Guys, I am getting married shortly and we will be moving to Clarksville, TN. -My wife (to be) has a job that dictates where we live. Can hardly wait to get to TN, gonna buy me a big 'ol pickup truck, and a Garth Brooks CD!
I have about 3 000 hours, mostly piston charter. I would love to get a job working out of Nashville - regionals, freight, GA, whatever.
I see that plenty of regionals fly into BNA, but none of them seem to base crew there.
Can anyone give me some suggestions for work? Thanks in advance!
PSA has a domicile in Knoxville, TN. You could drive that each end of a 4 day trip no problem. Otherwise you are going to be commuting - but there are plenty of places easy to commute to from Nashville - like ORD, ATL, JFK, IAH etc... like a previous guy said - pick a job you want cause you are going to be commuting. And there's always Memphis down the road if you can get on at Fedex. I think Pinnacle has a domicile in MEM also (?).
Asking "How viable is commuting?" is like asking "How long is a stick?". There's no set answer.
Commuting is a miserable existence - you are flying standby several times a week often giving up your precious few days off at the airport trying to get to work or from it. Do you need a residence? Again that depends, are you commuting to reserve? Than yes. Do you anticipate being in domicile on more nights/mth than it would cost to just get a hotel room than yes. All things to consider. Crash pads are one way to go but still going to cost you $200/mth or more depending on the city in which you are based.
Some pilots at Pinnacle have been hired with no multi-engine license. That is a complex situation, and whether you want to apply to them might require lots of consideration. Lots, based on what a former Check Airman there told me. He refuses to give IOE anymore-even for much more pay, which the company offered him, and he was quite adamant about the refusal. But enough of that. They may be no more desirable as an employer than Mesa.
Last winter, according to their LEC FO Rep., two consecutive classes for up to about 30 pilots each, had 'some' no-shows. Only one guy appeared for each of the two classes, so both classes were combined. I chat with their guys fairly often (they deadhead/jumpseat with us). You could drive from BNA to MEM in about 3 and 1/2 hours, but gasoline prices can be a factor. Maybe a company in so. Ohio or Kentucky has a progressive jumpseat policy. Nashville, in my opinion, is certainly a better town than Memphis .
Good luck with your decision.
Last edited by Ignition Override : 22nd May 2008 at 22:21.
Ignition Override, I've been picking up the bad vibes over Pinnacle, Mesa and GoJet.
But it seems even the 'good' (for want of a better word) regionals are a bit of a dive - pay below the poverty line, newbies doing nothing but reserve.
I guess guys do it for the jet time, right? Why else would they do it? If the value is in the time in the log book, then so be it.
It's a shame that the regionals aren't a decent job in their own right. They should be.
Everybody always describes the need for PIC turbine experience. By the way, feedback claims that it often does not matter whether it is turboprop or turbofan, and some of the training programs with turboprops seem to be better than those with some RJ companies.
I don't want to concern you, but my company's previous CEO told staff years ago that the RJ was never supposed to make money, however there was pressure to acquire them because the other airlines had ordered so many, and nobody wanted to be seen as the only airline with turboprops using the same codeshare names. Some Pinnacle pilots lately question whether many of their jets will be here in a few years from now, but new operating costs/seat-mile and reworked lease agreements during the Chapter 11 reorganization might be the primary factors, and it might be better for the younger pilots to know what is involved, due to the difficult times. But you will enjoy a B-1900, SF-340 or RJ etc.
My last job with a 'regional' was back in '85, having flown the Bandit and Shorts 330/360.
With the global demand for fuel, and so much diverted into the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve among other factors, it is very difficult to imagine where this industry is headed. If you want me to ask around in a few days, I can try to find out the name of an IP or Check Airman who could be a contact if I get to the airport early enough (to forage for food). I don't read PPRuNe too often anymore, so you might send me a personal e-mail. Also, there are some better companies out there, and Horizon was about the best, years ago if not now. Comair seemed pretty good, but the fact that Delta Airlines is almost broke (again) does not look good for ASA, Comair etc. That's one reason why they need to merge with Northwest, which has about $3 billion in cash, contrary to what the mass media regurgitates here.
Once the US real estate (home sales) situation starts to improve, it should help the airlines.
The best of luck to all of the younger pilots out there.
Last edited by Ignition Override : 25th May 2008 at 07:30.
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