Cape Air

brian434

brian434

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to let those with ATP mins know that Cape Air is hiring. I was to interview on the 15th but bowed out as the cost to attend in BOS was more than I could part with right now. They do pay up to $200 of your travel expenses.
 
They've been running ads on the Orange site for quite some time now.
It's 1500TT and ATP written.
 
Cape is always taking apps/resumes. Even if you're short of ATP mins we have some right seat flying that is a decent way to build time. It's not a conventional airline job but it's definitely a fun job and some great folks here.
 
I was just talking to the chief pilot the other day (no, not doing a carpet dance...actually talking to him because I ran into him in one of our hub cities and he's a nice guy). He said they've had no shortage of applicants to interview recently, but there has been a shortage of applicants worth hiring. They'll invite 6 or 8 people with ATP mins to interview, but only offer 3 the job because so many have a bad attitude, didn't disclose an accident on their record, things like that.

Basically, if you have ATP mins and get an interview, all you have to do is be an honest, nice, hard working guy (or gal!) and the job is yours.

9K has been very good for me. I have no regrets in coming here.
 
jrh said:
I was just talking to the chief pilot the other day (no, not doing a carpet dance...actually talking to him because I ran into him in one of our hub cities and he's a nice guy). He said they've had no shortage of applicants to interview recently, but there has been a shortage of applicants worth hiring. They'll invite 6 or 8 people with ATP mins to interview, but only offer 3 the job because so many have a bad attitude, didn't disclose an accident on their record, things like that.

Basically, if you have ATP mins and get an interview, all you have to do is be an honest, nice, hard working guy (or gal!) and the job is yours.

9K has been very good for me. I have no regrets in coming here.
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What does he mean when he says they have a bad attitude?
 
b3181981 said:
What does he mean when he says they have a bad attitude?
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To be clear, those were my words, not his. The example he gave me was an applicant whose very first question during the interview was, "How much sick time do we get?"

If a person comes in with those kinds of priorities, they won't fit in at 9K. That's not to say pilots here get used and abused. I've always thought the company takes care of us pretty well for the most part. But it's a two way street. The whole operation works as well as it does because the pilot group, as a whole, is willing to put in extra effort when needed. In exchange, management actually treats us like humans.

A few real world examples--pilots will help unload bags when the ground crews get swamped. Pilots will man the "ops radio" for in-range/fuel order calls when the usual ops agent needs to be out on the line fueling planes. Ops agents will draw up weight and balance papers (usually the pilot's job) when a pilot is running behind and needs to make a quick turn. Occasionally pilots will come in on their days off to cover for a sick coworker, which allows the whole operation to get by with fewer reserve pilots. Management pretty much stays off everyone's back and lets the operation run.

It's a team effort. It's not an "us against them" atmosphere and I think management wants to keep it that way. By airline standards, Cape Air is a very small operation. There are only 145 "bidding" pilots on the seniority list right now. Everybody knows everybody, at least within a particular region. If one pilot is always trying to scrape by with the minimum, it affects everyone. They don't want to flood the system with pilots saying, "That's not in my job description," or that sort of thing.
 
Out of pure curiosity, I was curious what "9K" meant. I noticed it in another post, used as "9K lifer." I actually Googled 9K and Cape Air came up. Is 9K just another name for Cape Air, or does it denote some sort of FAR regulation, e.g. 91, 121, 135, etc.?

Sorry to hijack, but I was just wondering. It looked like a neat place to work.
 
HerrGruyere said:
Out of pure curiosity, I was curious what "9K" meant. I noticed it in another post, used as "9K lifer." I actually Googled 9K and Cape Air came up. Is 9K just another name for Cape Air, or does it denote some sort of FAR regulation, e.g. 91, 121, 135, etc.?

Sorry to hijack, but I was just wondering. It looked like a neat place to work.
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9K is their airline code. DL is the code for Delta.
 
I applied for the Flight Follower Position trying to get my feet in the door and heard nothing. I even tried calling... if you aren't already apart of their college partnership programs what are the chance of them hiring an extremely low time guy into the right seat?
 
cmac88 said:
... if you aren't already apart of their college partnership programs what are the chance of them hiring an extremely low time guy into the right seat?
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Pretty low. Not to say it's impossible, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Sorry, just being honest.
 
What kind of schedule do Cape pilots hold typically? QOL? It always looked like a fun place to work, seems like fun flying....
 
QOL can be great if you live in base, which here you more or less have to as most of the pilots are based in the outstations with schedules that are not commuter-friendly. That being said if you're willing and able to shuffle around a bit (especially as a junior pilot) to live where you're able to hold it's a great place to be. Most of the schedules are 4 on 3 off, some 3/3 and 4/4 and the occasional 5/2 but those are typically limited to the hubs (BOS, HYA, STL, SJU etc).
 
Speedbird172 said:
QOL can be great if you live in base, which here you more or less have to as most of the pilots are based in the outstations with schedules that are not commuter-friendly. That being said if you're willing and able to shuffle around a bit (especially as a junior pilot) to live where you're able to hold it's a great place to be. Most of the schedules are 4 on 3 off, some 3/3 and 4/4 and the occasional 5/2 but those are typically limited to the hubs (BOS, HYA, STL, SJU etc).
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What is the pay like at cape? Do you fly with an FO?
 
CA pay starts at $15/hr (duty hours, not flight hours). At the moment the lowest min guarantee is 35 hours per week. If the TA passes that goes up to 40. Anything over 40 is 150% pay. Exactly how much you make can really vary, a lot of the lines are 35/week, but some are north of 50/week, it all depends on where you get based and which lines you can hold in base. Even with a min line, if you come in on days off it can add up nicely. Also in past summers in the north we have had summer incentive pay, meaning added bonuses for flying on days off.

We do have some FOs but the majority of flying is single pilot; there are times when FOs are required, and also they are building their time to upgrade so often times they fly whether required or not.
 
jrh said:
Basically, if you have ATP mins and get an interview, all you have to do is be an honest, nice, hard working guy (or gal!) and the job is yours.
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Eh, not exactly.. I interviewed with an ATP, and 1,200 hours or so single pilot pax 135 and got turned down twice. Not really complaining as I've got a good shot at a turbine upgrade at my current gig but it was frustrating at the time.
 
TallFlyer said:
Eh, not exactly.. I interviewed with an ATP, and 1,200 hours or so single pilot pax 135 and got turned down twice. Not really complaining as I've got a good shot at a turbine upgrade at my current gig but it was frustrating at the time.
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Hmmm...I don't know what to tell you. Did you feel like the interviews went well?

The only possibilities I can think of would be that you had too much experience and they were afraid you wouldn't be trainable to the way Cape Air wants things done, or else there is something about your personality that made them think you wouldn't fit in with our corporate culture.

Aside from those things, I have no idea why you couldn't get in.

Sorry it didn't work out.
 
jrh said:
Hmmm...I don't know what to tell you. Did you feel like the interviews went well?

The only possibilities I can think of would be that you had too much experience and they were afraid you wouldn't be trainable to the way Cape Air wants things done, or else there is something about your personality that made them think you wouldn't fit in with our corporate culture.

Aside from those things, I have no idea why you couldn't get in.

Sorry it didn't work out.
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I feel like the interviews went very well. In my own opinion customer service and making passengers feel comfortable are things I do very well, and I used to make the tips to prove it.

Ultimately I'm a very free market guy so I don't begrudge any company's right to hire and fire whom they please. I met the DO over there (CB) on FI and he was very encouraging and from our limited correspondence he thought I was an ideal candidate and he expressed some surprise that I wasn't selected.

But as I said, things have worked out. I should be wrangling a Pair of Garretts in the not too distant future.
 
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