Flight Express Inc.

There are a few on this site; MTSU_av8er and WildFreightess are two taht come to mind. There may be others. Drop them a PM.
 
My friend is in a class that starts Dec. 1st. Not sure what the hiring plans are here beyond that.
 
I work at the FBO in KLUK where they have a small base. The planes are really hardcore and they expect you to fly in hard core conditions. The MX guys are good and you get a ton of hours. You start in the 210 and work up to the Baron. I got a really great pick of my friend that ran out of TKS fluid in the Baron and busted mins just to get on the ground. He was an ice cube! not to scare you or anything. Id get on if I had the hrs.
 
My friend started with them recently. He was told he could stay in Miami, well lets just say he is not in Miami. He is getting a lot of hours in a 210.
 
My training partner for my current job worked for Flight Express. He flew the 135 yearly maximum (1400hrs) in 10 months at F.E. At he end, they gave him the option to be fired or resign because they didn't want to fork out two months pay for him to sit at home. You can build up a boat load of time at FE and it sounds like good flying experience.
 
BillH said:
My friend started with them recently. He was told he could stay in Miami, well lets just say he is not in Miami. He is getting a lot of hours in a 210.
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That's odd! I remember that Miami was the hardest base to fill. Maybe the base closed. What did your friend say about the base?
 
I hope you get some PMs from ACTUAL Flight Express pilots because there is alot of "my friend new a guy" in this thread and alot of it is misinformation.
 
mikecweb said:
I hope you get some PMs from ACTUAL Flight Express pilots because there is alot of "my friend new a guy" in this thread and alot of it is misinformation.
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Thanks... He told me everything I need to know, I'll keep it to myself.
 
I flew there for 14 months. Great operation, I was hired into my requested base and stayed there and got the Baron within 7 months. Most of the time the people that talk bad about them have tried stupid stuff with them that no employer would tolerate (request off for interviews with like 2 days notice, not fly in weather that was flyable on repeat occasions, etc.) and so they have a bad taste in their mouth. If you keep your head down and do your job like most people, it is a good opportunity with above average pay for cargo, let alone regional airlines.
 
mshunter said:
The web site says pay is preaty low. Some places say "you will make $XXk a year" and you make less, and some more.
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$23,400.00 – $43,680.00 is "pretty low"? I hope you're not looking at regional airlines for your first job. Oops, they're not even hiring. Pay is based on duty hour. Some runs are as short as 3 or 4 hours on duty to off, for which you'll make minimum pay ($23,400). A 14 hour duty day would pay $43,680. Most of the longer runs only spend 4-5 hours in the air (some even less), so if you don't mind sleeping in recliners, a long day will bring down a decent paycheck.

I had a great experience at FLX and would do it again in a heartbeat.

splash said:
Not trying to scare you or anything but you may wanna look into that matter. Lol, I'm no longer crazy about flying a 210.
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I've over 1200 hours in FLX 210s (plenty of them in low IFR) and I never had an engine or fuel problem of any description whatsoever. I would fly one to minimums tomorrow and not think twice about it (if they'd let me!)
 
Dont work for them but we have two flight express barons that come into Akron Fulton 5 nights a week. They always show up like 2 hours early and just sit there playing computer games. Is there a reason they show up that early before the driver comes?
 
I flew there for a short span of time and left voluntarily. They're not a terrible company, but they treatment and the pay wasn't worth it. Especially with the avionics quality in the aircraft. ATC are used to giving GPS direct and you flying perfect VOR radials which is hard when the needle is jumping half scale back and forth on both NAVs...

They are a bit shifty the bases when you ask during application, but then upon arriving at ground school theres a good chance they'll say you must go somewhere completely different. And then make you feel bad for second guessing the fact that they expect you start work within a day or two of finishing ground school (even if you have to move).

The 1000 bonus is actually a $772 bonus after taxes and a mystery $150 withholding?

They sell you on the fact that you make $12 for every hour you work, but once you get efficient at flying your route thats only an extra 1-2 hours added on your run your getting paid for. So if your going to a regional making 20+ an hour it balances out. On top of that they require you to refuel,tie-down,unload, and call dispatch, or any other unexpected delays within 20 minutes of shutdown by yourself (well they don't really require but thats all you get paid for). Also over time the bonuses you get for seniority aren't much... like $2 extra per shift (yes per shift not per hour) after the first six months culminating at something like +$10/shift after 5 years.

Theres some other stuff too, PM me and I'll tell you more.

With that said, did I to something absolutely stupid and obnoxious and break an airplane and get fired? No I respectfully left on my terms becuase I was unwilling to accept the risk of my certs. and danger for $12 an hour. Do I absolutely hate FLX and get great satisfaction from flaming them? Of course not, its just not for me. One of my biggest criticisms in this industry is that some pilots are willing bend over and take it for flight time no matter what the pay. I'm not one of them.

But best of luck with your job search, if you decide to work there I wish you good luck and safe travels, just know that you WILL work like a dog.
 
mshunter said:
Boris Badenov said:
$23,400.00 – $43,680.00 is "pretty low"? I hope you're not looking at regional airlines for your first job. quote]


I have my 1st job. yeah, i know flight instruction isn't considered a job by many, but I earn a paycheck so it's a job to me. As far as a regional goes, NO EFFIN WAY MAN!!!!!! I'd rather go back to working on cars at a dealership. I get my kick from flying the plane, not pushing buttons in an aluminum tube. The only thing I am concerned about is the low end of the scale. I have a family, and putting food on the table comes before getting a flying job. I'd love to work for them, I just hope my wife would be able to make up the difference.

Besides, having 80-100 people's lives in your hand for 19k a year flying an airplane that can take out hundreds more on the ground, vs. driving a greyhound, makeing 50-60k a year, 30 peoples lives in your hand and mabey takeing out 10 more in an accident, dosen't realy appeal to me to work harder as an airline pilot. I'd rather drive the bus. It's all the little boys and girls that are wet ink certs, that had mommy and daddy sign the loan papers who will fly for peanuts that have brought the airline industry to what it is today when it comes to pay scales.
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Don't totally sell the regionals short. Pay isn't great initially, but that bears true for many jobs. And even then, only the lowwww end regionals get you stuck at $19K, the key is you just have to wait for a decent one. A friend of mine at AE pulled almost 3K/month this past year including per diem as a first year FO. Not that I'm particularly defending AE they're upgrade time sucks but at least the payscale is relatively steep, a captain there can pull in well over $100/hr. The first year pay at Piedmont and Horizon are 25/hr+. Also the FLX work is harder loading and unloading heavy freight (the couriers and ramp people often do nothing but watch), you'll be flying at obscene hours (the majority of the flying IS at night).
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