PCLCREW

He isnt as far off as you may think. You and the rest on here may not be dumb, but I was at a recent Colgan interview session and about 50% of the people interviewing were talking about how they would upgrade in a year. SOME people just dont get it.

PCLCREW

Its not just FO's... Some 6,7,8 year skippers are talking about going to the Saab and the Q for IAD and IAH.

Al Czervik

Skippers? Who says that?

cosmosdrvr

That would be awesome. They can have an eight dollar pay cut, a two year seat lock and wear dave clarks. I will gladly take their rj slot.

jheath

No I believe it, and that's why I said I can at least speak for myself. I mean, that's fine with me if people are delusional. It doesn't affect me really. I think another troubling mindset that a couple guys in my interview had were "Hey, I'll go anywhere. No matter what, it beats instructing." Well, that's not necessarily true, and it's mindsets like that which drive the whole industry down when you get 20 year old kids willing to fly a jet for 16K a year because "anything beats instructing." Well, I instructed for a while (Chinese guys at that), worked mainline ops, and now I fly a Caravan 135, and as much as I want to break into the 121 world, I don't mind my current job, so I'm not willing to sell my soul to do it. I'm coming to Colgan/Mesaba not because I'm looking for some magical one year upgrade that will never happen, but because it seems like a place with a good contract, decent movement and growth potential, and a place I could tolerate while waiting 4 years to upgrade. I think Eagle is another place like that, but the divestiture makes me nervous. Anyway, the bottom line is it doesn't matter to me if guys coming here think they're going up upgrade in a year. Worst case scenario, they finally realize the reality that being a real-life airline pilot with the stripes and the fancy luggage isn't all they dreamed it to be. And around their 3rd year in the right seat when they get sick of that commute and waiting out 4 hour ground stops and they quit, that's movement by attrition for the rest of us.

I guess my point is there are those of us out there who have been around the industry enough to understand the pitfalls and realities of this job but are still excited to come aboard and not just because "anything is better than [insert current job here]."

N261ND

The mindsets you speak of are not what brought the industry down. Majors letting scope go and allowing so many RJs is what did. Pilots have ALWAYS been willing to take entry-level positions. There are just more of them because of less scope at the majors. In a perfect world, all 121 flying would be at the majors, IMO.

jheath

No, I know, and I wasn't trying to turn this into a conversation about scope and SJS. Whether we like it or not, this is the way the industry is now. Obviously, the more mainline jobs the better off everyone is, but we're not the ones who sold out scope so we can only do the best with what we have.

N261ND

Exactly!!! If we can't take care of each other as pilots, who can we take care of? I hope people remember that when someone takes an entry-level position, or when someone is sitting up at the gate trying to jumpseat.

jayray2

If you are coming to work for a Regional you are selling your soul to the devil. You might not think so now but you will soon enough realize the truth. You will be working the first year on reserve with 11 days off, in one of the most expensive cities in the world making just over $20,000 a year. You will have to commute to work the day before four times a month, two to three times a month you will not be able to get home on the last day of your reserve stretch and one to two times a month you will get screwed with integration and only get one day off which makes it impossible to go home. That means there are some months when it is possible that you will only get two full days at home, yeah, TWO full days. Just when you think you have it good and build a little seniority, living in your base of choice with decent time off, the industry will take a 180. Then you will get displaced, be forced to commute half way across the country, face imminent furlough and watch upgrades go from months to years and you are back to square one. How is there any other way to look at it other than selling your soul?

jheath

Then quit if you're so unhappy. The world needs plenty of bartenders...

What you're saying isn't NEWS to anybody, man. That's the way it goes for a lot of people. At this point in my life, with the contract and pay scale, I don't see it as "selling my soul." There are a lot worse places to be right now. Give me a couple of years and that opinion might change. Bottom line, no one forces you to do this job. If you get to the point where you deem it no longer personally acceptable, then quit and go sell insurance or something. Complaining about it and being pessimistic doesn't help anybody's case. No one likes flying with that guy who won't shut up about how awful the job is.