Question to current Pinnacle Pilots

[B777]

I just received an e-mail from Pinnacle invinting me to an interview. The funny thing is that I don't remember submitting a resume to Pinnacle. Matter of fact, I have not submitted to anyone since Sept of last year. Then I remember back in like Nov 2004 I gave my resume to a pilot that was a friend of mine. He said his roomate worked for Pinnacle and that he would give him my resume to walk in. If that is the case then they must be really desperate for pilots to be calling on a resume that is 1 1/2 year old. Are they?

My question to the Pinnacle pilots: How is the quality of life? What is deadhead pay? What are the minimumd days off? What union are you represented by? and how long is the upgrade time? Also, what about travel benefits. What kind of travel benefits do you get on NW, do you have to pay to travel? Like United for example I think you pay like 3 cents a mile or something like that. Is it the same at NW for Pinnacle pilots?

 

[blackbox]

I just received an e-mail from Pinnacle invinting me to an interview. The funny thing is that I don't remember submitting a resume to Pinnacle. Matter of fact, I have not submitted to anyone since Sept of last year. Then I remember back in like Nov 2004 I gave my resume to a pilot that was a friend of mine. He said his roomate worked for Pinnacle and that he would give him my resume to walk in. If that is the case then they must be really desperate for pilots to be calling on a resume that is 1 1/2 year old. Are they?

My question to the Pinnacle pilots: How is the quality of life? What is deadhead pay? What are the minimumd days off? What union are you represented by? and how long is the upgrade time? Also, what about travel benefits. What kind of travel benefits do you get on NW, do you have to pay to travel? Like United for example I think you pay like 3 cents a mile or something like that. Is it the same at NW for Pinnacle pilots?

What with the huge font?

QOL? not good. If you live in base its not too bad. If you commute, we are on CASS and do have a commuter clause. However the work rules are pretty bad. Not mesa-esque, but not a whole lot better.

Dh pay is %50, same for Cx due to Wx and Mx.

Min days off is 10 for both reserve and line holders. But i think in May the avg day off for line holders is 16. woo-hoo. but in April it was really $hitty, 5 year guys were getting like 11-12 day off lines. We are suppose to start Pref bidding in sept or oct. We are running parallel bids for 6 months tosee if the pilot group likes it or not.

We are represented by ALPA

Upgrade time? I dunno 2-3 years, maybe 4-5. I have no idea.

Travel Benefits? I havent worked for any other airline so I cant compare but I dont think its that great. They have started this new non rev annual fee. If you want to use the non-rev bennies youhave to pay a 50 dollar annual fee per person, it think max is 200 or 250. SO for you and your wife it would be 100 bucks plus the normal fees. Only the buddy passes and Registered Travel Companion pay a mileage based fee. For the others its a set rate plus applicable taxes.

So there are the answers. If you come here knowing that its a regional, you will be fine. You're gonna get abused by scheduling, but once you're off reserve and dont have to deal with them as much its not bad. The CRJ is fun to fly, the destinations are pretty descent, and the crews are great. but the second year pay for F/Os is ridiculous. Capts pay is on par with the rest of the industry. and another important note. We are currently in Contract negotiations. so the FO pay will go up along with some work rules. So things can only get better, I hope.

 

[finnjl]

Pinnacle is one step up from MESA. It is a bottom feeder for regional. It used to be good when you could upgrade quick but not anymore. No growth. The company does not honor the contract. FO pay is bad until year 4 then it breaks 30/hour. Captain pay is ok but you are making what the typical college grad makes. They DH you a lot and only pay you 50%. There are 4 day lines with maybe 2 actual flights and 2 DH so you actually lose money to do a line like that. It cost more to eat than you make. I would only go there if you do not have any other options. Contract is weak when compared to other regionals. IE you will not make any extra money with pay protections. If scheduling changes your trip you will lose the difference if there is less time. I started off with an 89 hour line and ended up getting paid garauntee when scheduling was done. No pay protection in the contract and the contract is nowhere near being done, contrary to what the company or union leaders say. They have TA a lot but it is the easy stuff not compensation, scheduling, etc. I am comparing travel benefits to ASA/Delta and I would not really call them a benefit. Not that great. I can not really think of a reason to work at Pinnacle unless you want to get some quick RJ time and leave as quick as you can.

 

[updraft]

do you all get significant other travel benefits for $50 like a gf

 

[Flying Ninja]

Pinnacle is still hiring? Funny how two of my classmates who submitted their resumes to Pinnacle (courtesy of CAPT) didn't get a call and it's been close to 10 weeks for them now. Then again, CAPT is accused of playing favoritism and have a tendency to "lose" resumes. But that's the quality of post-graduate support you get from a bunch of morons with a Ph.D. in Mismanagement. But back to the Pinnacle hiring discussion. Are they still interviewing/hiring people?

 

[dondk]

We are a regional.. start with that and either work up or down depending on what you want and what you need (notice I did not say what you are looking for).

QOL is all what you make of it.. Live in base and it is not bad, live close to base (commuting) and it is still doable. Live in SFO and commute to DTW, it will suck.

Pay could be better, but that is the same for everyone, DH is 1/2, we do have limited pay protections but most of our pilots are too lazy to know it and complain when they are getting screwed.

Travel bennies.. well with the flight full, it really does not matter because your not going... it is an annual registration fee with charges per leg. NWA never had a decent travel program compared with others.

10 days off min... line holders can be between 10 and 20 days off.. Averages vary by base but 14 is a safe call.

Alpa is the union...

Upgrade... 3yrs is a safe start.. with attrition at its current rate and the hiring of low time peeps.. 2 1/2 would be the LOW side... low timers could be looking at 3-5 depending on seniority and base.

 

[pinn82]

To answer your question Pinnacle is still hiring. They have said they want to hire anywhere from 350-500 pilots this year. Don't know if it is for just attrition but we have been loosing on average 20-25 pilots a month. Here are the class so far this year.
Class Pilots
1/3/06 14
1/13/06 14
2/6/06 7
3/6/06 24
3/13/06 14
4/6/06 13

Not quite 30-45 pilots a month but they have been doing interviews almost everyday, but have been very picky it seems like in the interviews. If you apply pretty much everyone gets an interview if you meet the mins but are only hiring about 25-40% of the interviewed.

 

[berkss]

Is it possible to get a significant other on to the traveling benefits or is it strictly spouse? Do those benefits start right after you finish class or does it take a few months to kick in?

Also what is DH, is that Dead Head?

 

[dondk]

Subject of Attrition... it varies from month to month, the highest is 40 per month, the lowest was 15 and that was in Aug last year. The average is 25-30 per month. The record was 14 in 1 week and that was about a month ago.

The mix is about 40/60 (CA/FO) currently. Those leaving are heading to the Major/LCC/fractionals that are hiring, some are going ex-pat, others are heading to sweet corporate gigs near home. The rest are throwing in the towel and that is about 15% of the total number.

We can't cover attrition, and we are being a bit too selective in the hiring process. If the interviewers get a hint that you will be gone within a year they will not even consider you.

As for significant others, it depends on how significant... passing girlfriend of 6 weeks will not fly, be together for a while and yes.. Or you can always got the route of registered travel companion.. Not complete travel bennies, but enough to go somewhere.

travel bennies start the day your hired (checkride).

DH is deadhead... if your junior... you can plan on spending more time in the BACK of the aircraft then in the front.

 

[instructordude]

I just received an e-mail from Pinnacle invinting me to an interview. The funny thing is that I don't remember submitting a resume to Pinnacle. Matter of fact, I have not submitted to anyone since Sept of last year. Then I remember back in like Nov 2004 I gave my resume to a pilot that was a friend of mine. He said his roomate worked for Pinnacle and that he would give him my resume to walk in. If that is the case then they must be really desperate for pilots to be calling on a resume that is 1 1/2 year old. Are they?

My question to the Pinnacle pilots: How is the quality of life? What is deadhead pay? What are the minimumd days off? What union are you represented by? and how long is the upgrade time? Also, what about travel benefits. What kind of travel benefits do you get on NW, do you have to pay to travel? Like United for example I think you pay like 3 cents a mile or something like that. Is it the same at NW for Pinnacle pilots?

Congrats on the interview! You have just taken a step towards being an airline pilot. I am jealous. Get me in an RJ!

 

[Svetti Grundel]

Wow, instructordude that's a pretty unabashed case of SJS....refreshing!!

Does anyone know how soon you are eligible for their insurance plan after your checkride (hired)?

 

[YourPilotFriend]

Congrats on the interview! You have just taken a step towards being an airline pilot. I am jealous. Get me in an RJ!

Gimmick accounts should be banned unless they are funny.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Congrats on the interview! You have just taken a step towards being an airline pilot. I am jealous. Get me in an RJ!

Yeah, you should check out his posts in the majors forum. Classic case of SJS.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

Wow, instructordude that's a pretty unabashed case of SJS....refreshing!!

Does anyone know how soon you are eligible for their insurance plan after your checkride (hired)?

90 days

 

[mayoplane]

Sorry....

Pinnacle is still hiring? Funny how two of my classmates who submitted their resumes to Pinnacle (courtesy of CAPT) didn't get a call and it's been close to 10 weeks for them now. Then again, CAPT is accused of playing favoritism and have a tendency to "lose" resumes. But that's the quality of post-graduate support you get from a bunch of morons with a Ph.D. in Mismanagement. But back to the Pinnacle hiring discussion. Are they still interviewing/hiring people?

With total time like 250 hours, I would be happy to get an interview with any airlines regardless of how long I had to wait to get a call.

 

[breds98]

What time does groundschool start and end at Pinnacle?

 

[Flyingdutchman]

after breakfast and before dinner

 

[ReverseSensing]

What time does groundschool start and end at Pinnacle?

When the little hand is on the 8 and the big hand is....oh, nevermind.

 

[CX880]

Jesus, what you Pinnacle guys have just described seemed kind of SHi$%Y. And you're saying that Pinnacle is better than MESA! What, does MESA make you fly for no pay?? How can things get any worse. Please tell me that at least the pilot group/airline workers are decent or are they all high school dropouts? There aren't that many PFT 500 hour guys are there? Also what kind of flying do you do, a lot of 1 hour flights? I don't think I've ever seen a NWA Airlink route map.

 

[Top Gum]

They say 90days from check ride but that’s not exactly correct. The insurance starts 90 days from the last day of the month in which your check ride was taken. Unfortunately, you could end up going six months with out any insurance if your check ride is near the first of the month because the ground training can take up to two months to complete.

The real problem is that if you are without insurance for more than 52 days you will not be covered for any pre-existing health problems until your one-year anniversary of being accepted into the insurance program.

Some states have insurance programs designed for really poor pilots like us. Be sure and sign up if you qualify and then they can’t get you and your family on the pre-existing clause.

Another option is to pay for short-term private insurance just so you don’t go >52 days without any coverage.

Good luck.