USA Jet Question

[KL24]

Just wondering if it's common to break guarantee as an FO on the DC-9. Are guys flying / crediting more than 55 hrs a month regularly or is that about all you can expect to make. Thanks.

 

[Way2Broke]

On demand freight is not that predictable. There is alot of training and IOE going on right now, that displaces pilots from the "rotation." This is true for the Falcon and DC-9. This has made it hard to break guarantee lately. Does the guarantee get broken, yes! Can you predict when it is more likely to be broken, you can try but then again you could win the lottery too.

There are still rumors of a pay raise and/or raise in monthly guarantee floating around out there. Let me put it to ya this way, its like fishin, you never know when your gonna catch the big un'. But you ain't gonna catch um' if you ain't got a hook in the water.

 

[LR25]

The 2 years I worked there, I never broke guarantee on regular time.

THe guys who sell days off might.

 

[pilotyip]

Depends upon selling days and luck

USA Jet is the finest DA-20 operator in the business. We feel our training program is good enough to train anyone who has basic flying skills. USA Jet does all of its training under Part 121 N & O; the DA-20 has 5 weeks of full time ground school prior to starting sim training, which runs one week and 25 hours for F/O's. All DA-20 F/O's receive 25 hours of supervised IOE prior to being released to line operations, we observe 100 min time in seat for pairing restrictions and in the past have turned down trips because of only low time pairs available. We have not hired a Captain off the street since 1998. Our safety record speaks for it self and is the standard for the industry. No training is done in airplanes on ride along legs. We have had pilots go to major airlines and tell us, except for fancy bells and whistles, the USA Jet training was as good as they got at their major. No USA Jet pilot has failed training at his next job. At an unnamed national passenger operator, 50% of the new hire pilots washed out of DC-9 training, USA Jet pilots had a 100% pass rate based upon their USA Jet Training. Some pilots hired by a large player in the business waived all testing and sim evals for USA Jet pilots, because of the known quality of their USA Jet Training. While in full time ground school you are paid full pay of $34 K per year to start? We have program on track for 6-figure pay in 6 years for all Captains. 10 hard days off every 28 day bid period. While in a duty status, you have to live in the immediate YIP area. Pilots are expected to assist in loading and unloading cargo. Benefits are good with a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan you would be eligible for after 90 days. Pay goes up for F/O’s $2/hr in the 3rd year. Captain could be as early as a year, depends upon turnover and growth. Company covers all hotel costs on the road and gives the pilots $1.83 per hour pre-diem while away from YIP to cover meals. Time away from home is the luck of the draw, one guy’s fly’s 80 hours and is gone from home 6 days, and the next guy flies 45 hours and is gone 12 days. Some guys spend one night a month in a hotel way from home, but fly many night time round trips. It is a non-sked, hence no schedule. BTW one of DA-20 Capt's made 280 hours of pay for two months in the spring, big big checks.

 

[kingaira90]

Some guys never break gnt, others do on a regular basis. If your seat and aircraft are short staffed, it will help in flying a lot. If you sells days, it will help in making more money at least. It also gives you more chances to fly, thus more chances to break gnt. I think I broke gnt 4-6 times last year. But DA-20 FO was short most of the year, and I sold 3 days most months. -kingaira90

 

[RedBelly]

USA Jet is a whole different ballgame then when I was there. In my 5+ years, I flew a low 3.9 hours & a high of 160 in a month.

 

[CFIIer]

what are competitive flight times to get hired on with?

 

[pilotyip]

Mins DA-20 1000TT, 500ME, competitve 1500TT, 750 ME, DC-9 mins 2000TT, 1200 ME with one year of mil or 121 crew experience, competitve 4500TT, 3500TT, with 3 yrs 121 PIC time

 

[Gearmonkey]

USA Jet is the finest DA-20 operator in the business. We feel our training program is good enough to train anyone who has basic flying skills.

I'm gonna throw the BS card on that one. I can think of a finer operator out there that doesn't have on again/off again layoffs randomly. Always break guarantee and we get our scheduled raises no matter what "business dictates". What's wrong with training in the airplane on 91 legs?

 

[Way2Broke]

I'm gonna throw the BS card on that one. I can think of a finer operator out there that doesn't have on again/off again layoffs randomly. Always break guarantee and we get our scheduled raises no matter what "business dictates". What's wrong with training in the airplane on 91 legs?

Without those on again/off again lay offs USA Jet wouldn't have been able to restructure and survive the post 9-11 / automotive down turn. More airlines furloughed/layed off during that time period than those that didn't. During a very bad time in the automotive freight business USA Jet diversified, added private charter DC-9's and emerged a better company. Kudos to them.

Your really going to tell me that training in the airplane part 91 is better than classroom, CTD, and full motion sim training? Have you ever been though a real training program? Say what you want about the layoffs (we all know layoffs suck) the training at USA Jet is as good as you will find anywhere.

Your quote is, "You gonna push them up past EPR and make them crackle?" Did they teach you that in the airplane or in the sim?