CRJ-900 at Delta (Connection)?

I don't think 121 SIC training at all regional airlines is a walk in the park. Sure, it could be tougher, but at expressjet we had about 1 in 20 (including a good friend of mine who I felt was actually a great pilot and had 3000 hrs) wash out.

The main reason (obviously) why SIC minimums aren't even as high as 135 PIC minimums is that you have an experienced captain in the left seat "suprevising" the whole situation, as opposed to 135 single pilot where you're completely on your own. Sure, many captains probably aren't thrilled about having to babysit sub 1000 hr FO's, but like it or not, that's part of the job, says so right in the FOM. Problems start to occur when you pair an inexperienced captain with an inexperienced FO, look at flagship 3701. Luckily upgrade times at most RJ operators is getting up into the 2-3 year range if not 5+. Even a 600 hour newhire should be able to develop good judgement and decision making skills after sitting right seat for 2 years.

In summary I don't think it's fair to disparage 121 FO's by saying they aren't qualified to make 135 single pilot freight runs. 135 single pilot is nothing to sneeze at, and truth be known, probably a lot more work than being a regional FO. You definitely need better decision making skills to fly 135 single pilot; there's no 4 striper 2 feet to your left to keep your inexperience in check. If anything, the airnet and ram air pilots of the world are just as underpaid as the rest of us.
 
mtsu_av8er said:
Once again, crazy thing to say - but some of us lowly CFI's really love what we're doing! There are some people that love this job!!!
I'll tell you what I'm getting tired of. I'm getting tired of people implying that if you love flying, and you don't want to do anything else, then you must be contributing to the demise of the industry..
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For future reference: if I ever use the word "ALL" again, it does not include Lloyd. Thank you. Please return to your prior activity.

Hey, we'll all doing this because we love it. In a sadistic way, I love my job. I'm hoping, in a few weeks, to have new employment at a place that will refresh my view of the aviation industry. Let's hope it works.

This week I've spent some time in L.A. with my parents and my oldest sis & her family. Dang I forgot how much GA there is in SoCal. Dang ... I forgot how much I love GA! My folks live under the North downwind for SMO and under a major arrival corridor for LAX. I love sitting in the yard watching airplanes fly over allllllll day and night. It's great.

We love flying. All of us do. That's why we spend so much time sharing our biased opinions with hundreds of people we've never met.
 
Since I'm new to the form I will watch whose feet I step on with my response.

The thing I don't understand is how airline (Harvard business school) management doesn't understand simple high school economics theories. Go to Travelocity and select any two city pairs and the first thing you realizes is wow that is a cheap fare and that it is a overly saturated market. You might also notice a lot of the flying is done by high cost per seat mile regional jets. Which brings me to the point I'm trying to make in this thread which is why do they need the 900. Why would you want to fly four daily flights from city from the city A two city B on a 900 or just about any other regional jet. When two daily flights on a 737 would cost less, ease congestion at the airports and you'd be able to charge more because there would be less flights(that whole high school economics thing supply and demand). Maybe it's because they know when it's time to negotiate a new contract mainline guys will be looking for a raise. Whereabouts if they promise most regional pilots a chance to flight cooler equipment they'll accept a pay freeze(don't miss understand what I'm saying a lot of mainline pilots don't get it either. I was just on a mainline Delta flight and as I was getting off the plane I went to tip the pilot as I always do($10 for every hour of flight time rounded up) his response was to not look at me and say thank. No he looks at me and says I don't need this do you know how much I make?).

Steve the problem with your example is the pilots giving up are the ones that care about this profession. A lot of the pilots who are sticking it out are the same ones that would undercut each other to get to fly better equipment. Trust me I see it every day at my flight school. The flight school I go to also does a lot of pilots services and 135 operations. The school only has two flight instructors, one who only flies if he's paid for his time. The other flight instructor jumps at any chance to fly. He always has some sort of justification like it's free multitime or do you know the value of turbine time. I like you take a guess which one is trying to get to a regional and which one would never go to a regional because he values the profession too much and values his time too much. One of them I says he has a sugar mama and doesn't care about how much he makes he is wants to fly cool equipment. While the other one only cares about is how much he makes(he makes more flying a BE58 then most fourth-year captains make flying regional jets) and could care less what equipment he flies on.

Hopefully within the next two years AMR will set the proper example on how to fix this problem(merging eagle and mainline seniority list). It's a very simple fix which is a merged seniority list(company or I'm even for a universal pilot seniority list). If there's one seniority list for mainline and regional pilots as well as one pay scale based on how many seats are in the plane you fly.

I'm sorry this a long rant and I'm sorry the grammar punctuation and spelling might not be all that great but I guess that's what you get at six o'clock in the morning.
 
I think you may be onto something. The regionals are killing the profession. Get them all onto one mainline list and stop this "alter ego" airline, whipsawing, using 20 commuter affiliates to fly one company's customers crap.

I'd be willing to listen.
 
I wish I could take credit for the idea but I can't. I spent three hours on a flight to Miami (counting the time at the gate) talking to an American Airlines 737 senior captain. He laid out the plan of what they're looking to do at AMR and the effects they're hoping it will have on the rest of the airline industry. The first step they're looking to do was to do right by the TWA pilots who got a raw deal. Next they wanted to integrate Eagles and Americans seniority list. This would allow them to have one contract and one pay scale. They were also hoping to add anybody who does flying in American colors to the seniority list. The first two things in the list he said would probably be done within two years. The final thing he would like to see happen unfortunately probably will never happen. Because it would require the pilot unions to look out for each other and not just for themselves. He told me for to long pilot unions didn't care what happened at other airlines along as it wasn't their airline. He also tell me not to kid myself about 9/11 being the cause that the signs were there when Eastern fell and when Pan Am fell. A universal(Union) seniority list. Let me give an example of what he meant by that: when you are hired by company A you'll be given a company seniority number as well as a universal(Union) seniority number. If for some reason the pilots of company A have to take a stand(strike) to protect the profession, and this causes the company go out of business theybwould not be without a job. They would be absorbed by the union airlines taking over the gates and the routes at from their out of business airline. They seniority at that company would be based on their union seniority number for bidding purposes only. It's based on the premise of the pilots looking out for each other. The one pilot group biting the bullet to preserve the profession but knowing another pilot group will pick them up. Unfortunately this will never happen because it would require ALPA to actually do work and earn the outrageous amounts of money they take from pilots yearly.

I am getting really bad about leaving long replies. 767driver do you think it's worthwhile to post this in the strike topic
 
Gonzo,

I think your post will go over just fine right here.

I think the profession would benefit by getting rid of the regionals and strengthening scope clauses to get all but the piddliest of flying on the mainline's seniority list. Anything over fifty seats must go to the mainline...otherwise...we'll continue to see the creation of alter ego airlines pop up nightly...putting all kinds of pressure on the profession. That madness must stop. I would think even the guys at the regionals must see scope for what its worth now. It used to be that the regional guys viewed scope as harmful to their advancement...now I would think they see how the creation of non-union and alter ego companies are now hurting their careers. The current framework of regionals will continue to pit pilots against pilots and never allow for a stable work environment.

Working for a regional is a fun job. But working for a major is like stepping into another world. Every airline pilot should have a chance to move up in the system...and that's not going to happen with the system of regionals currently in place. We should be working very hard to get all the airplanes and pilots in one place. We'll work on the pay later...but getting them in one place will improve the professional exponentionally down the road. This should be a 'burn down the house' item for all of us...as I do believe it's the biggest obtacle that we face as professionals.

The national seniority list, I think, is a bad idea. Unless the airlines are nationalized. We all still work for competing companies. Competition is healthy. But as professional pilots we need to work towards a common goal...and acheive it. For example, if the NW or UAL pilots decide they need to strike to uphold their contract...all ALPA pilots should honor the strike. I sure would welcome a common objective from the national leadership.
 
Bog said:
For future reference: if I ever use the word "ALL" again, it does not include Lloyd. Thank you. Please return to your prior activity.

Hey, we'll all doing this because we love it. In a sadistic way, I love my job. I'm hoping, in a few weeks, to have new employment at a place that will refresh my view of the aviation industry. Let's hope it works.

This week I've spent some time in L.A. with my parents and my oldest sis & her family. Dang I forgot how much GA there is in SoCal. Dang ... I forgot how much I love GA!
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....and where do you think you are going young man?

Anyways, Amen Bog! People are drifting from GA. I seem to recall a post from Doug Taylor a few months ago that said "If you truly love flying be a CFI." (Not an exact quote.) I couldn't agree with that more. Pay me enough to support my family and I don't care what I'm flying. A Cessna 150 is fine with me.

Arguing about money is almost worthless. I live in a crashpad with a 777 FO who was whining about having to do a four day trip to Paris the other day. Are you kidding me? The man flies one of the most advanced aircraft out there today, has a GREAT schedule, and he is well compensated. Yet he b**ches. It isn't everything. It doesn't bring happiness.

Getting back to an earlier debate on paying different for a -700, should A&P's get paid more for working on that plane? They are responsible for more lives, yes?

For those going on to the regionals, good luck. Stay away from GoJet.
 
Not to nitpick and DO NOT take this personal, but this is what I heard:

joel_MQY said:
who was whining about having to do a four day trip to Paris the other day.
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Kids? Family? Is he missing a birthday? Wife pregnant?

The man flies one of the most advanced aircraft out there today,
Click to expand...

Doesn't mean a darned thing. You can operate the finest, high tech forklift in a factory, but unless you're respected, paid appropriately and have time for family, it doesn't mean squat.

has a GREAT schedule,
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Not if he's in a crashpad!

and he is well compensated.
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Sounded like "more than I"

Please, don't take this as an attack on you, but that's kind of what it sounded like.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Not to nitpick and DO NOT take this personal, but this is what I heard:

Not at all man. This is a discussion forum, isn't it? ;)

Kids? Family? Is he missing a birthday? Wife pregnant?

Yes to kids and family. But I have seen him all of 1 time in the crash pad in a period of over 2 months.

Doesn't mean a darned thing. You can operate the finest, high tech forklift in a factory, but unless you're respected, paid appropriately and have time for family, it doesn't mean squat.

He is respected. Watch as people are boarding a 777 and see how they gaze at the flight deck.

Not if he's in a crashpad!

Again, he just uses it when he gets stuck commuting. It is pretty cheap.

Sounded like "more than I"

Fair enough. I would say so, yes. I find happiness on a yearly salary that he probably makes in 2-3 months. That is NOT to say he hasn't earned it or deserve it. The point is that you can find a way to make things bad even with a great flying gig and salary. To extend on that, it would be pointless to chase after something if you are just wanting that position. I think you should stumble up to it. In other words, you enjoy flying and take opportunities as they arise, not the converse of sitting in your Gulfstream Training class and staring out the window figuring out how fast you can get in one of those bad ass jets. I hope that makes sense. It is 0630 here.

Please, don't take this as an attack on you, but that's kind of what it sounded like.
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I agree. It sounds like a smidge of jealousy is there. It isn't jealousy, though. It is taking those rose colored glasses off and seeing the world for what it is.
 
joel_MQY said:
....and where do you think you are going young man?
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Nowhere now. Interview didn't work out in my favor, which sucks, because it's the place I was hoping would lead to retirement.

Now it's off to find plan ... Z or something.
 
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