PSA New Hire Questions

A

airspeedalive

Well-Known Member
Hi all,,

I've accepted an F/O position at PSA, and will be heading to basic indoc soon. Just had a couple of questions for any PSA folks:

1. I understand that reserve right now in CLT is around a couple of months. Once you are able to hold a line how long would you estimate it would take to hold a line that is commutable at the beginning and end of a trip?

2. How senior would you need to be to bid 4 day trips ( I assume that's the best way to get a longer block of days off)?

3. How are the trips out of CLT? Are they just back and forth from CLT or do you end up flying throughout the system?

4. I'll be commuting DFW-CLT-DFW. Looks like there are a lot of flights, but I was wondering if anyone on here does that commute and what their experience has been.

5. I've been studying the welcome package with limitations, memory items, etc. Any thoughts on other things to study to prepare for class?

6. This will be my first 121 training (former 135 experience though). How is the training department?

I'm really looking forward to getting started, feel free to add any other info that you think would be useful for a new hire.

Thanks!
 
Re commuting DFW-CLT...

A friend of mine at PSA does that commute (as did another friend who is now at mainline). As far as commutes go it isn't bad, but understand that almost any commute can suck given the right circumstances. Also, it's going to be (shortly) a hub to hub commute which means lots of crew movement and passenger reaccommodation which means seats may disappear quickly.
 
Thanks for that. Something else that crossed my mind is with Mesa shutting down CLT and moving to DFW that may complicate things as well.
Thanks again.
 
airspeedalive said:
Thanks for that. Something else that crossed my mind is with Mesa shutting down CLT and moving to DFW that may complicate things as well.
Thanks again.
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You'll have a higher boarding priority (assuming they keep it similar to what is in place now) so it's not your concern :)

Presently all wholly owned are SA3 and Mesa would be SA5.

Even on Mesa airplanes you'd still beat them with the new system, except for the jumpseat on Mesa planes. Looking forward into time looks like it's all mainline metal between the two.
 
wheelsup said:
You'll have a higher boarding priority (assuming they keep it similar to what is in place now) so it's not your concern :)

Presently all wholly owned are SA3 and Mesa would be SA5.

Even on Mesa airplanes you'd still beat them with the new system, except for the jumpseat on Mesa planes. Looking forward into time looks like it's all mainline metal between the two.
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So you're saying with the new time of check in non rev system regional employees traveling on their metal only get priority for their jumpseat, not seats in the back?

Thank god! I commute out of a RJ domicile on their metal and am constantly getting bumped by their guys.
 
learhawkerbe400 said:
So you're saying with the new time of check in non rev system regional employees traveling on their metal only get priority for their jumpseat, not seats in the back?

Thank god! I commute out of a RJ domicile on their metal and am constantly getting bumped by their guys.
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We'll know for sure on Thurs but last I heard even our buddy passes will trump them on their own planes with the new system. Every passing day I thank my lucky stars I was able to escape!!

ORF by chance?
 
wheelsup said:
We'll know for sure on Thurs but last I heard even our buddy passes will trump them on their own planes. Every passing day I thank my lucky stars I was able to escape!!
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You and me both. That's good news and how it should have been all along. I don't think they should get priority on their jumpseats either.
 
learhawkerbe400 said:
You and me both. That's good news and how it should have been all along. I don't think they should get priority on their jumpseats either.
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I agree about the back but not jumpseat. Although it would be killer if we could book their jumpseat...

There would be a revolt, there already is with the new boarding priority. I think its unfair our buddy passes will bump a current employee, personally, but it doesn't impact me any more.
 
This is from Jan 2014 so stuff might've changed

D1-Vacation Passes
D2-Employees and eligible travelers (spouses/domestic partners or registered guest and eligible children)
D2R-Retirees and eligible travelers
DP-Parents
D3-Buddy Passes
AAC-Active non-owned affiliate airline personnel
ONE-Oneworld personal travel
D4-OAL company business travel
ZED-Routine interline personal travel
 
Regarding training at PSA....

This is an email I received from a former USAF pilot acquaintance who was hired at PSA recently (couple months ago) and ended up quitting during training just before the checkride. He felt like he was being set up for failure at the checkride by the PSA training department's negligence in preparing them (or failing to help/allow them to prepare themselves properly) for the checkride.

Not a 121 guy, so I can't vouch for how typical this type of thing is in the 121 training world, but coming from a military background it seems abnormal.

When we arrived to Ground School at PSA, they told us we would be completing our oral evaluations at the end of the Ground portion. Half way through, we found out that we were going to be sent home for five weeks and then accomplish orals upon return for Sim training. More specifically, at the end of the fourth Sim.

PSA took all of our study material when we left after completion of the six week ground school. They said not to worry, that we would get it back and have roughly 5 days to "get back into the swing of things" before the oral.

Most people were concerned because they took the controls and indicators book and there was not an electronic backup for this. Everything else we had a PDF copy for. However, 80% of the oral is "tell me what that switch or button does." Since neither the AOM or the FOM have any information regarding switchology, we were all depending on the five days in the sim to get caught back up.

After being home for 4 weeks I got a call from my sim partner on a Thursday stating that we had to be in Charlotte on Monday for our Orals. They moved the oral exam on us and none of us were prepared, nor did we have the materials to get prepared in that time.

My sim partner failed and three other guys failed. There were several others that barely passed. I had not studied at all and was planning on getting caught back up the week of the reschedule, but again didn't have access to the most critical materials I needed to study.

PSA burned me on that oral eval issue and I wasn't interesting in failing my oral because they couldn't get their **** together.
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Hacker15e said:
Regarding training at PSA....

This is an email I received from a former USAF pilot acquaintance who was hired at PSA recently (couple months ago) and ended up quitting during training just before the checkride. He felt like he was being set up for failure at the checkride by the PSA training department's negligence in preparing them (or failing to help/allow them to prepare themselves properly) for the checkride.

Not a 121 guy, so I can't vouch for how typical this type of thing is in the 121 training world, but coming from a military background it seems abnormal.
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I would have quit too! With the lackluster hiring going on at regionals with CRJ's, there should be a plethora of CRJ sims available. Did your friend state why the lag in between ground school and sims?
 
"Since neither the AOM or the FOM have any information regarding switchology, we were all depending on the five days in the sim to get caught back up."

If the guy had access to a systems manual I have little sympathy. How can you not have a systems manual? I've been through a few 121 initials and would have killed to have four weeks off to study more for the oral. And get paid.

I wish your friend well. 121 ground school isn't like the military. They will give you the mid standard to get by. No minutia and whatever they can get past the local FAA POI is good.
 
wheelsup said:
No it used to be if you were AWAC on an AWAC flight you went before even an SA1. You've been gone so long you are forgetting things :). That's a good thing!
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Really? I never experienced that. I always was boarded (as an SA3) before any SA5s, even if it was their company's plane, with the exception of the jumpseat.

I actually miss the non rev system at Airways. The one here is kind of a mess as far as transparency goes. The only nice thing is that it doesn't cost anything extra to list for and ride in first class.
 
H46Bubba said:
I would have quit too! With the lackluster hiring going on at regionals with CRJ's, there should be a plethora of CRJ sims available. Did your friend state why the lag in between ground school and sims?
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Negative -- no further info than just what was in that email.
 
DE727UPS said:
If the guy had access to a systems manual I have little sympathy. How can you not have a systems manual? I've been through a few 121 initials and would have killed to have four weeks off to study more for the oral. And get paid.

I wish your friend well. 121 ground school isn't like the military. They will give you the mid standard to get by. No minutia and whatever they can get past the local FAA POI is good.
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No idea if he had the systems manual or not -- again, the only info I have is what is in that email I posted. I agree that if the systems manual was available that should be enough, but my impression from that email was that he didn't have the required information in hand during that time off to study. No idea if he was actually being paid during that break or not.

This particular guy who wrote that is a heavy background pilot (KC-135 and T-6 instructor), so I don't have any post-undergraduate common training experiences with him and I can't speak to his particular expectation level based on his military experience. As a undergraduate pilot training student (which we both were), there is a massive amount of information thrown at you in a short period of time, and it is up to each student to invoke their own personal study ethic to consume it all and learn/memorize what will be important to perform. In many ways, there is no hand-holding at all, so I don't think there is an expectation from military training that all the information needed to succeed will be served up on a big silver plate. Clearly, though, he was nonplussed with the level of information provided by PSA compared to what was going to be expected at the Oral. On the other hand, he is at another regional currently and had only good things to say about the training there, so clearly it isn't a simple mis-fit between the expectations of military/USAF training plainly compared to civilian/121 training -- there was definitely something about PSA that rubbed him the wrong way. <shrug> I don't have an opinion either way, just presenting the story as a piece of the puzzle for folks thinking about going to PSA.

If 121 training is anything like the initial Type ride/ATP check I did at FSI, I think it was considerably easier (and provided less information and more shallow in-flight training) than the fighter and trainer qualification courses I've been though in the AF. But, again, I have zero 121 experience personally so I don't know how a FSI type compares.
 
For the most part it seems regional training programs are designed like the courses were back in the 70's and 80's. In depth knowledge levels, not much time to study. My personal experience shows it comes to a bit of a shock for those coming from the mil.

121 especially most regional 121 training programs are nothing like an FSI course.
 
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