stick it out, but another part is looking for a better opportunity.

Any suggestions about companies to look at would be appreciated.

Thanks,

A man called John

Where are you based john???