Silver Airways
11-04-2013, 08:06 PM
#4691
Guest
Posts: n/a
What's important to you when analyzing a perspective new airline you are considering working for? I think if you answer those questions you might get a worthwhile response. For example, how would you rank the following in order of most important?
Domiciles
Upgrade time
money
per diem
quality of life
reserve schedule
scheduling
hotels / accommodations
jump seating
travel benefits
401k
health insurance
maintenance
training
equipment
growth plans and potential
management personnel
union v management cooperation
I think you are likely to find that there might be a regional or two (or more) that does a little better than Silver for many of the items listed here, just by the shear size of the airline alone. However, you might find Silver excels in one particular area better than another airline and maybe that one thing is really important to you such as a domicile.
Your best bet is to probably make another post asking for the opinions of pilots who have only been on the property for less than 6 months to see how they feel about their decision.
Or, you could just say who cares, take the job, get 6 months in and move on to greener pastures.
Any and all are valid ways of doing this.
Domiciles
Upgrade time
money
per diem
quality of life
reserve schedule
scheduling
hotels / accommodations
jump seating
travel benefits
401k
health insurance
maintenance
training
equipment
growth plans and potential
management personnel
union v management cooperation
I think you are likely to find that there might be a regional or two (or more) that does a little better than Silver for many of the items listed here, just by the shear size of the airline alone. However, you might find Silver excels in one particular area better than another airline and maybe that one thing is really important to you such as a domicile.
Your best bet is to probably make another post asking for the opinions of pilots who have only been on the property for less than 6 months to see how they feel about their decision.
Or, you could just say who cares, take the job, get 6 months in and move on to greener pastures.
Any and all are valid ways of doing this.
Good Idea. my priorities are
Training
Quality of Life
Upgrade time
Travel benefits
Life on Reserve
11-04-2013, 08:30 PM
#4692
Respek
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,635
Given your circumstances you shouldn't go to Silver. The training is not good and many people wash out. I wouldn't expect you to get extra sim sessions if you are struggling either that's been hit or miss. The Saab is not an easy or hard airplane to master but being rushed through training will not increase your chances at passing. I think I saw you fly King Airs for Air Ambulence that's great experience, but it's not going to make your training that much if at all easier. In fact I'm surprised you struggled at RAH lots of Silver alums have gone there and Said the 170 program was better and easier than what Silver has to offer. So being in your shoes I'd be very weary about going there. There is other regionals that come to mind with much better training programs and give extra sims if need be that I'd consider first. QOL is fully defined per each person nobody can give you an honest answer in that department. Upgrades are not quick they had a few and that's it that averaged 2yrs on property as far as travel benefits youre on United as an express pilot so you're pretty much last on the list. Since you're going to be on reserve you'll have 11days off a month to travel. Good luck in your decision barring on major screw up at the interview you'll get the job they need every body with a pulse they can get.
11-04-2013, 09:12 PM
#4693
Guest
Posts: n/a
Given your circumstances you shouldn't go to Silver. The training is not good and many people wash out. I wouldn't expect you to get extra sim sessions if you are struggling either that's been hit or miss. The Saab is not an easy or hard airplane to master but being rushed through training will not increase your chances at passing. I think I saw you fly King Airs for Air Ambulence that's great experience, but it's not going to make your training that much if at all easier. In fact I'm surprised you struggled at RAH lots of Silver alums have gone there and Said the 170 program was better and easier than what Silver has to offer. So being in your shoes I'd be very weary about going there. There is other regionals that come to mind with much better training programs and give extra sims if need be that I'd consider first. QOL is fully defined per each person nobody can give you an honest answer in that department. Upgrades are not quick they had a few and that's it that averaged 2yrs on property as far as travel benefits youre on United as an express pilot so you're pretty much last on the list. Since you're going to be on reserve you'll have 11days off a month to travel. Good luck in your decision barring on major screw up at the interview you'll get the job they need every body with a pulse they can get.
Thank you for the advice. Is Silvers Training that rushed? What else is problematic with it? What other regionals have good training programs? I was going through republic training at a strange time. Along with the reasons i have already listed, Just the wrong place at the wrong time. They had just ramped up training and their were a lot of old instructors that were going to be replaced. The current employees at flight safety were not happy about this and made life as hard as it could be for us in training. Comments like " none of you should be in training, anything less than 5k hours is unacceptable" LOL No standardization at all, instructors taught us more about Pan Am flying in the 60's than flying the e170. We all felt ill prepared for our rides. Most washed out in systems or did not pass the oral. I learned a lot tho, about a 121 program, Flight Safety's mess does not mean that i did not like Republic. They were good people but it did not work out. I know what i can do better the second time around, and the sabb is more of the equipment i have been flying. So like i said I am limited to Piedmont or Silver, or another 135 and after doing air ambulance, pipeline patrol, aerial security, and every other flying job, i need to do the 121. And of the two airlines Silver seems better than Piedmont esp the training. Any more input is appreciated.
11-04-2013, 09:58 PM
#4694
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Posts: 5,016
Well to give you more info about me I live in Morgantown so easy commute even to Dulles. I am ATP rated with 135 experience. I was in training for Republic on the e170 175 190. Awesome plane however coming from what i was flying it was a big step. I and 8 other people needed an extra sim at the very end of training to pass the ride. This was due partly because of the horrific training program they slapped together and parley due to what i have flown in the past ( all very old aircraft) . The company did not want to give us a a extra sim and at the time all of us needed our ATP ride. Due the the government august deadline ( at the time) they were cramming in line FOs to get their ATP. So any one that needed an extra ride, or ATP ride (we had to do a separate ATP ride unlike most operators) they ended up just letting us all go. So now i have a 121 failure on my pria check, but have never failed a check ride or any training event. Even did my oral their. So now i am limited to certain airlines to get past this event. Basically i am limited now to Silver and Piedmont. I like Silver a lot and think it would be great for building time. Piedmont has rumors about a worse training program than Republic and I sure do not want to shoot my self in the foot with that. Basically what i need is a 121 job with a decent training program that is easy to commute to. Silver fits the bill. Pay seems average and the planes, I will have no trouble mastering. Thanks for the info guys. Keep it coming.
11-05-2013, 01:57 AM
#4695
I'm a man of my word.
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Devil's Advocate
Posts: 2,883
Silver has a better contract and soon-to-be better bases, so it's not all bad.
11-05-2013, 03:12 AM
#4696
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Gear Handle supervisor
Posts: 1,035
Thank you for the advice. Is Silvers Training that rushed? What else is problematic with it? What other regionals have good training programs? I was going through republic training at a strange time. Along with the reasons i have already listed, Just the wrong place at the wrong time. They had just ramped up training and their were a lot of old instructors that were going to be replaced. The current employees at flight safety were not happy about this and made life as hard as it could be for us in training. Comments like " none of you should be in training, anything less than 5k hours is unacceptable" LOL No standardization at all, instructors taught us more about Pan Am flying in the 60's than flying the e170. We all felt ill prepared for our rides. Most washed out in systems or did not pass the oral. I learned a lot tho, about a 121 program, Flight Safety's mess does not mean that i did not like Republic. They were good people but it did not work out. I know what i can do better the second time around, and the sabb is more of the equipment i have been flying. So like i said I am limited to Piedmont or Silver, or another 135 and after doing air ambulance, pipeline patrol, aerial security, and every other flying job, i need to do the 121. And of the two airlines Silver seems better than Piedmont esp the training. Any more input is appreciated.
What the guarantee of even getting the Saab if you get hired? You could end up on the beech flying up in CLE as well, that takes away the domicile quality of life if it happens.
As far as other regionals training programs I think XJT and Skywest are some of the better training programs. If you're required extra training they will give it to you as necessary. I think after 5 extra sessions that's when some of my classmates at XJT washed out, I guess to that point there's more fundamental issues that they can fix. CP is a good company too but as far as training they send you home with self study material before returning for training.
I guess if you're committed to silver I probably wouldn't take it unless you got the Saab. If you do just study, hopefully you will have good classmates that will study with you and get through it. The systems binder is garbage so don't depend on that.
Good luck hopefully you make a choice like you say for quality of life and not so much for upgrade chasing.
11-05-2013, 05:43 AM
#4697
Respek
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,635
@Boeingsky
Comments like " none of you should be in training, anything less than 5k hours is unacceptable" LOL No standardization at all,"
That sounds a lot like Silver where do I start.... The chief pilot openly told employees he believes everyone should still be paying for their training.... That tells you how much he cares about giving you extra training if need be. No standardization at all.... Welcome to line flying at Silver. You'll learn real well how to be a sponge when flying with their captains. Most of the street captains from other Regionals are good at keeping it standard so you can expect little variance there but even then there is still some. You'll have to ask somebody newly hired into the Saab but when I transitioned to it we did 6 days of systems 10 hours a day that's it. The instructor was good and I had some knowledgable classmates one even flew it previously so that helped tremendously. Your choice though but you're limiting yourself to two regionals with some of the hardest training programs and it's because they fly space shuttles. In all reality apply to every single one and go from there.
Comments like " none of you should be in training, anything less than 5k hours is unacceptable" LOL No standardization at all,"
That sounds a lot like Silver where do I start.... The chief pilot openly told employees he believes everyone should still be paying for their training.... That tells you how much he cares about giving you extra training if need be. No standardization at all.... Welcome to line flying at Silver. You'll learn real well how to be a sponge when flying with their captains. Most of the street captains from other Regionals are good at keeping it standard so you can expect little variance there but even then there is still some. You'll have to ask somebody newly hired into the Saab but when I transitioned to it we did 6 days of systems 10 hours a day that's it. The instructor was good and I had some knowledgable classmates one even flew it previously so that helped tremendously. Your choice though but you're limiting yourself to two regionals with some of the hardest training programs and it's because they fly space shuttles. In all reality apply to every single one and go from there.
11-05-2013, 07:21 AM
#4698
Guest
Posts: n/a
@Boeingsky
Comments like " none of you should be in training, anything less than 5k hours is unacceptable" LOL No standardization at all,"
That sounds a lot like Silver where do I start.... The chief pilot openly told employees he believes everyone should still be paying for their training.... That tells you how much he cares about giving you extra training if need be. No standardization at all.... Welcome to line flying at Silver. You'll learn real well how to be a sponge when flying with their captains. Most of the street captains from other Regionals are good at keeping it standard so you can expect little variance there but even then there is still some. You'll have to ask somebody newly hired into the Saab but when I transitioned to it we did 6 days of systems 10 hours a day that's it. The instructor was good and I had some knowledgable classmates one even flew it previously so that helped tremendously. Your choice though but you're limiting yourself to two regionals with some of the hardest training programs and it's because they fly space shuttles. In all reality apply to every single one and go from there.
Comments like " none of you should be in training, anything less than 5k hours is unacceptable" LOL No standardization at all,"
That sounds a lot like Silver where do I start.... The chief pilot openly told employees he believes everyone should still be paying for their training.... That tells you how much he cares about giving you extra training if need be. No standardization at all.... Welcome to line flying at Silver. You'll learn real well how to be a sponge when flying with their captains. Most of the street captains from other Regionals are good at keeping it standard so you can expect little variance there but even then there is still some. You'll have to ask somebody newly hired into the Saab but when I transitioned to it we did 6 days of systems 10 hours a day that's it. The instructor was good and I had some knowledgable classmates one even flew it previously so that helped tremendously. Your choice though but you're limiting yourself to two regionals with some of the hardest training programs and it's because they fly space shuttles. In all reality apply to every single one and go from there.
Ya I understand that I am going to get that type of criticism from almost anywhere. I got thick skin. lol. I know my abilities, what i can handle and what I can't. I wouldn't be doing this if I thought I couldn't. I guess one advantage that I have is have gone through a 121 program already and know what to expect. I know what to study ext. I have applied everywhere but after a month have only heard back from Piedmont and Silver. So just trying to work with the options that I have.
11-05-2013, 07:25 AM
#4699
Guest
Posts: n/a
So for everyone that has trained on the Sabb what are some tips about training that would be helpful. What I have gotten so far is the standard study study study.... Study with your class mates. Utilized the experience that other students bring to the table. Some one said that the systems books are worthless and the electrical system is hard to learn. Any tips on studying and knowing the systems. The E jet products were fairly simple and straight forward. Any recommendations on the sabb?
11-05-2013, 07:53 AM
#4700
Respek
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,635
I'd start with spelling it correctly.... Saab. Also I'd take a good hard look at the reasons why you didn't make it through RAH's program and try to change that this time around. Many others have passed their training so you can't put all the blame on their "lack of a training program" right now focus on the interview first then worry about passing training.
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