Living near base- Commutair

kls1981 said:
Interesting. I'm more concerned with a better QOL than anything. I would like to upgrade eventually however I'm not going to chase an upgrade and sacrifice QOL. I wouldn't mind flying for a Jet Blue, Southwest, etc. down the line. I'm not too concerned about flying international.

Who do you fly for now?
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I don't totally disagree with that, but I stayed in a single engine turbine because of better QOL only to later find out that the flight time is just chicken scratch. Sometimes sucking it up for 2 or 3 yrs as an FO is better off in the long run!
 
So would Commutair's dash 8's fulfill that requirement? I'm not sure what they weigh but I think they only hold thirty something pax right?
 
True, though actually you can definitely take that type overseas. And Presidential Airways (aka Blackwater now known as Xe) as recently as as a few weeks ago paying top dollar for Dash 8 rated pilots in Afghan.
 
I heard ruminations of up to 20K per month but that was a few years ago... Mostly likely OCONUS is probably about 120-150 per year now. I'll do some searching later on... we talked about this topic in another thread I'll see if I can find it....
 
the commutair q200 is max gross weight of 36,500 lbs and holds 37 pax. I have friends at Great Lakes flying the B1900s and even their captains have gone to majors too. I agree somewhat on the QOL and that's why I haven't gone there yet. haha. I'm coming from single engine cargo gig so for me, any multi engine turbine time is a plus.
 
HVYMETALDRVR said:
I don't think most domestic companies will care too much about turboprop vs. turbojet. What you really need is 1000 multi engine turbine PIC in an airplane weighing over 30,000 carrying at least 50 pax Part 121 whatever whatever. They're more concerned with your conduct as captain and ability to make decisions.

As for the foreign guys you pretty much need a type rating in whatever they fly ahead of time +500 to be considered these days. CX is an exception and though they hire low time guys its not as common as some lead it off to be, they actually have their own speciel cadet program for that.
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That sir is correct!!!
 
HVYMETALDRVR said:
As for dfly, just wait it out (if you can bear it) I think even 6 months from now your options will multiply.
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for what? a "better" regional that I will sit reserve for 2+ years and wait for upgrade even longer? yea there's better pay out there and slightly better work rules, but i dont think Commutair's are bad by any means comparitively speaking...
 
Dfly, So are you still flying cargo? Have you applied at Commutair?
I'm curious how much they will be hiring?
 
kls1981 said:
Dfly, So are you still flying cargo? Have you applied at Commutair?
I'm curious how much they will be hiring?
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for another week and a half yes. I made up my mind and interviewed with commutair in april, and got a class date for july 12 about a month ago. they had a class of 8 or so in the sim when i interviewed, and another new hire class had just started training also. Since the completion of the last class there has still been attrition, so hence the reason for my class.
 
Awesome, How was the interview? So will you be training in Olmstead Falls? Did they mention any future hiring?
 
kls1981 said:
Awesome, How was the interview? So will you be training in Olmstead Falls? Did they mention any future hiring?
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they are interviewing a few people a week to fill their pool up to about 20 people, then they just pick from that when they need to run a class.

about a month ago they sent out a company wide memo apologizing to the crews for the under staffing and that turnover had really picked up and they were going to adopt that pool policy to speed up the time to get new hires on the line.

as for how many they still need, I'm not sure. I think there's 4 people in my class, but don't quote me on that.

as for the interview, it went exactly like the gouges say. here's one. http://mypilotcareer.com/commutair-interview-gouge
 
dflyboy said:
for what? a "better" regional that I will sit reserve for 2+ years and wait for upgrade even longer? yea there's better pay out there and slightly better work rules, but i dont think Commutair's are bad by any means comparitively speaking...
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Well maybe, but if Delta hires this fall and what they say about American is true then things will start moving again soon enough. Those upgrade times will drop and you'll live a little better along the way...:D

Sometimes you just have to enjoy the ride.
 
dflyboy said:
yea there's better pay out there and slightly better work rules, but i dont think Commutair's are bad by any means comparitively speaking...
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Yes, they are terrible and you shouldn't give them any credit. I feel sorry for the guys out of EWR still not getting block or better to my knowledge. A "3 month" pay-scale, along w/ pay scales no where near Colgan, and in a completely different ballpark compared to Piedmont. I really hope ALPA can straighten that place out.
 
jhugz said:
Yes, they are terrible and you shouldn't give them any credit. I feel sorry for the guys out of EWR still not getting block or better to my knowledge. A "3 month" pay-scale, along w/ pay scales no where near Colgan, and in a completely different ballpark compared to Piedmont. I really hope ALPA can straighten that place out.
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Interesting you say this considering you applied there about 4 months ago. And said something along the lines of "I really hope I get this"
 
liveupthere said:
Interesting you say this considering you applied there about 4 months ago. And said something along the lines of "I really hope I get this"
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liveupthere said:
Interesting you say this considering you applied there about 4 months ago. And said something along the lines of "I really hope I get this"
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I did say that and would still work there today because I could live out of my Mom's basement in CLE. However, to say that their work rules are not that bad along w/ their pay, is laughable at best. That was the point I was making.
 
jhugz said:
Yes, they are terrible and you shouldn't give them any credit. I feel sorry for the guys out of EWR still not getting block or better to my knowledge. A "3 month" pay-scale, along w/ pay scales no where near Colgan, and in a completely different ballpark compared to Piedmont. I really hope ALPA can straighten that place out.
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Actually if you look at the numbers, CommutAir Q200 Pay vs. Colgan Saab pay you will find that the difference is quite minimal. Most people ignore the fact that CommutAir pays an 82.33 Monthly Guarantee. (76 Hours converted from 13 bid periods) In fact Captain pay is higher at CommutAir Years 1-7, except year 2($256 difference).

As for block or better in EWR, I have yet to overfly my guarantee. Yes there are days when we go over, way over. But by time you throw in a few cancellations and consider most block times are set up for delays, we end up under guarantee. (Cancellations are pay protected)

Bottom line..pay sucks at both.

I will agree that QOL sucks at CommutAir, So many things were changed after the ALPA vote that have utterly destroyed any QOL we once had. (Which still wasn't much)
 
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