Flybe - Time to jet
 

Hi all,

What is the approximate time for new cadets on the Q400 to get a FO gig on the Embraer? I understand that they are getting some E-175s so that may reduce the time? Where are the Embraer bases at present?

Lots of quick fire questions so hopefully don't sound too demanding! :O

It all depends on the demand. If you are prepared to move to the outer echelons of the country then you may get on one within a year, but I very much doubt it. Forget it in the Southern bases unless you have 3-4 years under your belt. Alot of first officers who were on my course 5 years ago are still waiting, but they aren't prepared to move to get it. The bottom line is, if you are prepared to move then bid for it. You can bid straight away, you don't have to be in the company for x number of years before bidding. If you don't bid you won't get, that's the bottom line.

EMB bases at present are INV, ABZ, EDI, GLA, BHD, MAN, BHX, EXT, SOU & JER

Edited for the 3rd time: I Put BHX twice, and didn't include EDI/GLA, or JER :8

Coffin,

Fantastic and thanks for such a quick reply!

No problem.

A Year?! Try 3-4 and that's if you like haggis.

slystallone

Did you actually read anything I wrote?

Lowest guy on the seniority who flies a jet as an FO joined the company 4 years ago. They took a basing in the frozen north to get this. Lowest person in a base like SOU joined the company over 5 years ago, for BHX it's just under 5 years.

That and the fact that most e-jets are mainly replacements for Q400's, most movement will be done in base from Q400 -> Jets, and done on seniority. Expect a long wait...

GusHoneyBun

The seniority list actually proves nothing. The chap in question (I know who he is) may well have only bid for the jet in a Northern base recently, it doesn't mean he's been waiting for 4 years.
I know of one person who obtained the jet with significantly less service than 2 years (he's probably the only one though), and this was 2½ years ago. Right bid, right time and all that. However, as I said above it is very, very unlikely you'll get it within a year or so, but not an absolute impossibility.

As for movement to Q400, yes it's done in base as we all know, but once it's actually in base it's open to everyone. So the time to jet will indeed shrink as more and more come online. The bottom line is, if you want it, bid for it, you may get it, you may not.

I didn't actually say it would happen, just that it has happened. My original post states -

The reason why it has been bad in the last couple of years is because up until recently nobody has left (apart from 1 or 2). So in essence you are all just agreeing with what I originally wrote :)

tennisten

I would imagine that is virtually impossible without alot of seniority. I think the JSY F/Os have been with the company for eons and just don't leave.

Tennisten,

Very probably. You still have to pass the interview and sim, but I dare say with residency credentials they will like the look of your application.

jet positions
 

Just to agree with everyone here - 4 years is the minimum really but the guy I know who got the jet within 6 months of joining did so at JER due to the restricted number of people with with residency. That was afew years ago now and I have no idea if that would still hold - I would imagine it was exceptional.

Lovely aeroplane by the way, but some who have flown it have said they do miss the raw flying nature of the Dash which isn't quite so automated - indeed it flies like a dirty great Cessna in many ways. To be honest while I have always aspired to fly the jet I think cutting your teeth on the Dash for a few years is probably a good thing so I wouldn't be too obsessed with what you fly. Unless you have already flown something large I think you will still be immensely thrilled the first time you take to the air in a Dash - if you're straight off the likes of Senecas it will seem like the Starship Enterprise by comparison...

It took me 18 months to get onto the Embraer, and of the other 4 FOs on my course, max length of service was 2 years, the lowest 14 months.

It all depends on what is happening around the network at the time you bid.

re the Channel Islands. They don't seem to have problems getting paperwork in place to bring in "non-locals".

The days of being a Jersey (or Guernsey) resident and walking into a job at Flybe are gone.

Same goes for Blue Islands, they can get you the quals for Jersey if you don't have them already.

The rights and wrongs of this practice are another topic all together.

2 guys just gone/going through their courses joined back in the summer of 2007 so 4.5 years.

The 6 month guy before that was exceptionally lucky!