Saucy Dingo

Aren't you still in training? If you are upset now I will be curious to see your posts when you hit the line!

The upgrade is still instantaneous on the dashes. The ERJ is taking longer but they are still awarding upgrades, so downgrades sounds like a bit of a stretch. But quick upgrades are becoming the norm at most places anyway. Places with better contracts and pay.. With the ERJ upgrades slowing down and performance slowly improving, I would expect to see some positive changes to help us stand out. As someone said, the CPP is a good opportunity, but not a reason to join this company.

PotatoChip

Ah, they've rescinded several upgrades in a row. Those that may upgrade are quite senior. I wouldn't expect to upgrade on the jet in less than two years. Considering we can't cover FO flying, and we can hardly attract new hires, and the union allowed more CQFOs, I don't think the possibility of downgrading some people is a stretch.

backtoregionals

You think with ERJ upgrades slowing to a crawl will help us positively stand out? That makes no sense. I will agree there are places with better contracts and better pay.

Saucy Dingo

Let's try to slow down and actually read:

"With the ERJ upgrades slowing down and performance slowly improving, I would expect to see some positive changes to help us stand out."

This means that they can no longer use quick upgrades as an excuse to keep us behind in pay and work rules. So, I would expect them to find some other ways to attract new hires....

Saucy Dingo

For the last upgrade award, the most junior pilot awarded ERJ captain was hired 6/8/15. That's exactly 2 years. Furthermore, there were very few people hired between 6/8/2015 and 1/4/2016 (10 people to be exact, 3 are already captains and 1 is the Chief Pilot), meaning the next class or 2 should still have people upgrading on the ERJ in 1.5 years or less.. That is the math of the situation.

It's still a stretch to be fearful of downgrades while there are people upgrading every month, on one fleet type or another.

dead meat

I am hopeful that the company will make major changes in order to incentivize people to not only apply here but also stay here. Unfortunately, it is discouraging when LCA are leaving to go to other regionals when they are not accepted into the CPP.

As far as upgrades, I am not so optimistic. I think that the dash pilots will transition over to the ERJ unless the company proposes something along the lines of Piedmont. I know the contract allows the company to keep pilots on the dash but I think managements inaction would result in mass resignations unless the dash pilots are financially motivated to stick it out. Also, I know a number of pilots that are thinking of leaving as soon as their year is up so they don't have to repay the hiring bonus. That is sad.

Morale within the pilot group is really down. Whenever anything (and I mean ANYTHING) happens that leads to a delay, the general consensus is, "Eh, it's Commutair. This happens all the time." The worst part is that seems to be true. Organization is so poor that delays are expected.

I really hope we can turn it around. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure. We have 36 airplanes on property. I know we are getting 40 ERJ's but there is no guarantee that we will get any more net airplanes on top of that. I know some people are eternal optimists and I don't fault them for it, but I really think United is watching us and realizing we can't operate 40 planes let alone 60, 80, or 100 ERJ's.

I believe change starts with management. They need to greatly increase the hiring bonus in a hurry. Every day we are missing out on good pilots going to other regionals. Heck, we are losing our own pilots to other regionals. In addition, EFB's are a must. It seems like a minor issue, but current pilots are tired of lugging around heavy flight cases when their friends at other regionals are carrying an ipad. I'm sure potential new hires talk to their friends at other regionals and hear how nice the ipads are. Finally, the contract needs major improvements. We are trying to recruit pilots from other airlines, we need a top contract to entice people make the jump. Now that upgrades have slowed down, the CPP is not enough.

Cylinderpop

Don't mean to be negative but the Rumor Mill was churning and I heard your final delivery numbers got slashed for the ERJ... Down to the 2x number. Heard that because the FAA and united are happy with on time and CCF Any truth to that or is that floating around there too?

hslightnin

Highly Doubtful but possible. Why would the FAA care about on time metrics?
We are staffed for 40 planes now, the dash is still leaving. So we need to keep adding ERJs to prevent furlough. If word got out that we are going to be a 20 ERJ airline the flood gates would open and the company would go TU.

dead meat

Let's be honest, some people on here have been saying we are getting at least 61 ERJ's. I think that if the company starts parking dashes in favor of ERJ's -- without a solid plan for the transition -- then the flood gates could open and everyone would be fighting for lifeboats.

backtoregionals

I'm right there.