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Mad-dasher

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2002
Posts
19
anyone know what the upgrade times are at varios regionals.
( Air wiski, ACA, Comair)
 
ASA not currently upgrading into the E120.
CRJ200 is currently running around four years.
ATR72 is running around four years, no recent movement
CRJ700 is just starting first class. At the moment this is ten years plus, but will surely come down.

This is ATL base info. Dallas is upgrading on the CRJ, but it went senior for February.

Those with laptops can probably give you better information straight from the pilot lounge. I'm not sure that anyone knows what the hiring / upgrade picture is for ASA since there remains much uncertainty regarding the phase out of the E120's.
 
At Continental, you can upgrade from 737 f/o to COEX RJ f/o in about three years. If you were hired at Express off the street in the last year and weren't a flushback, you could have expected a one year upgrade from RJ f/o to your old 172 CFI jobs in about a year. 100 more upgrades in March and April. Stay tuned.... :D
 
Horizon has stopped up grades. infact there are about 50 downgrades. so it was at 2.5yr to dash 8 200 cappy, now who knows!
 
~~~^~~~ said:
ASA not currently upgrading into the E120.

Guess you didn't hear the latest story. Recent RGT classes are being told (from training department staff) that we now are keeping 16 E120s in ATL and 20 in DFW. This is essentially the fleet we have now. The reason given for this change is that Delta requested it. The E120s make too much money since 4 pax breaks even and it would be too costly to put RJs (flying less than full) on those cash cow routes like GTR-AEX, ILM, etc. In accordance with this, we are out of FO reserves in DFW and ATL will run out soon. Trg dept is predicting that we will run out of E120 CAs by the summer and upgrades will resume.
Our lines actually increased from Jan to Feb!
 
Thanks - the story on these E120's keeps changing, but I understand we do have the gate space to keep them now.

Maybe I will have to get used to "Gear down, props 100, landing check to the line" again.
 
Originally posted by ~~~^~~~
Thanks - the story on these E120's keeps changing, but I understand we do have the gate space to keep them now.
Maybe I will have to get used to "Gear down, props 100, landing check to the line" again.


Only if you're going to do it from the left seat! ;)

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... we got the TWA and USAir/Metrojet gates on Concourse D. This is what's making it all possible. At least for today. Next week, we'll be back to "all jets". :D
 
In case anyone is interested, Eagle right now is only upgrading jet Captains. It takes about 10 years for either the EMB or CRJ700. Both the Saab and the ATR are at about 4 years, with no upgrades in sight. 300+ on furlough, no recalls planned....
 
Upgrade from C182 captain to CRJ FO is running around this September. Upgrade from FO to captain at Willy....um, not for a while. People have to leave for their to be room for upgrades.
 
Fins and IFF, If this is true (last I heard it was 28, 14 ATL, 14 DFW) then that is good news as we are still getting our original number of 70/50/40 seat RJ,s. With an additional 8 E-120's staying and 39 RJ's comming (4/month starting last Dec) by 12/02, things should deffinitley start moving. This would explain the 40/month new hires projected for the year. I know that during the last two months, about 20% of my flights (ATR) have been downgraded to E-120's due to loads (and possibly maint). This may be something that Delta wants to keep doing (right AC for the load). I am not sure of the exact number of E-120's on the property at this time, but with all of the diplacements and retraining happening, I cant help but think that we still have a significant number of E-120 guys. They could stop the displacements as I cant see them continuing with retrianing when they know they will be short this summer although the big growth will be DFW this year and there arent a whole lot of ATL guys volunteering to go to DFW. Additionally, right at this moment, we are still fat on RJ crews. I think that upgrade time for a new hire will be solely attributed to ASA growth as I dont think people will be leaving for at least 3-5 years. That means if we slow growth in 03 for instance, a new hire could take 6 plus years. For me, with a seniority number right around 1000, it will probably be 3 years from hire to the left seat. That means another 15 months, yuk! What do you guys think?
 
Tim47:

You and are are thinking about the same thing with reagrd to upgrades.

When ASA was growing (measured by block hours) we got ahead of ourselves and hired Captains right off the street. As you know this was because we hired many first officers who did not have the experience required to upgrade. Many of those FO's in the 500's to 800's in current seniority now want to upgrade.

Regards,
~~~^~~~ fins to the left!
 
Upgrade at PSA is at 2.8 years right now. It might go down a little with the arrival of seven more Dorniers, we have an option on six more, so who knows.


Regards


Smoking Man
 
mesa airlines
be1900D= less than 1 yr
erj= 2 years
crj200= 4 yrs
recalled 21 this month and all 317 should be back by summer.
 
Mesaba:

Saab and Avro upgrade times: I am 23 1/2 years old. I will be forced to retire due to the age 60 rule before I can upgrade.

Yeah baby!!!!
 
Comair....

Still looking about 2-1/2 years. 36-39 planes this year. Lots of F/Os will be limited by 3000TT requirement, so if you have your time it might be alot less.

Last fall they had to junior man several from my class into EMB CA because no one else had the TT. These guys had never even had a chance to fly the line... EMB training, then CRJ training and then junior manned back to the EMB and had to go through EMB training again for the upgrade.
 
Why? Prior to 9-11, upgrade on the Brasilias and ATRs at COEX was less than a year. We had no problems with pilots that upgraded quick. As one of my fellow Beech drivers used to say, "A six year old girl retard could fly a 1900." It's pretty easy. :D
 
Not with me on it, she can't. Judgement takes a bit longer to learn than that, especially when a lot of your pilot's previous employment was as a flight instructor. Nothing against those guys, but I'm glad my airline requires 3000 hours total and 500 company time to upgrade. I think that should be an FAR.
 
i had a freind with 2100TT and 700ME upgrade to captain on the 1900 last summer with 80 hours in the beech at mesa. This was also the only 121 or turbine time he had. Ahhh.. the good old days..
 
Skydiverdriver wrote:

. Nothing against those guys, but I'm glad my airline requires 3000 hours total and 500 company time to upgrade. I think that should be an FAR.

We'll you probably need to count out any operators flying 1900's in the US right now then. Maybe a lot of brasillia operators too. By the way, have you sat in a left seat of a 1900, brasillia, or any commercial aircraft in a 121 operation? Just curious to see what your personal experience is on this?
 
1900laker said:
By the way, have you sat in a left seat of a 1900, brasillia, or any commercial aircraft in a 121 operation? Just curious to see what your personal experience is on this?


I seriously doubt he has been in the left seat. Just because you don't have 3000 TT doesn't mean you aren't a safe pilot. I upgraded on the ERJ with 2600 hours, and 600 time in type. The upgrade process went flawlessly, as it did with all my classmates. Maybe one of the twelve had over 3000 hours. Haven't seen an accident (or incident) out of any of them. That may be your company policy, but it doesn't need to be an FAR. Got a friend of mine at Lakes who upgraded right at 1500 hours when they were real short of captains and he's doing great. Don't be too quick to judge other airlines' policies.
 
Hey Clapper,

Yeah, I did the same thing while I was at Lakes. In fact, thats why I went to Lakes in the first place; for the quick upgrade. I feel that the 400 or so hours that I flew in the right seat of an airplane with no autopilot, flying in all weather, and mountains, with an airline that is known for its extremely rigid training (or evaluation) standards was enough in my case to upgrade at 1500. But it varies person to person. Considering that there are many military pilots out there with less than 1500 flying multi-crewed airplanes that are far more sophisticated machines, is proof that it can be done. Just because one airline sets its policies that way does not mean all should. It depends on many factors, such as the type of aircraft, the general background of the pilot, the type of operation, etc.

And your perspective changes greatly once you have flown in that left seat as well.

I've never flown an RJ, so I wouldn't be able to comment on whether an individual is ready for upgrade on one at ATP minimums.
 
Ref: shegavemeclap

A monkey can be trained to fly an aircraft however it does take time to gain good judgement, which is learned by previous bad judgement. I am happy for your friend who upgraded with 1500 hours but that does mean he is something great and free of error, nor is a pilot over 3000hrs or 30,000hrs for that matter. However 1500 hrs in my opinion is not much experience and the risk are high. Don't get over confident and become a statistic. I have seen a couple people crash the 1900 with well over 3000 in type. Companies often try to fill the seats and don't always make sure the person they fill the seat with is completely ready. Anyone can train to pass a checkride, some just need more time than others. Don't take this as a cut on low time pilots rather as a friendly warning not to become over confident. I to was a low time pilot who upgraded in an aircraft before I was completely ready and to make matters worse I was in an area (Alaska) that has no time for inexperience. I have lost 14 friends and more than half was confident nothing would ever happen to them. I strongly feel companies should increase their upgrade requirements and not just slide by with the bare requirements. Some people are ready for a quick upgrade but not all.
 
PS

I do recall a MESA EMB145 pilot (low time 2200hrs) that while on approach into ROA stalled the aircraft onto the runway, causing SUBSTANTIAL damage to the aircraft, they did not report it. The next morning the next low time mesa crew struck the tail on landing when mx inspected the aircraft they found the rest of the damage that was created the prior day. The aircraft had the stick shaker and pusher activate above the runway end result "Bad judgement impacting the runway very hard". Thankfully the runway and not the mountains around ROA. Some people can make the upgrade at ATP mins but are we in a business where we take chances with the lives of our customers? No. Career motivation sometimes makes people take steps their not always ready for and sometimes it will bite you hard. Be a professional and don't make your decisions based on selfish needs. It's not impossible to upgrade with 1500 hrs but use caution and dont preach how easy it is to upgrade whether it is in a C152, B1900 or a 747. The left seat is a lot of responsibility, carry it well.
 
Hey everybody, you forgot about Lakes and their upgrade time. Currently it is zero. But on the plus side, I heard they did recall a few people. Keep in mind Lakes started furloughing about 2 months before those terrorist bastards and the media messed everything up.

C-YA!!!
 
Skydiverdriver....
Speaking of FARs...Part 135 requires only 1200 hours to be a Captain and this is a whole different ball game...single pilot IFR. The Beech has two pilots. So if you want your 3000 hour FAR, good luck buddy.

Judgement takes time, but how much time??? Some people 1200 hours other 3000, but everyone is not the same. I personally think it would be difficult to say, "At 2,999 hours pilot John Doe can't make a decision, but at 3,000 he/she can be named Captain."

just my 2 cents.
 
You're right,

It's not easy to fly in the left seat with that low of time. Here's to the thousands of pilots who overcame that difficulty and survived to go on to long, and safe careers. I find it interesting how the talk on this board makes it sound like the ATP minimums were written yesterday. We don't have a vast number of accidents each year caused by innexperience of low time captains. It just isn't happening. I think that the training (or evaluation) at most of the company's were 1500 is acceptable must be more stringent or something because there isn't a greater proportion of accidents or incidents over any other company in general. I don't advocate anyone upgrading until they are ready, no matter how many hours they have, and I find that there are a great many pilots who are professional enough to realize that in their personal cases, they feel the need for an additional 500-1000 hours before they are ready. Like I said, it depends on many different factors (individual, aircraft, operation, location, etc.) But a note of caution to all those new 1500 hour Captains out there, be extra vigilant, because you are still low on experience, and will often be seeing things for the first time from the left seat. Don't be intimidated to raise the B.S.flag if you need to when something doesn't look right just because you are a new, low time captain. That ultimate responsibility weighs just as much at 1500 as it does at 15000. Good luck and fly safe.
 
To build on what 1900Laker said, the companies that are putting 1500hr captains on the line have some of the hardest training programs out there. They aren't hust handing them 4 stripes and telling them to have fun.
At Lakes, the upgrade bust rate was close to 80% (first attempt) when I left. The "street captain" WASHOUT rate was around 60%. The trg dept took captain training very seriously and the only ones who saw the left seat on the line were the ones who knew their stuff. Any ex or current Laker will verify this.

Lakes accident rate exemplifies this. Considering how many low time crews they had (1500hr pic with a 300hr FO - happened a lot), the accident rate was incredibly low.
 
FAR's

FAR's also allow somebody to get their commercial license at 250 hours, would you want them flying your family around in solid IFR in the mountains at night time? Its legal per the FAR's, so does that mean its safe? Remember just because its legal doesn't mean its safe.
 
The next morning the next low time mesa crew struck the tail on landing when mx inspected the aircraft they found the rest of the damage that was created the prior day.


Maybe you should know the facts before you spit crap out of your ass. The next crew wasnt low time and it was missed on the preflight and caught on the post flight. I know that you are perfect and would never miss anything. And when found it they wrote it up as a tail strike on rotation as would any other crew, since there landing was uneventfull.

I am in no way defenting the first crew since they were just plain stupid. But being low time should be any factor in writing anything up. As I can remember we all wrote things up on the good old 152 with maybe only 20 hours total time
 
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