Regional pilots who have flown in AK?

[Alaskaairlines]

Thanks for the info!

The problem is, you waist valuable time flying aircraft lie 208's, airlines don't care about single turbine, am I correct?

I would probably like to shoot more for Era, nothing but twin time, even though you start out in the Twin Otter.
Any idea how long the upgrade at Era takes, hours, etc?

Keep it coming guys, very interesting!

 

[Tyler Durden]

ERA runs two crew bases for the Twin Otter: ANC and BET (Bethel). Both of these bases have pros and cons. In Anchorage it's nothing but 121 ops. Long paved runways, baggage handlers fuelers (except in Homer), ATC...etc. However when I was there you flew around 35-45 hours a month which would make a long time to upgrade to the Twin Otter. I believe they were looking for 5000tt/1500me/500 large aircraft time to fly left seat in the DHC-6. In BET the flying was around 80-90hrs. a month. However it was run more like a 135 airline. Once you dispatched out of BET you would make few stops at the villages and then back to BET. All loading, unloading, fueling, and cleaning is done by the crew. Also the Schedules out in BET were 2 weeks on 2weeks off.

Blineak brought up a good point. The upgrade at ERA does not neccessarily follow seniority. We had a guy who got on with loads of DHC-6 time and new a few people in the cmpany and he went right into the left seat. Regardless, I'm extremely happy that I had the chance to do some flying there. Good luck!

 

[CRJ700 FO]

Go work for the first one who will hire you. Get your total time up and then look for the next career step. I flew for Frontier Flying Service for a while. I averaged 110 hours a month with some months coming close to 150-160 range. You build time fast. They were not pay for training when I was there but were starting to lean that way as I was leaving. They'll do anything for a dollar.
Anyway, I would stay away from the singles in the bush. Special VFR in and out of busy little airports could put that blemish on your record.
Go to whoever says yes to you first and don't look back. the more time you get the more doors that will open.

 

[Alaskaairlines]

Thanks for the tips guys! THe problem is, why are Era's minimums so high?

Who would wait around untill you have 5k hours to upgrade in a Twin Otter? I think thats ridiculous! But again thats form the perspective of a young pilot still in training.

I definately will go to the first place that hires me, other than the bush in single engine, and fly bush pilot VFR!

Anything else?

Anybody hear actually work for PenAir and know there upgrades and mins there?

Thanks!

 

[Singlecoil]

I definately will go to the first place that hires me, other than the bush in single engine, and fly bush pilot VFR!

If you don't want to get hired somewhere, the best way to do it is to tell them you won't fly the single engines. I have 1800 hours of 207 time and enjoyed almost all of it. You will learn a lot about yourself and how to relate to customers in a hurry in single-pilot operations. Most places in the bush will start you in the single engine planes because they pay less and are cheaper to fix if you slide one off a runway somewhere. The accident rates are high in the bush, but that goes for twins as well. Most of them are related to driving into the ground in a white-out or some other pilot-related issue.
Maintenance is extremely important, however. I've had several close calls due to shoddy parts and improper maintenance. For that reason, you would want to stick to larger companies, but in these times you'll have to take what you can get.

 

[cougar6903]

to ClearRight and Singlecoil,


Are you both originally from Alaska? How did you manage to get your first Job in AK and what kind of times did you have?

 

[Singlecoil]

to ClearRight and Singlecoil,


Are you both originally from Alaska? How did you manage to get your first Job in AK and what kind of times did you have?

No, I bought a one-way ticket in 1991.
I beat the pavement unmercilessly for three months.
1000 hrs.

 

[AK737FO]

PIC Turbine

The bottom line: To give yourself the best chance at a Major interview you will need a 4 year degree and 1,000 hour ME PIC turbine (minimum). Single engine piston or turbine doesn't count for squat (except total time). Get your ME PIC Turbine as fast as you can, any way you can. Haul boxes all night, fly in the bush (carefully), move to Detroit - what ever it takes, just get that magic number ASAP. Keep in mind though, the bush is dangerous. If you wreck an airplane you will have a huge battle in front of you to get a major airline job in todays market.

Alaska Airlines is full of guys from ERA, PenAir and Horizon. At one time in the not to distant past, 10% or the ERA pilot's were interviewed by Alaska Airlines in one year. Not all of them got hired, but they had their chance... At that time ERA had about 105 pilots and upgrades were based on a minimum of 4,000 total time and then by senority. Times are different now. ERA can no longer require 4,000 total time to be a Twotter captain, if they did, they couldn't man their schedule. Supply and demand...

ERA has 5 of the old Convairs, 2 or them are going to be kept flying after April 9th (Cockpit door drop dead date). The others will be up for sale, but will probably end up sitting on the ramp for years since they want to much money for them. Needless to say, hiring will be slow and upgrades moving about as fast as a glacier around there. ERA has a bunch of very senior, life long employees in the left seat of the CV-580 and Dash-8. They are not going anywhere till they hit age 60.

Get your degree, go to where ever you can get your PIC turbine time. If you do get hired by ERA, PenAir, Frontier you will probably actually be helping yourself if Alaska Airlines is your goal. Speaking of, Frontier has a small number of pilots based in ANC on the BE-1900, but most pilots are FAI based.
Good luck to you and fly safe.
AK737FO

 

[Alaskaairlines]

AK737FO, check your PM.

Thanks for the detailed post!

I will be enrolling to receive a degree very shortly, and I plan to stay out of the bush!

Thats what I don't like about Era, upgrades are very slow and slim! But I guess its a nice place to build multi time (right seat) for a more better, faster upgrading regional!

Do you happen to know which CV's will be kept in serive, and which ones parked (t number)?

I definately will go to the first carrier that calls me when time comes, and the time will show the rest.

Any idea of what the upgrades at Frontier take? How fast?

Thanks so much!

 

[OtterFO]

There is nothing wrong with working the bush. Most companies in the bush offer a rotation. I'm on a 15/15 in Barrow. Also the money in the bush is pretty good. I'm looking at 60K this year for only 6 months of work....