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Pursue Compass or stay a commuter?

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pilotjustin

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Posts
9
Need some advice. . . . . My current situation has me a senior FO, about 3-4 months from upgrading at a US AIRWAYS EXPRESS wholly owned carrier. I am commuting from MSP to the East Coast (one leg) and would love to avoid the commute.

What is the latest with compass? Will it be the next midatlantic?

Would it pay to jump ship so close to upgrade to avoid the commute or should I stay and get the upgrade and hopefully move on eventually?

Thanks for the advice. (BTW . . .I am not considering moving east)
 
You are making a huge assumption that Compass will still be around in 24 months
 
Might as well try and get an interview.

Living in base is so much better than commuting. Upgrades at Compass will be relatively quick. It would be a lot more enjoyable to sit reserve on home than in a crashpad.

Remeber every promise or plan in this industry is always subject to change. Good luck with your decision.
 
If you've got the upgrade coming in a few months, then you'd be nuts to leave for Compass unless it's for a street-Captain position. Don't give up PIC time.
 
pilotjustin said:
Need some advice. . . . . My current situation has me a senior FO, about 3-4 months from upgrading at a US AIRWAYS EXPRESS wholly owned carrier. I am commuting from MSP to the East Coast (one leg) and would love to avoid the commute.

What is the latest with compass? Will it be the next midatlantic?

Would it pay to jump ship so close to upgrade to avoid the commute or should I stay and get the upgrade and hopefully move on eventually?

Thanks for the advice. (BTW . . .I am not considering moving east)
Click to expand...
Stay where you are, upgrade, get the time and get out of the regional world. After all, it should be everyone's goal to move on out of the regionals and into the majors.
 
If you are a few months away from upgrade, than that is more certainly positive for your future than all of the ?????'s related to Compass. You will most likely get PIC time faster where you are than if you go into the uncertainties of Compass.

From the other postings I have seen regarding Compass, it seems that if you were to try to interview now, and than wait for your training date (and I think the pay during training at Compass is close to nothing...) you will most likely be starting as an FO, and then you will have to wait again.

Who knows, maybe Compass could turn out to be a great place to work (anything's possible, right?)

But you are close to upgrade now. You would probably be better off staying where you are and enjoying whatever seniority and longevity you have already earned there.
 
What's more important to You?

PIC time that will allow you to chase the mainline job?
(That you will STILL commute to, unless you get NWA)

Live and work from home--MSP?
(you can always move for a job, but if you choose to stay in MSP, just how many airlines have bases there?)

Compass is very risky. NWA could flow back and you could find yourself on the street. You could also find yourself at NWA in 5 years. Life gives no guarantees. No one on these boards has a better crystal ball than you do.

What do you want from life? A high paying airline job?--Go to Mainline. Relatively high seniority that allows you to fly 1 and 2 day trips from home--Go to Compass.

I am in the exact same situation as you are and have given this a lot of thought.

What it boils down to for me is that living and working in the same place has a higher value than commuting to a job that pays marginally better.

I would rather live and work in the place I want too than commuter. Plus, if I decide to chase the mainline job, I still can. Their will be a shortage at mainline--just wait. If Compass fails, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Giving up lots of seniority at your current job is very hard--I know. But--If you choose to leave--rip the rear view mirror off and don't look back. You have no idea how your career will end up!

Good Luck!!
 
Tough decision. Living in domicile can make a crappy job not so bad though. Fortunatly for you hiring is rampant at XJ, PCL, and Compass. Upgrades at are already down to new hire seniority at PCL and XJ/Compass won't be a long wait.

If I were you I'd stay and get the PIC type rating in whatever you end up upgrading in and then leaving. Those things can be tremendously valuable in the contract pilot world if the crap ever hits the fan for you.
 
These guys are right, stay where you are, get the type, start building PIC. Suck it up for a year and 1/2 and get 1000PIC. Then you have options. Go with the sure thing.
 

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