USA Jet for Sale

[njcapt]

Retirement is the next step for me, fly the "Warbirds" on the air show circuit, flight instruct, and maybe some consulting on the side. However if you want me to swing gear next year, I would love to for $500/day plus expenses. About the same as I would have made as a DA-20 Captain at USA Jet for working an extra day.

Given the current environment do you regret advising thousands of pilots via this forum that a college degree is redundant for prospective corporate/cargo/airline pilots? It would seem that you got yours and can retire; any remorse for the erroneous advice to the guys who have worked for you?

 

[njcapt]

$500/day....yikes!.....that's sad!....i'll swing his gear for $2070/day....my rate for an extra day

THIS IS EVEN SADDER!
I happen too be one of those laid off pilots and got a call from the chief pilot last week. He seemed a little embarrassed when he asked me if I'd like too fly a broken Lear (auto-pilot inop)for USA Jet for 250.00 a day as a contractor. I told him no because the rate was less then when I worked there full-time as a captain. SO SAD!

There's always someone willing to do your job for less than you earn. I make at least $20-50000 less per year than I could if there weren't thousands of retired and furloughed airline pilots willing to undercut me, based on their military/airline retirement needs.

...and people wonder why the best corporate jobs are filled via word of mouth...

 

[pilotyip]

It was avaiable to you

There's always someone willing to do your job for less than you earn. I make at least $20-50000 less per year than I could if there weren't thousands of retired and furloughed airline pilots willing to undercut me, based on their military/airline retirement needs.

...and people wonder why the best corporate jobs are filled via word of mouth...

And a military retirement was available to you also if you had taken the steps. They really are an equal opportunity employer.

 

[pilotyip]

Given the current environment do you regret advising thousands of pilots via this forum that a college degree is redundant for prospective corporate/cargo/airline pilots? It would seem that you got yours and can retire; any remorse for the erroneous advice to the guys who have worked for you?

Not at all, advice is free. Many college grads are unemployed because they have no marketable skills, whereby the skilled trades are having trouble finding people. Plumbers, pipe fitters, auto mechanics, no college dgree required.

 

[JT8D]

Plumbers, pipe fitters, auto mechanics, no college dgree required.

Ditch diggers and roofers are also in full demand if you don't want to go thru the 2 month skilled trade course.

Pilotyip...quit dumbing down the profession. On behalf of all airline pilots out there, we would thank you for that!

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

Porky: What/Who are your sources? If you don't want to reveal them specifically, you could call them "middle management", etc.

No one else has heard the rumours you reported, as far as I have been able to find out.

I do know that USA Jet Airlines itself is not for sale. For that to work, I believe that USA Jet/Active Aero and PTM would all have to be sold together. AA/PTM will NOT exist long-term without USA Jet, according to ch.

Also, W2B, ch IS interested in hearing from his employees. He told us to use his company email, and also gave his personal email out. He said we could email him publicly (like our co. email) or anonomously. He didn't care-he just wanted any suggestions/problems brought to him. Obviously, he may not do what I, or U, think should be done, as he has a different perspective.

Good luck to everyone furloughed, and God Bless!

cliff
YIP

 

[Way2Broke]

A couple of things here. It is not our company e-mail, it is now your company e-mail. And good luck to all the TERMINATED people out there. (not furloughed) We were given mo formal recall rights. Which actually stinks because alot of corporate departments don't like hiring laid off pilots, but being laid off without recall rights is so far from industry standard you can't even explain it to the guy doing the interview. (I know of at least one pilot that was turned down at a job because of this) A verbal "why would I hire off the street, when I have trained crewmembers needing a job" is a nice gesture and appreciated, but when it comes to business what is on paper is what is important. It wouldn't have been that hard to put a line in the termination paperwork giving recall rights, but the members of management that care about the pilots were kept in the dark about the layoffs. If I were one of them I would be livid, but I understand, because they still have a job to do and any animosity they feel must be kept in, because that is the professional and smart thing to do.

Yip is right on one thing, most people will not come back. It's not because they burnt a bridge, it's because the company burnt the bridge with them. As it stands now I would consider coming back to a ABQ position, or if the Falcons magically came back because of falling gas prices (not likely) I would get back in the saddle. I liked my job at USA Jet, but if I return to a DC-9 position it wouldn't be the same.

CH had no interest in hearing from his employees, heck he even stopped doing the "Chats" that he use to do even though they were actually proactive most of the time and not full of "flaming" comments. Things were going so well that he did not see a need for them as I recall. Like you said Cliff, even if he didn't listen, it at least showed that he was involved. He needs to get out and see what his company does, like Cape Air's CEO and DO that fly the line from time to time, or Jet Blue's guy that is a Flight Attendant from time to time. As I see it now the DO at USA Jet isn't even qualified 121 to fly any of their airplanes. He was listed on the seniority list at a Falcon FO. Get active with your company!

I've said it before, communication is the largest problem at USA Jet. DC actually seemed to listen, but he either has no power to stand up to CH or he can't. CH tried to park the Falcon's 18 months ago, and the old administration talked him out of it. This time CH didn't even ask for a opinion, and even kept his subordinate members or middle management in the dark, and just did as he pleased. No one was asked their opinion, or shown the financial numbers before the plug was pulled.

Take it for what it's worth, but good management works as a team, not as a dictatorship. Why does USA Jet keep hiring management from failed companies and picking up others scraps? Bring in someone that has ran a successful company, and has a track record of growth, not downsizing, bankruptcy, and selling to the highest bidder. Unless of course, that is what the investors had planned all along. You never truly know what happens behind closed doors in a board meeting.

The thing that upsets me the most about how the layoffs were handled is that they did not go by seniority. They went by seat by aircraft, as the PPH dictated, but what the pilot policy handbook did not dictate is that if you were at any time in your employment qualified on the DC-9 you would be offered a position back on the DC-9 even if you had to do a full initial on that equipment, while senior people to you that would have only required the same thing are put on the street. It's nothing against the people in that position, but if your going to have rules, follow them. I could go on and on about how it was mishandled, but pretty much everyone from HR to Middle Management has admitted that, and I do thank them for that. I am not spending my time dwelling on the past though, I am actively looking for my next big thing, and hoping I learned something from this experience that I can apply down the road in my career.

 

[Way2Broke]

$500/day....yikes!.....that's sad!....i'll swing his gear for $2070/day....my rate for an extra day

THIS IS EVEN SADDER!
I happen too be one of those laid off pilots and got a call from the chief pilot last week. He seemed a little embarrassed when he asked me if I'd like too fly a broken Lear (auto-pilot inop)for USA Jet for 250.00 a day as a contractor. I told him no because the rate was less then when I worked there full-time as a captain. SO SAD!

As I recall everyone that they tried to call turned it down, because if you make money on unemployment you are not qualified to draw for that week. Unemployment is 362 a week, and the lear contract pilot apparently pays 250 a day with no benefits. If you need a pilot, hire one, or better yet recall one. Your a 121 airline, not a corporate flight department.

 

[Way2Broke]

Ditch diggers and roofers are also in full demand if you don't want to go thru the 2 month skilled trade course.

Actually in Michigan there is not a shortage of Ditch Diggers and Roofers. Just go to the local unemployment office and you will see my point. Now if were talking about Phoenix, Denver, Florida, Texas, or California and the likes.... yes there is a shortage. One of our terminated pilots went back to being a electrician and almost doubled his salary. I know how to do alot of things, but I am not licensed in any skilled trade, but I wish I was.

Can we start a thread called "The Ditch Digger Shortage of 2009?" haha Yip, you know I am just poking fun at ya. You actually did nail the pilot shortage in my opinion, it's just sad that no one was able to predict the quick downturn that followed. Oh well, I have known more bad times in this this industry than good, so I am afraid I am numb to it. It will turn around again eventually, and I will be waiting for it, with my resume in hand. But I think that conversation belongs in another thread.

 

[avbug]

Now if were talking about Phoenix, Denver, Florida, Texas, or California and the likes.... yes there is a shortage.

Ditch diggers in Phoenix...no shortage. Qualified roofers, generally in demand.

The question is does one really see himself kneeling in hot tar in 106 degree weather beating his hands to a bloody pulp with a 32 oz hammer, 12 hours a day for eight dollars an hour? Or picking scorpions out of his boots while spitting out sand?

There's somewhat of a disparity between sitting down in a padded seat in a cockpit, and actually doing work. For the most part, though you wouldn't believe it from the bleeting and whining that goes on in the pilot community, flying is NOT work. It's a paid job, but far from work.