USA Jet Airlines...

I've heard the recent good news about the pay rates. I'm more or less trying to find out if I'm competitive and what the interview/training is like.
 
Head on over to Flightinfo and send a private message to pilotyip. His real name is Randy Hotton, and he's the DA-20 Standards Manager at USA Jet. He's a weird dude, but he'll help you out.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Head on over to Flightinfo and send a private message to pilotyip. His real name is Randy Hotton, and he's the DA-20 Standards Manager at USA Jet. He's a weird dude, but he'll help you out.
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I'm reading some of his posts on ppw right now... I'm hoping to get a direct hire into the DC-9 (if no one from the DA-20 is bidding into it).
 
The increased pay only applies if you fly one trip a week.... that isn't always going to happen. Read what pilotyip wrote very carefully.... it gives you the ability to make more fi you get lucky but doesn't guarantee it.
 
mojo6911 said:
Dude, I told you on PPW, you don't want to commute for an ad hoc freight job. You will likely want to eat a bullet in 3 months. Ad hoc freight is tough enough, when you live in base.
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I haven't accepted a class date or anything... I haven't received anything more than an initial email from them asking me some questions. I have my app out in a lot of places, this is just one of them. I'm also looking at some regionals and I have something cookin' with a Florida 135. I like to learn what I can and get as many opinions on a place before I even potentially interview. It helps me to formulate my questions and know what I'm getting into.

From what I've gathered about USAJet, its not a place to stay long term. Most CA's on the DC-9 max out around the 80K range and they are no longer upgrading or hiring for the MadDog. The days are long (16+ at times) and the aircraft are typical of this type of op. Always on the verge of breaking and pilots frequently having to turn a blind eye to things. I have had conflicting info from current/former/new hire pilots regarding the schedule and if the lines are actually commutable. Everyone seems to have a different answer. There seems to be some animosity towards management from some of the pilots but I know you can find that anywhere if you look. So I don't know. The pay is the highest I've seen for an entry-level freight gig and the flying actually seems challenging and fun (call me crazy but hand flying NDB approaches and DME Arcing to a VOR approach sound like fun to me). However the schedule, type of ops, and commuting do not. I'm still hoping to hear back from some regionals (for as hard up as they seem to be for pilots, myself and some others do not seem to be getting called??) and some other places. Living in Jacksonville is a challenge at this stage in my career and I'm really trying to make the best of it.
 
Fair enough. If you get an interview, definitely take it, but I suspect they will make you cover your own travel to the interview.
 
I looked at going to USAJet a few years ago, and from what I learned at the time, commuting would be very difficult and at best quite unpleasant.

Randy seems like a nice guy, and I felt bad turning down the interview. But looking back it was a very good decision, as I just don't think I'd be a good fit for that place.

Now, if I lived in MI? Probably a much different outlook.
 
mojo6911 said:
Dude, I told you on PPW, you don't want to commute for an ad hoc freight job. You will likely want to eat a bullet in 3 months. Ad hoc freight is tough enough, when you live in base.
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With a decent schedule it is definitely doable. But, you might want to look into the commute, multiple legs to DTW will drive you nuts after a while. It took me 11 mo to throw in the towel and finally go over the light side (121). If I lived in base, I would still be there, no doubt.

Before my most recent ad hoc, I was home based at a metro operator doing ad hoc for two years, unfortunately I was furloughed, or I would still be there.
 
I've put in an app, and heard the following through the grape vine:

34k base, 1.70$ per diem, 150$ incentive pay every time you take off. This makes first year on the DA-20 around 40-45k. The e-mail sold it as "if you do 6 trips a month in the falcon, that makes your first year total 45k". I'm not sure if anyone is doing 6 trips a month in the falcon. You get first year DC-9 pay on the falcon if you have atp mins, which is ~55k. 24/7 on call. 11 days off a month. You will be loading the plane in the snow at 3 am for no additional compensation. You can bid the DC-9 after 6 months in the falcon.

There was a dangling carrot included in an e-mail I saw, which read something like "we have a program in the works to get captains 6 figure pay in 6 years". That statement has a lot of wiggle room in it but who knows.

The starting pay is definitely better than the regionals and I can't help but think that after flying hard IFR, in the michigan winters, with no gps, that flying for a major after you get the time would seem like a vacation. Definitely seems like a stepping stone in which you trade total flight time for pay, the usual trade off for 135 stuff.
 
Well... That's what I received back from them as well. It doesn't seem like an easy commute from JAX and I would basically have crappy QOL. But the pay is good and 2 types (DA20 and DC-9) in a year would be cool to get. From guys I've talked to who work there it is some really tough flying. The DC-9s are basically a step back in time in terms of avionics and navigation. Plus the locales you will fly into mostly use VOR, DME, and even NDBs.
 
chrisreedrules said:
Well... That's what I received back from them as well. It doesn't seem like an easy commute from JAX and I would basically have crappy QOL. But the pay is good and 2 types (DA20 and DC-9) in a year would be cool to get. From guys I've talked to who work there it is some really tough flying. The DC-9s are basically a step back in time in terms of avionics and navigation. Plus the locales you will fly into mostly use VOR, DME, and even NDBs.
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You'll get used to doing the DME arc to the ILS into Saltillo.
 
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