rickair7777

As I understand, once you get into the 700, you do the upgrade training (my buddy just did this) and then you bid on lines that are only 700 flying. It's treated like a totally different airplane for bidding.

The 200 is flown nose-down like a lawn dart all the way to runway impact, with only a minute flare. I often get three-point landings. The 700 (and 900) are flown level all the way down, then you flare, plant the mains, and hold the nose off for a while. You really have to see the 200 in the sim, it's hard to describe.

atpwannabe

Man, I've learned more about these two a/c and about procedures, work rules and what to ask and what not say by reading what rickair7777 has to say than anyone else. You are really informed. Whichever route I take, I hope to get an instructor like you and when hired, a Captain to fly with.

I have one other question: Is Mesa the only regional operating the entire CRJ fleet, i.e. (200/700/900)? You mentioned on another thread that you didn't think CA would go with the 900? It seems as though the upgrade would be seamless. Also, why are these a/c bidded differently, if the flightdecks are so similiar?

rickair7777

I think SKW bids them differently simply as a safety thing. Or it might be done to allow senior people to bid into a higher paying aircraft bid and stay there. Since the ratio of 200/700s in the fleet doesn't really fluctuate, you can assign your pilots to those types in the same ratio. Mesa likes the flexibility of switching their pilots around. The downside for senior guys is they can't reliably bid all 900 or 700 flying, they always get stuck with some 200, so they can't max out their $$. Most companies pay FO's the same, so this is not something that I would factor in to a career decision, there are bigger issues to consider.


Mesa is the only one with the entire fleet of CRJs. I think they hold all the delivery positions with the factory, but have voluntarily released some. I know Lufthansa is starting 900 operations, but I don't know of any US airline that is adding 900s. There have been rumors as always...

What do you mean by "CA"?

atpwannabe

CA--Comair Airlines.

rickair7777

Oh, yeah. They are downsizing in Ch.11, so I doubt they have immediate plans to buy new aircraft. Also I believe Mesa still owns the delivery positions on 900 production for the forseable future. They might be willing to let a european airline have some positions, but I doubt they would be so eager to let their US competitors get their hands on those aircraft. There is a big demand for 70+ seaters right now.

24/48

From what I here at Skywest is that the CR2 and CR7 are all in the same bid package, your seniority dictates what you fly. If you are on reserve you may fly both in the same day. The pay is the same at Skywest also. At ASA the pay is different and it is a totally different catagory. By catagory I mean you are either an AT7 (ATR-72) pilot, a CR2 (CRJ-200) pilot, or a CR7 (CRJ-700) pilot. The CR2 is comfy but the CR7 is comfy and fast. Our fleet breaks down like this:

The ATR is the "caddy". Its slow and big!

The CR2 is a Porsche Boxter. It looks fast but it really isn't!

The CR7 is a Porsche Carrara(sp?) 4. It looks fast and it is fast. No problem doing .82 at FL370!

But as Rick said they fly totally differently. The systems are not even that alike, IMO. CR7 has FADEC, CR2 doesn't. Different APU and limitations. Simplified electrical system on the CR7. CR7 has a much easier FIREX panel. The list goes on and on. From what I hear, Bombardier was really close on the number of differences for it to be a common type. A crew in Germany almost balled one up because they had been flying the CR2 for so long and got swapped in to a CR7 for one leg. The landings are completely different.

Sorry for the longwindedness, hope this helped.

rickair7777

My buddy at SKW just went through 200 to 700 upgrade training. As I understand it, he's now flying only the 700. That was his incentive to do the training. I'll email him and ask.

MikeB525

rickair, you're a great help once again. One last final verdict: how would you rate the CRJ-200 (add the -700 if you like) on a scale of 1 to 10 on each of the following:

-Overall Performance
-Handling/manouverability
-cockpit displays and systems
-ergonomics/comfort
-"fun to fly" factor

General question I've been wondering. I flew on a CRJ once and it seemed no louder than any other jetliner. So why do I always see RJ pilots wearing the big David Clarke noise reduction headsets? I hear it's a requirement, but why??

Thanks guys

JustAMushroom

Well..let's just set it right.

The 200 and 700 are on the same bid sheet and pilots swap between the two all the time. I'll get called for a 200 trip then reflowed into a 700 trip a few hours later. Line holders have exclusive 200 or 700 lines for the month but are free to bid equipment prefrence each month.

Aspen will be flown in the 700 by SkyWest.

And as far as hiring accelerated program guys...I think the pilots who do 1/2 of the interview (HR does the other half) can see thru most of that b.s. and hire accordingly. No one wants a snot nosed kid who has everything handed to them with an ego to match on a 4 day trip. Not everyone in those programs is like that tho... so I think those qualified guys have no issue getting hired.

MikeB525

Justamushroom, you fly for SkyWest?

As for the ego, you're definently right about seeing through the BS and hiring the best. I got a friend whose flying with UND, formerly with Mesa PD (he defected because, like everyone else, he learned that Mesa truly sucks). He says the programs are pretty intense and run you through the ringer on everyflight. It seems they really force you to perform, so I'm not sure about the "handed to them" mentality. At least not from what I've observed. You may have been able to fly with some graduates, so you probably know better than I do. Even if I were to go and pick up a CRJ type to add some attraction and prepare me, it wouldn't be until after spending at least a year or so doing traditional instructing.

Also many people go through those schools to become instructors, not to go direct to airline jobs. Several of the instructors at my friendly neighborhood flight school got most of their stuff (IFR, Comm, CFI, etc) from ATP. They also recommended that I got there to do multiengine when the time comes, as opposed to trying to learn twin flying on the school's expensive and gigantic Baron.