How busy ya staying?

[meyers9163]

Just wondering how things are going down there lately? I was on airlinepilotcentral.com and was reading a forum of a man who stopped by and was relatively unpleased due to it being so crowded and no one making eye contact with him or speaking a word to him. Did not know if things just were getting way too busy out there or if it was another forum person throwing something small out of proportion. I assume of course he is throwing it out of proportion due to everyone else I speak to being pleased with things down there. Any ways just thought I'd see how things are and how the flying is.

Still have a full staff of instructors and a lot of applications of people wanting on still?

 

[BrettInLJ]

Just wondering how things are going down there lately? I was on airlinepilotcentral.com and was reading a forum of a man who stopped by and was relatively unpleased due to it being so crowded and no one making eye contact with him or speaking a word to him. Did not know if things just were getting way too busy out there or if it was another forum person throwing something small out of proportion. I assume of course he is throwing it out of proportion due to everyone else I speak to being pleased with things down there. Any ways just thought I'd see how things are and how the flying is.

Still have a full staff of instructors and a lot of applications of people wanting on still?

It's about medium. It will probably pick up in the few months ahead, but there are a number of career program and cfi program students in the pipeline, so when an instructor is needed they will most likely come from inside. December and January are not exactly the busiest months for any school.

 

[frog_flyer]

yeah i read that too. said he came into buy some jepps charts and the guy just rang him up and didnt even look at him cause he was talking on phone.

oh well, i'll be in soon to see how it is for myself!

 

[KLB]

I' never experienced those type of things when I first walked in there. Of course, I walked in there looking for a job. So it was on me to get in someones face and get some attention. Sometimes instructors get busy. They might have been debriefing a student or they might have thought the guy was just in there shopping for a chart. If you need help, just go and ask for it.

 

[Goonie]

Alot of times their is only one person behind the counter and the phone here rings about every minute. This person probably cought us at one of those times. It happens, hell it was probably me.

There are other times when there's like 100 people at one time so you might have to tug someone's shirt to get what you need.

For the most part we try to be the most CUSTOMER-freindly place.

 

[kellwolf]

Well, there's also the fact that we don't sell Jepp charts......


Edit: after actually GOING to airlinepilotcentral and reading sead post.

Ryan's right. A LOT of times we've got one person watching the shop, juggling phones, dispatching renters and ringing up purchases. It's either going to be an instructor that just happens to not be flying at that point, Ryan or Luca.

'Course if the guy came in wearing an ATP polo, I have to admit that I generally don't go out of my way to try to be the salesmen with them. They've already given their money to the people down the road, so the odds of pulling them to our side are slim to none. I'm still bitter about the guy I took on an intro flight at Skymates that started at ATP two days later. Wonder if I can get commission off that one.

 

[meyers9163]

All good points Kellwolf! Much like I said I did not put much into this mans post. I just kind of laughed it off and thought that's exactly the opposite of what I've heard from all the rest of the people about Skymates.

 

[eglplt]

I was kind of dissapointed with my experience at Skymates. I called in November and set up an appointment to get my ATP. The kid took my info and informed me that I would hear back in a few hours to finalize all the arrangements. I am still waiting for the call back! I called ALLATP's the next morning and scheduled with them. They were fantastic, it couldn't have gone better. I did spend a little more money, but I got the ATP immediately and now I begin training with NetJets on Monday. I don't feel that I should have to follow up with a phone call to confirm my training appointment. Just something to consider for potential customers!

 

[NJA_Capt]

I got the ATP immediately and now I begin training with NetJets on Monday.

Welcome aboard! Good luck with training. Are you doing indoc or FSI first? What aircraft did you get?

Keep us posted :nana2:

 

[eglplt]

Welcome aboard! Good luck with training. Are you doing indoc or FSI first? What aircraft did you get?

Keep us posted :nana2:

Thank you very much! I will be attending indoc first, class starts on the 16Th of January. I will be heading to Wichita on the 30Th of January for the 400XP training. I can't wait to get started, I feel very priviledged to be offered a job with such an outstanding company.

 

[kellwolf]

I was kind of dissapointed with my experience at Skymates. I called in November and set up an appointment to get my ATP. The kid took my info and informed me that I would hear back in a few hours to finalize all the arrangements. I am still waiting for the call back! I called ALLATP's the next morning and scheduled with them. They were fantastic, it couldn't have gone better. I did spend a little more money, but I got the ATP immediately and now I begin training with NetJets on Monday. I don't feel that I should have to follow up with a phone call to confirm my training appointment. Just something to consider for potential customers!

Here's the advantage ATP has over us: we're at the mercy of a DE that "pencils" us in for ATPs, whereas they have more or less their own in house examiner. I discovered another DE that is authorized to do checkrides in the Seminole and gives ATP checkrides, so at least we have more than one examiner to check with. The "pencil in" DE is on my sh*t list right now. I had a checkride scheduled for this weekend about three weeks ago for a guy coming in from out of town, and I get a call last night from the DE cancelling the ride. He said he'll call me back on Sunday to re-schedule. Well, that's all fine and dandy if the guy is local, but a lot of our guys are NOT local. There have been numerous times that I've called, left a message (he screens his calls and almost never picks up the phone), left a message again two days later, left a message AGAIN the next day, and never get a call back. The other main examiner we use doesn't give ATP checkrides. He used to offer them to his instructors as an incentive when they hit 1500TT, but he was offended when they left for other jobs shortly after (duh!). So, now he doesn't do them at all. We've been writing the FSDO trying to get one of the kick ass examiners authorized to do checkrides in the Seminole. I use him for all my single engine stuff, and have never had any problems.

Okay, DE rant over. I just get a little tired of being held over a barrel b/c there are so few DEs in the area authorized to do Seminole checkrides. Not trying to shift blame from Skymates. Someone should have called back and said we were having trouble getting the DE to commit to anything and at least let you know what was going on.

 

[eglplt]

Kellwolf,

Fair enough, I am glad you explained that to me. I didn't have a clue that was what was occurring. I would have very much appreciated someone calling me back and explaining that to me in November instead of leaving me hanging. Thank you.

 

[PoeMan]

Thank you very much! I will be attending indoc first, class starts on the 16Th of January. I will be heading to Wichita on the 30Th of January for the 400XP training. I can't wait to get started, I feel very priviledged to be offered a job with such an outstanding company.

(Just a quick jump on this thread then I'm off)
Got a couple of friends up there, say hi to Ki, Kelsy, and Mitch (I know for sure that Ki and Mitch are in the 400 program)

K-State!!! Go Wildcats