FlightTraker said:
Sounds like more single pilot 121 time for Pinnacle Captains
I'm extremely anti-PFT, but unfortunately the people who haven't PFT here at PCL are in the minority, so everyone just shuts up about it most of the time, tries to get along, and keeps their PFT sentiments to themselves unless asked which is, of course, fairly rare.
That said, most of the Gulfstream guys and gals do quite well, although it does require the PIC to be a little more involved with what the F/O is doing than most of us are used to and/or prefer, simply because the learning curve / situational awareness curve takes longer to peak (S.A. is the biggest issue). It's just life, and will hopefully make the PCL Captains that much better at their jobs.
Those guys and gals will also be in the right seat for several years and, given the RJ delivery schedule with mainline options and deliveries, might find themselves stuck in the right seat for 3-5 years
MORE than they thought when the growth comes to a screeching halt - they might not sound so excited in a few years...
The hard part comes when you have abnormal situations - until they've been here half a year or so you almost
HAVE to transfer the controls to the F/O and take care of business yourself... Just no way to explain all the things that have to be done with mx control, dispatch, planning, acars, as well as the QRH stuff they get in ground school, then explain it all later on the ground, but I suspect it's like that at just about every regional...
p.s. I agree that Southwest borders on PFT with the 737 requirement - I probably wouldn't have done it if I hadn't gotten laid off and had WIA pay for everything except the hotel and food... Had nothing else to do while I was jobless. But I also know that I'm in the minority on this issue as well. Does that mean I can claim "minority status"?
I'M KIDDING ABOUT THE MINORITY STUFF - DON'T HIJACK THE THREAD INTO A MINORITY HIRING DEAL! 
Plunger: If you knew anything about Pinnacle you'd know that the pilot's have absolutely
NO say in our company's operations. We are treated as third class citizens, are subject to one of the most hostile work environments I've ever seen
IN OR OUT of the aviation world, and the company violates the contract daily and says "If you don't like it, grieve it".
They set the policies, we have to live with them unless they're in violation of the contract, then we
STILL have to live with it for the year to year and a half that a grievance takes to get resolved, often in favor of the company ANYWAY.
That's why we call it "Cynical" Airlines - our motto: "We're not happy 'till you're not happy, and the beatings will continue, regardless of whether morale improves or not". So we do our best to have a good time at work, get the job done, then get the h*ll home as quickly as possible and don't DARE answer our phone on our off days if we don't recognize the number or it has a 901 area code.
