Colgan soon to be Mesaba or Republic...?

M

mexipilot

Well-Known Member
Good day to all,

A pleasure to read your threads and thanks in advance to all for your comments and suggestions.
I am a Newby here and have been fortunate enough to land two interviews and job offers as a Dispatcher
with Colgan Airlines and Republic Airways.

Would like to get some facts and opinions from any one that has Dispatched at these carriers and get the good, bad and ugly from your perspective.

I also have @ 600 ttl flying hours and are saving money to get my CFI'S and further down the road apply to become a first officer. If things go well for me, I would like to stay at the same carrier I am dispatching at and make this transition.

I see the minimums for Republic are higher, but so is pay also down the road.

Anyone that has lived in either Memphis and or Indianapolis, your suggestions and experiences will be greatly appreciated as far as quality of living.

I have a few days to make a decision and I kindly ask for some assistance and thoughts.

Thanks to all!

Best Regards,

mexipilot:bandit:
 
Congrats on the job offers! To answer you question if I had to choose between those two I would pick Republic. Not to say they are any better than Colgan but last I heard Colgan was getting phased out and merged into Pinnacle. Either way I would stay as far away from Pinnacle Holdings as possible, I heard nothing good about their SOC and there is a reason why their hiring manager wouldn't stop calling me for three weeks after I applied and continuously telling him no thank you.

On the other hand Republic is in some serious financial issues right now between pilot pay and bleeding airlines but I know a few guys over there and which ever airline they put you into the people seem happy.

Also if you want to fly for either of these guys would you rather have a shot at flying a dingy Q400 or a spankin new E-175? A college roommate of mine flew those for some time and loved them, that is before he got furloughed....................................

Good luck on your decision but if there is one thing I have learned in this industry and job is that you never take the first job offer. Seeing as you have two changes the whole story. IMHO go for Republic or keep looking.
 
Ok sorry, didn't mean to bash the Q400, I know it's good airplane and hell if you offered me right seat in it I would take it in a heartbeat but if your looking to transition from dispatch to pilot I would pick an airline that had at least offered jet time. I'm waiting to transition to our 767's come the next class date.
 
Your profile might be outdated, but you're saying they're going to let you in a 767 with 200 hours of pilot time?
 
mexipilot said:
Good day to all,

A pleasure to read your threads and thanks in advance to all for your comments and suggestions.
I am a Newby here and have been fortunate enough to land two interviews and job offers as a Dispatcher
with Colgan Airlines and Republic Airways.

Would like to get some facts and opinions from any one that has Dispatched at these carriers and get the good, bad and ugly from your perspective.

I also have @ 600 ttl flying hours and are saving money to get my CFI'S and further down the road apply to become a first officer. If things go well for me, I would like to stay at the same carrier I am dispatching at and make this transition.

I see the minimums for Republic are higher, but so is pay also down the road.

Anyone that has lived in either Memphis and or Indianapolis, your suggestions and experiences will be greatly appreciated as far as quality of living.

I have a few days to make a decision and I kindly ask for some assistance and thoughts.

Thanks to all!

Best Regards,

mexipilot:bandit:
Click to expand...

Hi, ex aircraft dispatcher and current Mesaba pilot. Colgan's name will be going way, it will be Mesaba.

You are looking a little too far ahead, but let me try to go down that road with you.

Regarding Republic's payscale, their contract is worth less than the Mesaba and your paycheck should be bigger every year, year after year, at Mesaba. The pay rates are confusing when looking from the outside in, however, the # is not the whole story. Never mind the fact our top tier will be adjusted to 120 an hour in a few years. This does not preclude the possibility that Republic could get a much better contract if the pilots negotiate one in the future.

Everyone will be at the same 1500 mins in a little while, so hiring mins should not apply to your reasoning. You're total time is fine (assuming you have some multi) for Mesaba, unless the hiring has changed.

Forget everything above, which company pays you more and has more upward mobility for your dispatcher job? Stop looking at your dispatch job as your future pilot job. Worry about one job at a time.

Oh, and welcome to Jetcareers.
 
ljg said:
Your profile might be outdated, but you're saying they're going to let you in a 767 with 200 hours of pilot time?
Click to expand...

Lol it's a little outdated but not by much. Just finished instrument and multiple private been done for awhile. Just gotta finish multi commercial to meet our requirement. Hourly mins are set by chief pilot and how well you know him but alot of dispatchers have gone right into our 767's with as little as 300 hours. Helps when you just fly cargo and 121 supplemental passengers ops. Regardless our next class date won't be for another 1-2 years For the non furloughed guys. Were locked in contract to hire our sister airlines furloughed pilots. Well see if I stick around that long though ;)

I know it sounds crazy to fly something that big with such low time but honestly it's not that uncommon surprisingly. A friend on mine just got hired my LAN with only 250 hours and is now in the right seat of their 763. He said not one person in his class had more than 500 TT! Sounds unfair but don't hate the player, hate the game lol.
 
I wouldn't listent too much to izanti. We've have guys hired from both airframes to every major out there that has hired in recent years, as well as high profile fractional and good corporate jobs. We've even had guys hired off of the lowly Saab (I wonder what he thinks of those airplanes). As far as "dingy" Q400 goes, he doesn't know what he is talking about. Don't let the props fool you, it is a badass airplane.

Pinnacle Holdings is in a HUGE state of change right now. We're merging 3 airlines, and trying to integrate all of the operations. It is something of a show right now, but there is a lot of growth potential between our fleet of Q400s and CRJ-900s. Word on the street is that we had to turn down American when they wanted us to fly the Q for them because of staffing levels, and from what I hear, United loves the airplane and wants more of them flying around. IF we can get our act together, there is potential here.

The downside comes from the large fleet of CRJ-200s flying for Delta, that contract runs out in 2017 I believe. It sounds like the smaller RJ's are headed for the desert when that happens. The Saabs on the Mesaba certificate are being phased out, and nobody really seems to know what is going to happen with the Colgan Saab fleet in the coming years. I guess we'll see. We're currently running a realignment bid for the closing of the MEM Saab base and the rest of the Mesaba Saab bases are scheduled to close by Spring 2012. You'd be joining a 3000 pilot seniority list that is still growing. As far as upgrade time, its anyone's guess right now, especially with the way the seniority list integration panned out. I wouldn't plan on anything under 4-5 years, and thats being optimistic. I hope I'm wrong about that. We just voted in a new contract, that has a lot of room for soft pay, so the pay rates don't necessarily reflect what you can potentially make. A couple months ago because of the way recurrent ground and a sim check worked out I ended up getting paid 154hrs and flew less than 60. Not bad. We have pay raises coming over the course of the next few years too.

From talking to Midreputtleaquatier (Midwest/Republic/Shuttle/Chautauqua/Frontier) guys, they hate it. Little movement and low morale seems to run rampant. A big shiny jet, sure, but there are more important things than what you're driving. The company has potential but don't underestimate the challenges they face. I've heard reports that it is in the top 5 or 10 companies expected to fail or go bankrupt within 5-7yrs or something like that. I could be wrong, and I hope I am, I'm only going off of what I've heard and read. This being aviation, things can change in a heartbeat.

If we're lucky, Age 65 will kick in next year as planned and we'll finally start to see steady movement at the majors. Barring economic catastrophe, terrorism or some other unpredictable hardship, there is a chance for aviation to see growth and movement again within a few years.

I'd look more at things like bases, pay, and quality of life than I would aircraft type if I were you. These things will be a lot more important than they type on your certificate. I'd take flying a Saab from home over commuting to fly a big RJ.
 
etflies said:
I wouldn't listent too much to izanti. We've have guys hired from both airframes to every major out there that has hired in recent years, as well as high profile fractional and good corporate jobs. We've even had guys hired off of the lowly Saab (I wonder what he thinks of those airplanes). As far as "dingy" Q400 goes, he doesn't know what he is talking about. Don't let the props fool you, it is a badass airplane.

Pinnacle Holdings is in a HUGE state of change right now. We're merging 3 airlines, and trying to integrate all of the operations. It is something of a show right now, but there is a lot of growth potential between our fleet of Q400s and CRJ-900s. Word on the street is that we had to turn down American when they wanted us to fly the Q for them because of staffing levels, and from what I hear, United loves the airplane and wants more of them flying around. IF we can get our act together, there is potential here.

The downside comes from the large fleet of CRJ-200s flying for Delta, that contract runs out in 2017 I believe. It sounds like the smaller RJ's are headed for the desert when that happens. The Saabs on the Mesaba certificate are being phased out, and nobody really seems to know what is going to happen with the Colgan Saab fleet in the coming years. I guess we'll see. We're currently running a realignment bid for the closing of the MEM Saab base and the rest of the Mesaba Saab bases are scheduled to close by Spring 2012. You'd be joining a 3000 pilot seniority list that is still growing. As far as upgrade time, its anyone's guess right now, especially with the way the seniority list integration panned out. I wouldn't plan on anything under 4-5 years, and thats being optimistic. I hope I'm wrong about that. We just voted in a new contract, that has a lot of room for soft pay, so the pay rates don't necessarily reflect what you can potentially make. A couple months ago because of the way recurrent ground and a sim check worked out I ended up getting paid 154hrs and flew less than 60. Not bad. We have pay raises coming over the course of the next few years too.

From talking to Midreputtleaquatier (Midwest/Republic/Shuttle/Chautauqua/Frontier) guys, they hate it. Little movement and low morale seems to run rampant. A big shiny jet, sure, but there are more important things than what you're driving. The company has potential but don't underestimate the challenges they face. I've heard reports that it is in the top 5 or 10 companies expected to fail or go bankrupt within 5-7yrs or something like that. I could be wrong, and I hope I am, I'm only going off of what I've heard and read. This being aviation, things can change in a heartbeat.

If we're lucky, Age 65 will kick in next year as planned and we'll finally start to see steady movement at the majors. Barring economic catastrophe, terrorism or some other unpredictable hardship, there is a chance for aviation to see growth and movement again within a few years.

I'd look more at things like bases, pay, and quality of life than I would aircraft type if I were you. These things will be a lot more important than they type on your certificate. I'd take flying a Saab from home over commuting to fly a big RJ.
Click to expand...

You do realize that this is a dispatcher talking about dispatching for an airline and then transitioning to the right seat right? Clearly you failed to understand the point of this thread because all you got from my post what that I hate Q400's and that it will stop you from upgrading to a major. No one ever mentioned going into the majors. You are not even on the same level of thinking as us. I never said anything about turbo prop time making you less likely from joining major and frankly I am a little confused on where you even got that from my post. I mearly pointed out that I would rather fly a 175 over a Q400 and I think you would have a hard time finding someone to disagree.

He was asking our opinion on which route he should take regarding dispatching and then flying. As it is obvious you fly for one of the airlines under Pinnacle Holdings umbrella I again need to point out to you that we are talking about dispatching!!!! You do realize that Pinnacles turnover rate for dispatchers is usually 6 months or less. Sounds a lot worse than Republics 5-10 year estimate of going under. There is a reason why I turned them down for a job and why my friends went unemployed for over a year while turning Pinnacle down.

thanks for just being a troll by singling my opinion out (which the original poster was asking for people opinions)
 
Wow, apparently I hit a nerve. I do realize the posters intent, however he also mentions the right seat as a goal further down the road which is why I gave my perspective, that is, one of someone who currently sits in the right seat for one of the companies mentioned. You mentioned some information about one company, so I talked about the other. I don't know much about Republic but from what I have heard, riding in jumpseats and from my dispatcher and crew scheduling friends there, I gave information to the best of my knowledge.

Truth is, nobody knows which regional is the "best" if there is such a thing and what is the golden ticket today could be tomorrow's Comair.

FYI, I wouldn't have to work hard to find lots of professional pilots who would be perfectly happy flying a "dingy" turboprop for the duration of their career, particularly if the pay and quality of life was what they desired. A jet is just another airplane, believe me.
 
izanti said:
Lol it's a little outdated but not by much. Just finished instrument and multiple private been done for awhile. Just gotta finish multi commercial to meet our requirement. Hourly mins are set by chief pilot and how well you know him but alot of dispatchers have gone right into our 767's with as little as 300 hours. Helps when you just fly cargo and 121 supplemental passengers ops. Regardless our next class date won't be for another 1-2 years For the non furloughed guys. Were locked in contract to hire our sister airlines furloughed pilots. Well see if I stick around that long though ;)

I know it sounds crazy to fly something that big with such low time but honestly it's not that uncommon surprisingly. A friend on mine just got hired my LAN with only 250 hours and is now in the right seat of their 763. He said not one person in his class had more than 500 TT! Sounds unfair but don't hate the player, hate the game lol.
Click to expand...

It's not unusual at all in other countries for guys to do that, but certainly not the norm here. What are you guys going to do with your DC8's?
 
Thanks etflies...Good information as well. Your time and attention is appreciated.
Great week to all...
Thanks.
 
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