Era or PenAir in Alaska?

USN88

USN88

Well-Known Member
Anyone have any info on the two companies? I know they are hiring C208 FO's and I thought it might be an interesting experience. I'm low-time, 375/110 currently working on comm-SEL add-on. I might throw them my resume when I finished up the add-on.

Any info would be great! Thanks. :-)
 
Don't know about PennAir, but keep in mind Era/Hageland is the airline featured in the Discovery channel TV show "Flying Wild Alaska." It's a pretty fair bet that they're sitting on a huge stack of resumes.

If you're really interested in Era though I suggest you go over the interviews section of http://oddballpilot.com/ with a fine tooth comb. Aidan seems like an outstanding guy and has done a tremendous amount of legwork in sitting down to so many managers and pilots at so many awesome non-traditional companies. Aidan if you read these boards, THANK YOU! :)

There are at least 3 employee interviews with Era/Hageland employees and managers on that site (including an interview with Mike Hageland from last month that I haven't gotten to listen to yet), almost all people recognizable from the show. In one I seem to recall the C208 FO position being described as an apprenticeship... preferably as outreach to the local people (there's at least one guy on the show who is Inuit and became a Caravan pilot)... pay sounded extremely low, but it's a put your time in with the company and let them get to know you and move up kind of deal. Caravans are single pilot airplanes, so the FO position is not a required crewmember, it's a let them get to know you and show you the ropes before letting you loose in Alaska in a Cessna 207 kind of position (from what I recall in the interview).

So if you're dead set on Era, spend some time on the oddball pilot site, set aside some hours to listen to all the interviews (they're all 30 min - 1 hour each) and get as informed as you possibly can about what you'd be getting yourself into and what you can do to make yourself competitive. In Alaska, this usually means buying a plane ticket up there, knocking on doors and making calls until you are able to actually physically hand your resume to the person doing the hiring... NOT emailing it to them.

But I'm just a guy who has given this career change some thought. Don't take my word for it, talk to guys like Roger Roger and ASpilot2be who actually do it for a living.
 
First, read the book The Map of My Dead Pilots by Colleen Mondor. If that doesn't dissuade you, go through @ppragman's posts on here about Alaska flying. If you're still interested after that, I'd recommend instructing or dragging banners until you get to VFR 135 minimums. Then shop around and see if you can get on somewhere as a 207 PIC, like Yute. After you have a few hundred Alaska 135 PIC doors will really open up for you. The southeast wheelplane operations like Wings of Alaska tend to take guys with more like 1000-1500 TT.
 
Roger Roger said:
First, read the book The Map of My Dead Pilots by Colleen Mondor. If that doesn't dissuade you, go through @ppragman's posts on here about Alaska flying. If you're still interested after that, I'd recommend instructing or dragging banners until you get to VFR 135 minimums. Then shop around and see if you can get on somewhere as a 207 PIC, like Yute. After you have a few hundred Alaska 135 PIC doors will really open up for you. The southeast wheelplane operations like Wings of Alaska tend to take guys with more like 1000-1500 TT.
Click to expand...

Understand. I knew they were looking for FO's and the req's were pretty low which came as a bit of a surprise. I had a friend just get hired as an FO at Era with 260/15. I'm definitely not looking for a PIC position that's for sure. Lol.
 
Roger Roger said:
First, read the book The Map of My Dead Pilots by Colleen Mondor. If that doesn't dissuade you, go through @ppragman's posts on here about Alaska flying. If you're still interested after that, I'd recommend instructing or dragging banners until you get to VFR 135 minimums. Then shop around and see if you can get on somewhere as a 207 PIC, like Yute. After you have a few hundred Alaska 135 PIC doors will really open up for you. The southeast wheelplane operations like Wings of Alaska tend to take guys with more like 1000-1500 TT.
Click to expand...
So you read that book? Did you like it? I am thinking I will add it to my personal book collection.
 
Suppose it depends where you want to fly too. Look at the route structure for each company. PenAir is not a bad place either, but try to read some previous threads about both companies so you know the deal. They both have pros and cons but I think for the long run flying for either would be great experience, particularly if you can move into one of the larger airplanes.
 
USN88 said:
Understand. I knew they were looking for FO's and the req's were pretty low which came as a bit of a surprise. I had a friend just get hired as an FO at Era with 260/15. I'm definitely not looking for a PIC position that's for sure. Lol.
Click to expand...
did he apply through their traditional website or did he knock on the door?

Also, where did he get his hours? I'm just alittle bit more time than your friend and I'd love to move to alaska!
 
I think he applied after they posted on Facebook. I know he had a friend write him a letter of rec as well.
 
Era/Hageland seems to offer better opportunities for growth in a bigger variety of airplanes. Definitely look at Oddball pilot. Aidan used to work for Hageland and is pretty well versed in how everything works. Era is not sitting on a huge stack of resumes, so don't let that drive your decision. The type of flying PenAir does is similar to a point. They mostly deal with Southwest Alaska and the routes overlap very little. PenAir tried for a time to fly out of Bethel, but couldn't hack it with the likes of Yute, Hageland, and others. Era has actually just about run them out Unalakleet which is one of the few cities where they compete directly. Though it is true that Caravan co-pilots get paid very little, it's important experience to have before you go jump in a 207 scud running around the delta in Bethel. Also, when you apply, come up and do it in person.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top