Regional F/O or Ten Grand Corp. Captain?

[LegacyDriver]

Regional F/O or Ten Grand Corporate Captain?

Hey, here's a good one...


"I have a friend who..."


No, *seriously*! I have a retired military friend who is trying to shuffle his lifestyle around. He left the Regionals to go corporate but the company he is with is not upgrading him like they promised. Meanwhile, junior folks are getting the upgrade ahead of him. Kinda' lame.

He is thinking of a career change and here are his options:

1) Go to another corporate place as an F/O and risk the same mess.

2) Go to a Regional and be an F/O forever with the hope of someday upgrading.

3) Go to a charter operation as a Captain *now*, the kicker being he has to pay for his type rating in their equipment.

I told him to bite his tongue and get the type. If ten grand gets you out of two years being a radio beeyatch then I say it's money well spent. I almost think I'd do it myself if I had the cash.

What do you people think? This goes against my principles, the whole pay for training crap, but then when you think about it most of us PFTed from Private through MEI so maybe it's not such a bad thing to do after all.

 

[Bandit60]

Just wondering why they are upgrading guys around him. Did he do something wrong.

When you go to any corporate, you have to remember that this is a company not an airline. Most promote on job performance more than years of service.

 

[LegacyDriver]

No. I know him well and know for a FACT he has a clean slate.

They said they wanted him to get some time in the airplane before upgrading. However, I think it is cheaper for them to leave him where he is and train new people rather than spend money on him again to go back to school. That's my take.

Regardless, supposing he is on their bad boy list the question remains, is this a smart move?

I say go for the Captain slot.

 

[TheRaven]

Re: Regional F/O or Ten Grand Corporate Captain?

If ten grand gets you out of two years being a radio beeyatch then I say it's money well spent. I almost think I'd do it myself if I had the cash.

2 years of being a "radio beeyatch".....I don't know where you've been flying, but to say that and slander half the pilots in commercial cockpits is sad..Most FOs do as much flying as the Captains they fly with...maybe you were/are a "radio beeyatch" (totally shocking with such a good attitude), but it isn't common.

Not everyone can be a Captain, (until single pilot cockpits on 737s are the norm) and time served in the right seat is time well spent preparing you for the transition......while some upgrade times are excessive, a couple years in the right isn't unreasonable.

 

[LegacyDriver]

Some people can't take a joke. You know, "Radio B*tch", "Switch B*tch", "Gear Handle B*tch". It's a joke dude. Get over yourself.

The guy has already been an F/O. He was a turboprop Captain at another company, went to the majors, got furloughed, and now is doing corporate. For obvious reasons, recall at the majors may never happen at his age and with the state of the industry as it is. I'm really revealing too much information without permission.

Nobody is answering the question so forget I f'ing asked, okay?

 

[climbhappy]

You have this one isolated a PFT issue. THat is really a PRIDE issue anyway for the folks that don't understand our capitalist system.

you also said an option is be a regional FO "Forever" with the hope of upgrading.

He could go to Colgan right now and upgrade in months. They are a regional. however small they may be.

I think your friend considers his own QOL issues look at his checking account and says," what am willing to give up to get?
Is stroking a check gonna solve all his problems. many facets of the problem are out of his control. He must decide what's important. He must have patience!

 

[LegacyDriver]

Well I think he already decided all of this for himself, but I made the financial argument to him.

Pay $10K to make $60K = + $50K

Pay $0 to make $17K = + $17K

To me it's a no-brainer. Buy the type.

 

[Bandit60]

They said they wanted him to get some time in the airplane before upgrading. However, I think it is cheaper for them to leave him where he is and train new people rather than spend money on him again to go back to school. That's my take.

I don't understand exactly what you are telling me. Are you saying that the other people are already typed in that type of aircraft and they are upgrading them? What type of aircraft is he flying for that company and how much time does he have in it. Do they swap seats each leg or not? Those are some of the things you have to consider.

It sounds like this guy has captainitis.

 

[LegacyDriver]

I am not going to tell you the name of the plane--that would be a tip off. He was sent to school to be an F/O with the promise of an upgrade after six months or so because he hadn't flown this airplane before. He has a couple of thousand hours as a Captain already. He has no captainitis.

The company is non-union and can basically do whatever it wants regarding upgrades. What it sounds like is this:

The company spent $XXXX.00 to put him through SIC training. They don't want to turn around and spend that much on a new person to replace his SIC slot *and* at the same time pay for HIS Captain training, too. I don't think they have a lot of money to throw around so they are hiring street captains instead of upgrading people in house. My friend isn't the only one they are bypassing.

It's perfectly logical. The guy is as standup a person as you will ever meet and I would bet my eternal soul that he is on good terms. I think the company is just messing around and he's tired of it. I can't blame him.

I guess I brought this up more as a philosophical discussion than anything. I am fairly certain he will shell out the money for the type. I honestly think I would. Heck, if I had it I would do it tomorrow to get out of here.

 

[miles otoole]

The company spent $XXXX.00 to put him through SIC training. They don't want to turn around and spend that much on a new person to replace his SIC slot *and* at the same time pay for HIS Captain training, too. I don't think they have a lot of money to throw around so they are hiring street captains instead of upgrading people in house. My friend isn't the only one they are bypassing.

And in your first post:


He left the Regionals to go corporate but the company he is with is not upgrading him like they promised. Meanwhile, junior folks are getting the upgrade ahead of him. Kinda' lame.


Am I missing something? Sounds as if there's more to the story than you realize. Do we have ALL the facts?

 

[wannab0133]

generally initial SIC training costs the same as initial PIC training. so it would seem the comapny is yanking his chain cuz they shoulda typed him when they hired him if they planned a 6 month upgrade. it sounds to me that they never planned to upgrade until he types out of recurrent.

 

[Bandit60]

The company is non-union and can basically do whatever it wants regarding upgrades. What it sounds like is this:

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I have never seen a corporate flight department unionized. I could be wrong but I have never heard of such a thing. If you know one let me know.

 

[CUEBOAT]

Tell him to buy the type. Or better yet see if the company can deduct it from his check over the next year, that wouldn't be too bad.

 

[LegacyDriver]

Am I missing something? Sounds as if there's more to the story than you realize. Do we have ALL the facts? [/B]

Nah, I was trying to conceal identities and was being very general. Then the "Captainitis" accusation came up so I doled out a little more info.

Again, I am not wanting to reveal anyone here because we never know who is reading. I just thought this would be an interesting discussion, particularly considering all the PFT bashing that goes on around here. I just wondered if people thought of this as an exception to the "NO-PFT" rule.

 

[LegacyDriver]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I have never seen a corporate flight department unionized. I could be wrong but I have never heard of such a thing. If you know one let me know.

I believe they *could* be unionized if they wanted to. They "hold out" to the public.

Trying to keep from revealing info here. I would not make a good spy.

Honestly, it doesn't matter. This is more a philosophical discussion. Who he is, where he works, what color his hair is, etc.. doesn't really matter. Any of us could face this situation one day and I just wanted some opinions.

 

[sleepy]

Maybe they won't upgrade him because he has recall rights at an airline. They don't want to type him, then have him be recalled to the airline.

 

[LegacyDriver]

Maybe they won't upgrade him because he has recall rights at an airline. They don't want to type him, then have him be recalled to the airline.

Great point! I never considered that.

 

[FN FAL]

kind of funny, since at corporations and part 91 and 135 places they will hire off the street captains and other qualified people over the people the operation has in house. It's a mixed bag in non-union places. You can come off the street and be the chief pilot if the situation presents itself. At an airline, you will will rot in the right seat, if you ever have to take a furlough and have to move on to another airline.

Are you making fun of another co-worker that is having problems in this modern age after 9/11 or are you trying to gauge your own career against someone that is having career adjustment problems out there in the flying world?

With good qualifications, a pilot should be able to step over the low time pukes at a non-union place.