canuckian

Were these the available bases offered to the July 12th class?
Wondering what is left for the August 9th. Thanks

Available bases for new hires are:

LAS 14 spots
DSM 9
IWA 4
AUS 4
GRR 3
LAX 3
ABE 2
BLI 1

flydiamond

I am not sure of the exact timing of new hire classes but the above vacancies will be offered to the first two classes.

The subsequent classes will bid on leftover vacancies from the August vacancy bid which should close on about Aug 20. Any guesses on what will be included on that vacancy are speculation, except perhaps additional vacancies at Aus for their 3rd aircraft.

we will probably know what the guys and gals in the first class selected by the end of the week in which they started… Those results are published to the entire pilot group.

TommyJ1026

I will be doing the video interview in a day or two.... I see that no FL bases would be immediately available after training. I live in St. Petersburg, FL. How long would you guess it would take in the current state of the company for someone to hold PIE or PGD? Is there even an SRQ base? The website says there is but it's also not on the map they show for domiciles....

Thanks,

Tom

KC135

PIE/SRQ is a co-domicile, lines are mixed with both and reserve callout is 2.5 hours instead of the standard 90 minutes. There are currently 9 FO's on the waiting list to get in with PIE being their top bid, plus an additional 15+ FO's that are currently based out of state and have shotgun bids out to get into any FL base. That may not sound like a lot but even with PIE being a large base, there are only about 50 per seat based there. The most junior awarded FO for any of the 5 FL bases is a Jan 2020 hire. There will be a lot of movement coming up but almost all of the future growth is planned for bases outside of FL. It's hard to predict but I'd guess for the best case scenario would be just under a year but it wouldn't surprise me if it takes a several years to get into PIE.

Jim Rockford

SRQ is co-based with PIE. As for an opening, I’m sure something would open up for you within the year.

flydiamond

PIE is a codomicile with SRQ for the pilots (I believe its a single base for FAs). There is a waiting list of pilots waiting to get into both bases about 7 deep each. That sounds bad, but also consider that TYS, which is far smaller, also has a waiting list that size, so it could be years for them. Depending on when you're hired, you may get to PIE or PGD in a few months, before summer 2022 (although this is less likely for PGD due to seasonality) or you may be stuck in LAS, or DSM, etc until October 2022 or so when the next round of hiring kicks back up. It is incredibly hard to predict seniority movement here. For example, the most junior pilot at the company is in BLI, which is the most senior base at the company. The truth is that you're being interviewed for vacancies in LAS, DSM, AUS, FNT, ATW, GRR, and ABE (maybe add AVL to that list) and you will be much happier if you're in a situation where you and your significant other are mobile and can sublet or rent your home for a bit while you live full time in your assigned base. if you are a junior pilot commuting, unless you have a very short and easy commute (like driving TYS to AVL or flying LAX to LAS), you will not be able to spend much time at home.

PS We will know a little bit more about vacancies available when the current one for 33 positions is published in the coming days, probably by Friday. There is some movement in PGD on that vacancy as things get into peak season there.

tom11011

After reading all this and knowing about the next class or two will be in Flint and Appleton, if you are still interested tell them during the interview you want to live in Flint and you will probably be hired.

Shangabear

Damn. That’s disappointing. Think those that get flint will hold a line? Heard it’s a lot of FL flying. So I’m guessing decent credit right out of the gate?

tom11011

yes. Each base is kind of like it’s own mini airline. There will be line holders and reserve. You will credit at least 70 hours per month.

flydiamond

Not necessarily. If the new hires don’t want it, it will become a revolving door at the bottom resulting in constant tdy- in of more senior pilots from other bases because half the base’s pilots are in training. That will continue until the flow of new hires out of training pauses for the summer. This is what happened to previous undesirable to most bases such as GRR, ABE, etc. the company had a bit more control with DSM because of their handling of vacancies for recalls, but we’ll see this happen again now that hiring is basically continuous now thru March.