spoolinup22
Well-Known Member
Anyone know how accurate this gauge is still?
Cape Air interview, Aug. 4, 2011
- Thread starter jrh
- Start date
jrh
Well-Known Member
Bases are bid for company-wide, strictly on seniority. Fort Myers (and Key West, for that matter) go extremely senior. Like, "Cape Air lifer" type senior. I think the most junior pilot in Florida right now has a 2005 date of hire.
jrh
Well-Known Member
Cape Air does outstation basing, meaning most pilots live in the cities served by the hub. There are four pilots in Quincy, two in Kirksville, seven in Fort Leonard Wood, etc. They get an apartment in their base and always start and end their day there. There are no overnight trips like most airlines.
The upside to this arrangement is that pilots are home every night and live in small towns where the cost of living is lower than major metropolitan areas like Boston. The company saves a TON of money by not needing to pay for dozens of hotel rooms every night. The downside is that the pilots, particularly junior pilots, need to move more often (a couple times per year on average) and get stuck living in crappy little towns in the middle of nowhere. It's not conducive to commuting in the same way most airlines, with pilots based out of a hub, is.
All of that said, there are four pilots based in STL. They are "sick/vacation/temporary" pilots, similar to reserve pilots at other airlines. They cover for any pilots missing in the region and sometimes get sent to other regions (BOS or SJU) if there is a serious understaffing issue elsewhere. Rather than having hard days on/off like the rest of the pilots, SVT pilots receive a schedule at the start of the month, assigned by crew scheduling, of days they're on or off call. When they're on call, they need to be able to report to STL within two hours of being called. Crew scheduling reserves the right to change the previously published schedule of days on/off with 72 hours notice. For instance, you might be scheduled to be off on Friday, but crew scheduling can put you on call on Friday as long as they notify you of the change by Tuesday morning. SVT pilots generally fly in spurts. They'll get very busy at times, but I also know of times when they've gone 6 weeks without making a single flight.
The STL base is currently mid-level seniority. I think it's an average of 1-2 years with the company before you can get into STL. Hope this helps!
KSCessnaDriver
Well-Known Member
jrh
Well-Known Member
Sorry, not sure how I missed this post. Usually I get a notification of replies to this thread...
To answer your question, it depends on the season. In the winter, most go to the Caribbean, in the summer, most end up somewhere in the Northeast region flying in and out of BOS.
It's hard to predict anything more specific than this. The biggest complaints I hear about the Caribbean is the cost of living is high and logistics of moving to/from can be challenging (buying/selling a car, finding lodging, etc.). For these reasons, a new hire would probably end up in one of the islands with a higher cost of living and/or no easy airline connections for jumpseating back to the mainland US on your days off.
In the Northeast, PVC, ACK, and MVY have been going junior, again, primarily because of the cost of living and location.
Coming to the Midwest region straight out of training is hit and miss regardless of the season. Not super likely, but not out of the question. You'd never be forced to come to the Midwest region, but if you listed it at the top of your bid sheet, there might be an opening. That's what happened to me when I was new. Came to Marion, IL straight out of training, then had the seniority to stay in the Midwest by the time the next bid period rolled around.
With all this in mind, be willing and ready to be based anywhere in the system. Strange things happen. Pilots make typos on their bid sheets. Senior pilots leave between bid periods which open up really nice bases. You never know where you'll end up until you're there.
jrh
Well-Known Member
PKAC is still in PVC, but he's only one of something like six pilots based there over the summer. I know one of the guys from my new hire class was briefly in PVC over the summer, so he would have only had about six months with the company at that point. PVC is still senior over the winter as far as I can tell.
MSKI spent last winter in the Caribbean and is currently in BOS. She recently married JGER, who is also based in BOS. I've never met either of them, but learned all this through stalking the seniority list and Facebook group.
Two major changes caused this shakeup over where junior pilots go: eliminating the $3/hr pay override in the Caribbean, plus company housing went away on MVY and ACK. I don't really care, as neither of those decisions affected me, but I certainly heard an ear full of opinions in the crew room last spring.
KSCessnaDriver
Well-Known Member
jrh
Well-Known Member
That is correct, in most cases.
ALB was a small, mid-level seniority base until last summer. It closed in order to utilize the crews more efficiently. I remember one of the lines was only 27 duty hours/week which I think might have been the easiest line in the entire company at the time.
ALB is still served as a destination, but the crews who fly there are based out of either BOS, MSS, or OGS and just pass through.
jrh
Well-Known Member
Not straight out of training, no. I mean, anything is possible, but I'd be shocked if a new hire went to Florida.
You have to remember, there are about 230 pilots on the seniority list, only three of which are based in Florida. They are #4, #7, and #14 on the seniority list, with the most junior having a 1997 DOH. I was mistaken in my post above when I said the junior pilot was a 2005 DOH...that's a part timer who's just holding a spot.
Even if one of the Florida-based pilots left, there are still plenty of pilots senior to a new hire who would want to fill the gap. Florida is a highly desirable location.
Now, if you live in Florida and really want to fly for Cape, you might be able to get based in the Caribbean and commute, depending on where you get based and where you live in Florida. STT-based pilots have 4 on/4 off schedules this winter and it's not too senior of a base...the bottom four pilots all have 2011 DOHs. There are flights from STT direct to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and San Juan and Atlanta if you were willing to do a two leg commute.
But then again, Cape Air is *not* a commuter-friendly airline, plus commuting at any airline sucks, so I'd caution a person to think long and hard before planning to come to Cape with the intention of commuting.
jrh
Well-Known Member
Extremely difficult. In fact, I'd say the chances of being based there are close to 0%, considering the entire Cape Air mid-Atlantic region ceased operations as of the end of October.
http://www.herald-mail.com/news/loc...r-service-takes-wing-20121105,0,2682130.story
Your best bet is to now apply for work at Sun Air International:
http://www.pacificwings.com/sunair/sun/
I've heard they're a lousy place to work, but that's just me repeating rumors. I don't have any firsthand knowledge of their operation.
Roger Roger
I am le tired
jrh
Well-Known Member
FOs get sent to all regions, although the majority are in the midwest. Hiring happens year-round, but tends to slow down in the spring and summer because there are not enough aircraft or training captains to do training during the summer season.
The seniority list is publicly accessible at this address:
https://crew.capeair.com/PilotStrips/PilotSeniorityList.html
Under the "C-402 Quals" column, look for anyone with an "FO" and under the "BASE" column you can see where they're currently based. As with investments, past performance is no guarantee of future results.