PSA/Eagle/Skyway?

[pugshots]

I have job offers from PSA, Eagle, and Skyway. Which one would you take? I'm from Northeast, single, and want QOL than faster upgrade. Need to make a decision quick. Thanks for any input.

 

[greenpickle]

PSA or Eagle

Skyway is going to have you in CVG or MKE and they are growing super fast...which means chaos, fast upgrades, and mass confusion (which is the good type of confusion for us that have been here a long time). If you are single and just starting out in the regional arena AND you are already looking for quality of life (which is okay) Skyway will knock you down. You will work alot and you will spend 30% of your time on days off commuting.

Skyway is great people, safe planes, and a warm climate. (ok I lied about the climate) BUT it is alot of work.

Skyway is not your bag IMHO.

 

[328dude]

PSA is in a growing phase and has some serious scheduling issues with the CRJ. Upgrades depend whether we get all 85 airplanes or not. Being from the Northeast, the PHL base might work out better.

Hopefully things will improve over the next year.

 

[Speedbird34]

PSA is the best of all those companies, best pay, fast upgrade and best training program. Same as mainland US Airways.

Goodluck

 

[greenpickle]

Huh?

PSA is the best of all those companies, best pay, fast upgrade and best training program. Same as mainland US Airways.

Goodluck

With all due respect, how do you know this? One can usually give input on their company but you can speak with authority on all of them? As a 90 driver with 2200 hours you proabably have friends at these places and have heard their stories. You should finish your authoritive statements with "or so I have heard".

Soemone is looking for advice and one would hope it would come in the form of first hand knowledge.

 

[pugshots]

The reason I want QOL over faster upgrade is that I really sacrificed my social life for the last several years and want to re-establish it somewhat (I am not in my 20's anymore, more like close to 40!). I have worked at an airline and understand how the life on the road goes. I would be ok with min days off and willing to do hard work. PSA might be out for me because of the tie to US airways. I know everyone at Skyway is super nice. Are they really getting all the Do328jet from ACA? If they are, I'd love to take a part in the growth. Eagle appeals to me because of their state of art training center, traveling benefits, and a lot of friends of mine work there. However, someone told me 8-10 years to upgrade?

 

[fam62c]

Tough Decision!

Hey Pugshots:

First off, congratulations on having 3 job offers and a choice to make...that's a nice position to be in. Additionally, the fact that you are single gives you another advantage: you can easily move to the base that you will fly from. The previous poster mentioned having to spend "30% of your time on days off commuting" but this is a choice you make. I've always found that pilots who commute are almost without exception less happy with their jobs than pilots who live in their bases. Skyway looks good right now although there will certainly be a period of major instability as the Delta Connection plan gets up to speed. If everything happens as planned you would have the choice to live in MKE or CVG, both decent places with reasonable costs of living. You would gain seniority quickly and have the option of upgrading quickly or staying as an FO for better schedules. If you choose Skyway try to avoid the 1900 like the plauge. The 1900 fleet is usually understaffed and the combination of poor aircraft utilization and typically short flights translates into very bad schedules that never seem to get better. One word of warning: Skyway is hiring for the "planned" expansion but their is a risk that the Delta Connection deal will never happen and mass layoffs would occur. The deal has yet to be finalized or announced publically and Delta may end up in Bankruptcy court which could cause them to reject the leases on the Do-328Jets and abandon that portion of the Delta Connection system; obviously leaving Skyway hanging in the wind.

PSA seems to be growing, but there are obviously risks here as well. They are owned by Usairways and the future of the entire USAirways Group is very uncertain....things don't look good for them. I could be wrong here and I don't work at PSA but I would think that the morale has to be pretty bad there and I wouldn't think it would be a very nice place to work at, but again, I'm just guessing.

I don't know much about Eagle but they are huge and I would think that they will be a survivor. AMR may be one of the big beneficiaries if USAirways and UAL pull back service or, God forbid, cease to exist entirely. Eagle may not grow quickly but they should be the most stable of the 3 airlines for the long haul.

Good luck with your decision, in the end you will have to make it on your own. When you talk about "QOL" you need to decide what that means to you because it means different things to different people. I hope you get some good advice from this forum but beware: pessimism, negativity and cynisicm runs rampant on these message boards. This industry has gone through some very tough times and there are a lot of very unhappy pilots out there. It's not an easy career path and being junior at a regional airline is never easy. I wish you the best with your career, and whatever decision you make don't look back later and second-guess yourself; nobody can see into the future of this industry.

 

[DrinkSweetTea]

PSA is the best of all those companies, best pay, fast upgrade and best training program. Same as mainland US Airways.

Goodluck

Best Pay? Say it aint so. I know what PSA, but not the otherrs, and if PSA is the best, thats bad.

And what is the same as "Mainland" USAirways

 

[Speedbird34]

alright! corrections accepted. I mean mainline US airways and my remarks are from my own personal perspective. I work for PSA and our moral is very high. Growing from a 30 airplane prop company to 85 airplanes, brand new CRJ 200 and 700 and talking new pay rates. almost every pilot on the property will be a captain in 2 yrs or less. We have area's were things could be better but this is a great company to work for. super nice people and US airways pulled out of bankruptcy. Keep a positive outlook and I believe you will be alright whereever u go. I am not bashing Skyway or Eagle. They are good companies but I still feel PSA is my first choice over every regional company out there becos of the growth and I know for sure we will still be here years from today..

 

[DorkProp]

You "know for sure?" I had your same enthusiasm four years ago when I started at PSA. There was talk of jets and upgrade was in two years or less. But a year later that was all turned upside-down. I missed the first furlough by seven pilots. Since then we've been in a continuous cycle of hiring and furloughing. I was fortunate to upgrade after two years but was downgraded when the war started last year, then reupgraded three months later. I spend five days a week on reserve. My morale is NOT high because it's been a very wild ride for the last three years. I'm tired of scheduling, tired of bids being late, tired of being paid incorrectly every month, and tired of the hostile attitude toward pilots by management.

Now we are hiring like mad and I hope that there is a bright future here for everyone that is hired. But growth can turn into down-sizing in a blink of an eye. Don't think that just because US Airways emerged from chapter 11 means that they are suddenly profitable and secure. We have still not made a profit in over three years. Our shiny new CRJs are bought and paid for by GE Capital and other investors who can pull the financing at any time now that our credit rating is a C++.

To the original poster: I know you will enjoy your experience at PSA if you choose to come here. You won't find a better group of guys and gals to fly with. You will also be trained by one of the best training departments out there. And you'll fly brand-new 200s and 700s. But keep in mind that all of our growth could possibly stop, or even reverse itself at any time. On the other hand, our growth could continue and maybe even involve larger aircraft in the future. Nobody knows. I wish you luck with your decision. And please feel free to PM any PSA pilot on this board for a more in-depth analysis of life at PSA.

 

[amcnd]

I think I would go to Eagle. Not because I fly for Eagle, but I think out of the three it will offer you the best stability for living in the northeast, and best quality of llife. the down side is a solid 5 years to upgrade but we have a strong next 2 years. 60 more firm orders and 25 options. We should have about 3400-3800 pilots by the end of 05 with about 2600 right now.

 

[Looking4Traffic]

Is Skyway going to get the Delta DoJets?

Greenpickle or anyone else with knowledge about Skyway:

Heard a rumor that Skyway might not get the CVG ACA DoJets because of scope concerns with another one of its carriers -- I have no specific knowledge; just heard the rumor. I'm ignorant and I admit it but inquiring minds want to know . . .

 

[greenpickle]

Good one

Nope, I havent heard that one yet but it sounds like one that would stir it up a little. I start spreading it and let you know if its true.

 

[FO 4 Life]

Apparently Eagle has finally decided we're short staffed. They currently train 2 ERJ classes a day: 1 AM, 1PM starting every 2 weeks. We were just told that they are going to run 4 classes a day starting every 2 weeks, 2 in the AM and 2 in the PM. That's if they can hire enough people. Most of the pilots who just started, interviewed the week before class.

We do have more flowbacks coming. 384 are eligible but only 19% have chosen to flowback in the past. There is a grievance concerning TWA flowbacks since we did not get any seniority numbers for their new hire classes. 3 jets a month coming for at least the next 1 1/2 years. In the end, who knows.