Trans States
10-25-2014, 08:24 PM
#4921
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,109
I have heard that reputation for stupid, unwarranted termination of pilots before stamper showed up and Randy stepped down from chief pilot. But the people that I know of who have been fired in the last year have only been a few and I would have fired them too. do you know of any unjustified fireings in the past year? I dont know who archer Is exactly so I cant comment without knowing for sure in his case but I think I heard about it. I just take it as I take all rumors.... with a grain of salt.
Yeah, TSA pre KS/RZ removal and afterwards are pretty much two different companies.
10-25-2014, 10:41 PM
#4922
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2014
Position: 737 FO
Posts: 360
I have heard that reputation for stupid, unwarranted termination of pilots before stamper showed up and Randy stepped down from chief pilot. But the people that I know of who have been fired in the last year have only been a few and I would have fired them too. do you know of any unjustified fireings in the past year? I dont know who archer Is exactly so I cant comment without knowing for sure in his case but I think I heard about it. I just take it as I take all rumors.... with a grain of salt.
Getting RZ out of the office was one big step in the right direction.
10-26-2014, 04:02 AM
#4923
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2013
Position: EMB145 Captain
Posts: 193
I witnessed two that were totally unnecessary and unwarranted. RZ was the Chief. I've heard of enough of them prior to Keith coming in that I know the stories have more than just a hint of truth. Keith has done wonders for TSA, and I'm sure that will continue.
Getting RZ out of the office was one big step in the right direction.
Getting RZ out of the office was one big step in the right direction.
Youd think it would take ownership or vp changes to make this kind of effect. Again, this turn around gives me hooe for the industry in general. Its not always back peddling and giving ground. Dramatic improvement is possible.
10-27-2014, 08:46 AM
#4924
New Hire
Joined APC: Dec 2008
Posts: 1
Wow several pages of total jerry Springer show action. That was entertaining, thabk you.
I was never promised or quoted any upgrade times at all. Infact when I asked I got the answer "your upgrade time will depend on a number of factors that are very difficult to predict"
and when I asked about future plans for growth and such I got "we are privately held and make very conservative decisions in reguard to growth, and unlike other carriers we will not take contracts or flying at a loss and hope to make it up later, our plans are to continue to do what we do now and what we have been doing which is being a small operator of 50 seat jets and we believe that reguardless of what our mainline partners may like, there will always be a small market for 50 seat jets. We will of course explore options for growth but we can make no promises"
They also commented on their training by saying it was very hard, had an abnormally high washout rate and successfully compleating it was know in the industry to be considered having proven your mettle, and nobody would doubt your ability to handle121 style training afterwards. Which I confirmed in research and then found to be totally incorrect. The training wasnt a cakewalk but it was by no means "brutal"
That was what I got, was it what I wanted to hear? No. Was it honest? Hell yes. So why did I decide to come here? Because research showed the pilot grouo to be amazing people, the notoriously bad management to be on the way out, and the contract to be really decent, all things considered. Plus I got the impression the recruiters were not doing the traditional spoon feeding me bull**** thing and were actually honest people.
Recruiting basically hit on the contract, spelled out how even as an fo for five years if it came to that I would make more money than some of the places offering immediate hireing bonuses and their privately held, been in business for decades, fiscally conservative, we know how to make money and keep our doors open nature for their why work for us argument.
a year and 3 months later, I've found nothing about recruitings statements untrue.
We have alot of good people working here, on contract has improved slightly and our union is constantly hard at work on the next improment and implementation, our management is handeled by decent real human beings that understand we are also human beings and treat us with respect while still doing to job of being management. Keith Stamper, Lee Stelzner, Jim Evans, and now John Walsh are all good people. Our union also is filled with good people. Quality of life at trans states is good and getting better, a statement even two years ago nobody on earth would be able to honestly say. Sure we have room to improve but ive looked at many other options very recently as you may have seen from my posts around here on other threads and im voluntarily still at trans states and short of a legacy job offer that is probably still a few years away im planning on staying here.
I cant be the only person here that honestly has no serious complaints about this place. Ive only been a line holder for a few months and sure not flying much while on reserve was annoying cause we're all trying to get that time but even as a reserve here quality of life was pretty decent.
But, im not old and jaded, I haven't been swallowed up and spit out by this industry like so many others, and I still love to fly airplanes which is what I came here to do so maybe im totally in the minority here.
Im broke as **** but I still have hope for the future and know there are 1000s of pilots out there who are just as broke as I an and some have it way worse. I interviewed in april 2013.
Please excuse mt typos. I typed this whole thing on an aging mobile phone.
I was never promised or quoted any upgrade times at all. Infact when I asked I got the answer "your upgrade time will depend on a number of factors that are very difficult to predict"
and when I asked about future plans for growth and such I got "we are privately held and make very conservative decisions in reguard to growth, and unlike other carriers we will not take contracts or flying at a loss and hope to make it up later, our plans are to continue to do what we do now and what we have been doing which is being a small operator of 50 seat jets and we believe that reguardless of what our mainline partners may like, there will always be a small market for 50 seat jets. We will of course explore options for growth but we can make no promises"
They also commented on their training by saying it was very hard, had an abnormally high washout rate and successfully compleating it was know in the industry to be considered having proven your mettle, and nobody would doubt your ability to handle121 style training afterwards. Which I confirmed in research and then found to be totally incorrect. The training wasnt a cakewalk but it was by no means "brutal"
That was what I got, was it what I wanted to hear? No. Was it honest? Hell yes. So why did I decide to come here? Because research showed the pilot grouo to be amazing people, the notoriously bad management to be on the way out, and the contract to be really decent, all things considered. Plus I got the impression the recruiters were not doing the traditional spoon feeding me bull**** thing and were actually honest people.
Recruiting basically hit on the contract, spelled out how even as an fo for five years if it came to that I would make more money than some of the places offering immediate hireing bonuses and their privately held, been in business for decades, fiscally conservative, we know how to make money and keep our doors open nature for their why work for us argument.
a year and 3 months later, I've found nothing about recruitings statements untrue.
We have alot of good people working here, on contract has improved slightly and our union is constantly hard at work on the next improment and implementation, our management is handeled by decent real human beings that understand we are also human beings and treat us with respect while still doing to job of being management. Keith Stamper, Lee Stelzner, Jim Evans, and now John Walsh are all good people. Our union also is filled with good people. Quality of life at trans states is good and getting better, a statement even two years ago nobody on earth would be able to honestly say. Sure we have room to improve but ive looked at many other options very recently as you may have seen from my posts around here on other threads and im voluntarily still at trans states and short of a legacy job offer that is probably still a few years away im planning on staying here.
I cant be the only person here that honestly has no serious complaints about this place. Ive only been a line holder for a few months and sure not flying much while on reserve was annoying cause we're all trying to get that time but even as a reserve here quality of life was pretty decent.
But, im not old and jaded, I haven't been swallowed up and spit out by this industry like so many others, and I still love to fly airplanes which is what I came here to do so maybe im totally in the minority here.
Im broke as **** but I still have hope for the future and know there are 1000s of pilots out there who are just as broke as I an and some have it way worse. I interviewed in april 2013.
Please excuse mt typos. I typed this whole thing on an aging mobile phone.
I've heard that good things have happened since KS got there. He seemed like a down to Earth, yet sharp guy. I was there, briefly, and was one of those fired for no real reason. It had nothing to do with KS, and to the best of my knowledge, he didn't know it was happening....at least not at the time. Maybe he found out later, and it may have sparked the fire that led to RZ being gone. I don't mean "me" being fired, but what was going on with everyone that happened to.
Please bear in mind that I am not a regular here, and have not read 400 pages of a TS thread. The last couple have questioned the validity of the claims of that actually happening, or just being rumor. I can't speak for everyone that happened to, nor would I try.
My interview went very well. I heard, essentially, the same line quoted above from Swaboda. Nice guy, line pilot, easy going. I heard that in response after I asked him why I should go there. During the two on one, once he was satisfied, he asked if I had any questions for him. I said "actually yeah.....I've mentioned to you that I felt it was time to move on from instructing, but why TS?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, why here and not Eagle, or ExpressJet, or any of those other 'dirty words'?"
He sat back, kinda grinned, and said basically what was said above, about being family owned, slow, managed growth, etc..
Well, was offered the job, which I took, and started class Oct 08, 2012. 11 ComAir people four of us new to airlines. My ground school scores were consistently high, and it seemed like a competition between myself and the woman that sat next to me to see who could do better. My class had a Mix as an instructor along with Epperson, who was training to be an instructror.
After ground school, sim. Had the midnight to 4:00 slot, which sucks BTW. I had a couple of stumbles, but nothing marked as a failure, just had to focus a bit more on a couple things, and then they were done.
For the oral, those of us who were qualified for our ATP's had to go with Heideman. Anyone who either did not yet meet the requirement, or already had it, used different examiners. On the day of the oral, the two of us going with Heideman were scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00. "A" (the other guy) came from ComAir as an FO for the previous 6 1/2 years, and was scheduled first. At 1:25, he's calling me saying that he was done, failed, and that Heideman wanted me to come in early. I gather up my stuff and head in.
5 minutes in, I knew there was no passing. No answer was good enough. Correct answers were 'wrong', and others were not long enough. By the time we got a little over a half hour in, I answered a question as follows: "Well, you're going to say I'm wrong. I know that ground school taught us this, and the answer is ____, but you're going to say it's wrong. I'll stick with what I was taught." He sat back with a smug look on his face and said "well, I think we're just going to call this as unsat." I said "of course we are".
So, pink slip in hand, I went to Stuart Scott and Greg Pochapski and told them I wanted a different examiner. I told them that he was not on our side, and that there was no way to pass that check ride. I was told that "we're not in the business of letting new hires choose their examiner", to which I responded "if I have to go back with him, fine, but my opinion will be known." They said "besides, if you go with a different examiner, the FAA will have to sit in on it." I said "I'd actually prefer that. At least I know I'd get a fair check ride that way."
Well, the next day was 'retraining'. Three of us, myself, "A", and "T" had ground. "T" failed because he showed up without his manuals being updated, which would typically have you shown the door immediately. It was really odd.....the instructor kept getting calls from Pochapski and RZ, and stepping out of the room. He would NOT look us in the eye, and finally said "look, I can only sign off on one of you to retake. I'm not sure what they're doing with you two", meaning myself and "A".
The next day we were called to have a 'meeting' with RZ. "A" called me and said "yeah, we're being fired. That's why they want you to bring all of your materials and ID with you." He went in first, and that was exactly it. I went in a few minutes early and was told by RZ "As you are aware, probationary employees serve at the discretion of the company. Effective immediately, your employment is no longer required." He then turned around to his printer and grabbed a paper off of it that was printed before I got there that said the exact same thing. There was no "Hey, what's going on, I heard there was an issue" or "Hi, Randy Zehnder, nice to meet you".....nothing but the script.
After I got back home, I called Swaboda and thanked him for the opportunity, and for always being a nice guy whenever we encountered each other in the building. He was shocked (his word) to find out they had fired me, and it was the first he'd heard about it. I then called Mix, who had heard about it, but also said he and Paul both were shocked to hear they let me go based on my scores in ground school. I then called the FAA and told them that if I could ever get solid proof of what happened, I'd be petitioning them to revoke the ATP's of Heideman, Scott, Pochapski, and RZ, as they did not meet the requirement of "high moral character".
I just found out a few days....maybe a week ago that RZ was gone shortly after that happened, and that KS didn't know about it when it was happening. ("A" and KS worked together at ComAir and have apparently kept in touch)
Here is the real kicker..... Heideman KNEW he was wrong, and never turned in the paperwork on those failures! I have the slip still to this day, along with the termination letter from RZ. I'd love to burn their asses!
10-28-2014, 05:41 AM
#4925
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2014
Posts: 504
I've heard that good things have happened since KS got there. He seemed like a down to Earth, yet sharp guy. I was there, briefly, and was one of those fired for no real reason. It had nothing to do with KS, and to the best of my knowledge, he didn't know it was happening....at least not at the time. Maybe he found out later, and it may have sparked the fire that led to RZ being gone. I don't mean "me" being fired, but what was going on with everyone that happened to.
Please bear in mind that I am not a regular here, and have not read 400 pages of a TS thread. The last couple have questioned the validity of the claims of that actually happening, or just being rumor. I can't speak for everyone that happened to, nor would I try.
My interview went very well. I heard, essentially, the same line quoted above from Swaboda. Nice guy, line pilot, easy going. I heard that in response after I asked him why I should go there. During the two on one, once he was satisfied, he asked if I had any questions for him. I said "actually yeah.....I've mentioned to you that I felt it was time to move on from instructing, but why TS?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, why here and not Eagle, or ExpressJet, or any of those other 'dirty words'?"
He sat back, kinda grinned, and said basically what was said above, about being family owned, slow, managed growth, etc..
Well, was offered the job, which I took, and started class Oct 08, 2012. 11 ComAir people four of us new to airlines. My ground school scores were consistently high, and it seemed like a competition between myself and the woman that sat next to me to see who could do better. My class had a Mix as an instructor along with Epperson, who was training to be an instructror.
After ground school, sim. Had the midnight to 4:00 slot, which sucks BTW. I had a couple of stumbles, but nothing marked as a failure, just had to focus a bit more on a couple things, and then they were done.
For the oral, those of us who were qualified for our ATP's had to go with Heideman. Anyone who either did not yet meet the requirement, or already had it, used different examiners. On the day of the oral, the two of us going with Heideman were scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00. "A" (the other guy) came from ComAir as an FO for the previous 6 1/2 years, and was scheduled first. At 1:25, he's calling me saying that he was done, failed, and that Heideman wanted me to come in early. I gather up my stuff and head in.
5 minutes in, I knew there was no passing. No answer was good enough. Correct answers were 'wrong', and others were not long enough. By the time we got a little over a half hour in, I answered a question as follows: "Well, you're going to say I'm wrong. I know that ground school taught us this, and the answer is ____, but you're going to say it's wrong. I'll stick with what I was taught." He sat back with a smug look on his face and said "well, I think we're just going to call this as unsat." I said "of course we are".
So, pink slip in hand, I went to Stuart Scott and Greg Pochapski and told them I wanted a different examiner. I told them that he was not on our side, and that there was no way to pass that check ride. I was told that "we're not in the business of letting new hires choose their examiner", to which I responded "if I have to go back with him, fine, but my opinion will be known." They said "besides, if you go with a different examiner, the FAA will have to sit in on it." I said "I'd actually prefer that. At least I know I'd get a fair check ride that way."
Well, the next day was 'retraining'. Three of us, myself, "A", and "T" had ground. "T" failed because he showed up without his manuals being updated, which would typically have you shown the door immediately. It was really odd.....the instructor kept getting calls from Pochapski and RZ, and stepping out of the room. He would NOT look us in the eye, and finally said "look, I can only sign off on one of you to retake. I'm not sure what they're doing with you two", meaning myself and "A".
The next day we were called to have a 'meeting' with RZ. "A" called me and said "yeah, we're being fired. That's why they want you to bring all of your materials and ID with you." He went in first, and that was exactly it. I went in a few minutes early and was told by RZ "As you are aware, probationary employees serve at the discretion of the company. Effective immediately, your employment is no longer required." He then turned around to his printer and grabbed a paper off of it that was printed before I got there that said the exact same thing. There was no "Hey, what's going on, I heard there was an issue" or "Hi, Randy Zehnder, nice to meet you".....nothing but the script.
After I got back home, I called Swaboda and thanked him for the opportunity, and for always being a nice guy whenever we encountered each other in the building. He was shocked (his word) to find out they had fired me, and it was the first he'd heard about it. I then called Mix, who had heard about it, but also said he and Paul both were shocked to hear they let me go based on my scores in ground school. I then called the FAA and told them that if I could ever get solid proof of what happened, I'd be petitioning them to revoke the ATP's of Heideman, Scott, Pochapski, and RZ, as they did not meet the requirement of "high moral character".
I just found out a few days....maybe a week ago that RZ was gone shortly after that happened, and that KS didn't know about it when it was happening. ("A" and KS worked together at ComAir and have apparently kept in touch)
Here is the real kicker..... Heideman KNEW he was wrong, and never turned in the paperwork on those failures! I have the slip still to this day, along with the termination letter from RZ. I'd love to burn their asses!
Please bear in mind that I am not a regular here, and have not read 400 pages of a TS thread. The last couple have questioned the validity of the claims of that actually happening, or just being rumor. I can't speak for everyone that happened to, nor would I try.
My interview went very well. I heard, essentially, the same line quoted above from Swaboda. Nice guy, line pilot, easy going. I heard that in response after I asked him why I should go there. During the two on one, once he was satisfied, he asked if I had any questions for him. I said "actually yeah.....I've mentioned to you that I felt it was time to move on from instructing, but why TS?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, why here and not Eagle, or ExpressJet, or any of those other 'dirty words'?"
He sat back, kinda grinned, and said basically what was said above, about being family owned, slow, managed growth, etc..
Well, was offered the job, which I took, and started class Oct 08, 2012. 11 ComAir people four of us new to airlines. My ground school scores were consistently high, and it seemed like a competition between myself and the woman that sat next to me to see who could do better. My class had a Mix as an instructor along with Epperson, who was training to be an instructror.
After ground school, sim. Had the midnight to 4:00 slot, which sucks BTW. I had a couple of stumbles, but nothing marked as a failure, just had to focus a bit more on a couple things, and then they were done.
For the oral, those of us who were qualified for our ATP's had to go with Heideman. Anyone who either did not yet meet the requirement, or already had it, used different examiners. On the day of the oral, the two of us going with Heideman were scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00. "A" (the other guy) came from ComAir as an FO for the previous 6 1/2 years, and was scheduled first. At 1:25, he's calling me saying that he was done, failed, and that Heideman wanted me to come in early. I gather up my stuff and head in.
5 minutes in, I knew there was no passing. No answer was good enough. Correct answers were 'wrong', and others were not long enough. By the time we got a little over a half hour in, I answered a question as follows: "Well, you're going to say I'm wrong. I know that ground school taught us this, and the answer is ____, but you're going to say it's wrong. I'll stick with what I was taught." He sat back with a smug look on his face and said "well, I think we're just going to call this as unsat." I said "of course we are".
So, pink slip in hand, I went to Stuart Scott and Greg Pochapski and told them I wanted a different examiner. I told them that he was not on our side, and that there was no way to pass that check ride. I was told that "we're not in the business of letting new hires choose their examiner", to which I responded "if I have to go back with him, fine, but my opinion will be known." They said "besides, if you go with a different examiner, the FAA will have to sit in on it." I said "I'd actually prefer that. At least I know I'd get a fair check ride that way."
Well, the next day was 'retraining'. Three of us, myself, "A", and "T" had ground. "T" failed because he showed up without his manuals being updated, which would typically have you shown the door immediately. It was really odd.....the instructor kept getting calls from Pochapski and RZ, and stepping out of the room. He would NOT look us in the eye, and finally said "look, I can only sign off on one of you to retake. I'm not sure what they're doing with you two", meaning myself and "A".
The next day we were called to have a 'meeting' with RZ. "A" called me and said "yeah, we're being fired. That's why they want you to bring all of your materials and ID with you." He went in first, and that was exactly it. I went in a few minutes early and was told by RZ "As you are aware, probationary employees serve at the discretion of the company. Effective immediately, your employment is no longer required." He then turned around to his printer and grabbed a paper off of it that was printed before I got there that said the exact same thing. There was no "Hey, what's going on, I heard there was an issue" or "Hi, Randy Zehnder, nice to meet you".....nothing but the script.
After I got back home, I called Swaboda and thanked him for the opportunity, and for always being a nice guy whenever we encountered each other in the building. He was shocked (his word) to find out they had fired me, and it was the first he'd heard about it. I then called Mix, who had heard about it, but also said he and Paul both were shocked to hear they let me go based on my scores in ground school. I then called the FAA and told them that if I could ever get solid proof of what happened, I'd be petitioning them to revoke the ATP's of Heideman, Scott, Pochapski, and RZ, as they did not meet the requirement of "high moral character".
I just found out a few days....maybe a week ago that RZ was gone shortly after that happened, and that KS didn't know about it when it was happening. ("A" and KS worked together at ComAir and have apparently kept in touch)
Here is the real kicker..... Heideman KNEW he was wrong, and never turned in the paperwork on those failures! I have the slip still to this day, along with the termination letter from RZ. I'd love to burn their asses!
In my day the saying was if you haven't had a failure at TSA you haven't worked here long enough. TSA has always been over confident about the availability of pilots too.
10-28-2014, 06:01 AM
#4926
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2013
Posts: 171
Stamper did my initial oral/checkride at Comair, which was my very first job. He is the most stand up guy in this business. Congratulations! You are very lucky to have him. And Keith, if you read this, you may remember the "very real cockpit distraction" as those two hotties strolled by in the lobby of the Lauderdale Beach Hotel. I'm really glad you landed on your feet after Comair!
10-28-2014, 08:01 AM
#4927
Gets Tuesdays off
Joined APC: Feb 2013
Position: I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
Posts: 44
"Harrumph, harrumph, harrumph!"
10-29-2014, 10:54 AM
#4928
On Reserve
Joined APC: Oct 2014
Position: Emb-145 right seat
Posts: 21
More flying
Hi. I wounder IF anybody have heard something new about additional Aircraft.
10-29-2014, 11:09 AM
#4929
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2011
Position: Taco Rocket Operator
Posts: 2,485
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