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Corporate Airlines
- Thread starter eddie
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probablecause
This Lil' Piggy Flew Home
- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Posts
- 184
throttlejockey
A serious CRM problem!
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2001
- Posts
- 143
The situation at Corpex can be best be described as stagnant. There is very little sign of growth.
Waterloo was shutdown on Oct 1st, and will be replaced with new service to Lafayette, Indiana on December 1st. For a small net loss in flying hours. Fort Leonard Wood is closed until June 1st, 2003 for Runway Upgrades.
New management came in over the summer promising better communication with employees. This has not materialized. Our longevity pay increases have been frozen, and we are told thay will not come back for some time.
On a positive note, there is more attrition that one would expect given the state of the airline industry. Since no one has been upgraded to captain in more than one year, the vast majority have accumilated close to or over 1000 Turbine PIC. And they are starting to bail out. Where? Anywhere! Unfourtunately, the people that are leaving are not the most senior people in the company. Many of the very senior people are not hireable for this or that reason. This means that the best lines of flying are not flyable by anyone else in the company.
This is leaving the company very short of Captains so we can expect some captain upgrades to be put into the Oct 31st class. for every captain that gets upgraded, you need to hire 2 F/O's. So if they call back 10 F/O's you should expect 5 Captain upgrades. All the recall F/O's should expect to be on reserve for a very long time, since you job is strictly to replace attrtion. You are not getting hired in preparation for any type of "growth spurt."
There was some talk of going back into RDU. However, there is no buzz regarding this issue as of late. As a matter of fact, it has completely dropped off the radar screen. Treat the RDU thing as if it will not happen. The principals will not invest any money in expanding or growing the airline because of the risk involved. Lafayette, Indiana only happened because the city is paying for the start up costs. If they didn't do that, we would have never do it. Same for RDU - we will only reopen the base if the cities will pay, plain and simple.
As with the AMR/Eagle stuff - that is totally out of the control of us pilots. Whatever happens, happens. However, most of the flying out of STL is EAS anyway - and is contracted directly between the US DOT and Corpex. Also, we are below the radar screen of APA and Eagle ALPA. We fly 19-seat Turboprops and the scope issue is really about Jet Flying. (Corpex will never fly jets, we don't have the $$ it takes). That issue is really a TSA/CHQ issue since they are the ones who fly jets.
Going after our little operation would be a political mistake for the unions. Corpex represents the only service into the communities it serves. If the Unions went after us, the RAA would turn us into the poster child of the negative consequences of scope, and all the Senators and Congressmen in the districts we served would be extremely pissed off. In the end, I think small turboprops (19-30 seat) will fall outside of the scope clause so that APA does not look like the grim reaper back in D.C. It would be the smart move.
Some more good news - we have not been turned down for the $8 million Loan Guarantee we requested. Then again, we haven't been approved either. If we do get the approval, we might start to expand again. But until then, same old - same old.
see ya.
Waterloo was shutdown on Oct 1st, and will be replaced with new service to Lafayette, Indiana on December 1st. For a small net loss in flying hours. Fort Leonard Wood is closed until June 1st, 2003 for Runway Upgrades.
New management came in over the summer promising better communication with employees. This has not materialized. Our longevity pay increases have been frozen, and we are told thay will not come back for some time.
On a positive note, there is more attrition that one would expect given the state of the airline industry. Since no one has been upgraded to captain in more than one year, the vast majority have accumilated close to or over 1000 Turbine PIC. And they are starting to bail out. Where? Anywhere! Unfourtunately, the people that are leaving are not the most senior people in the company. Many of the very senior people are not hireable for this or that reason. This means that the best lines of flying are not flyable by anyone else in the company.
This is leaving the company very short of Captains so we can expect some captain upgrades to be put into the Oct 31st class. for every captain that gets upgraded, you need to hire 2 F/O's. So if they call back 10 F/O's you should expect 5 Captain upgrades. All the recall F/O's should expect to be on reserve for a very long time, since you job is strictly to replace attrtion. You are not getting hired in preparation for any type of "growth spurt."
There was some talk of going back into RDU. However, there is no buzz regarding this issue as of late. As a matter of fact, it has completely dropped off the radar screen. Treat the RDU thing as if it will not happen. The principals will not invest any money in expanding or growing the airline because of the risk involved. Lafayette, Indiana only happened because the city is paying for the start up costs. If they didn't do that, we would have never do it. Same for RDU - we will only reopen the base if the cities will pay, plain and simple.
As with the AMR/Eagle stuff - that is totally out of the control of us pilots. Whatever happens, happens. However, most of the flying out of STL is EAS anyway - and is contracted directly between the US DOT and Corpex. Also, we are below the radar screen of APA and Eagle ALPA. We fly 19-seat Turboprops and the scope issue is really about Jet Flying. (Corpex will never fly jets, we don't have the $$ it takes). That issue is really a TSA/CHQ issue since they are the ones who fly jets.
Going after our little operation would be a political mistake for the unions. Corpex represents the only service into the communities it serves. If the Unions went after us, the RAA would turn us into the poster child of the negative consequences of scope, and all the Senators and Congressmen in the districts we served would be extremely pissed off. In the end, I think small turboprops (19-30 seat) will fall outside of the scope clause so that APA does not look like the grim reaper back in D.C. It would be the smart move.
Some more good news - we have not been turned down for the $8 million Loan Guarantee we requested. Then again, we haven't been approved either. If we do get the approval, we might start to expand again. But until then, same old - same old.
see ya.
throttlejockey
A serious CRM problem!
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2001
- Posts
- 143
The mindset of the current crop of F/O's is unclear. There are definately some F/O's that will be passed up by management for upgrade since they are not strong candidates. (The decision to upgrade someone is heavily weighted on captain recommendations, and evaluation rather than on seniority.)
There may be a small group that will pass up upgrade for personal reasons (don't want to sit reserve, not ready, etc.) However, that group is probably very small.
It is my opinion that most F/O's on the property will not pass up the opportunity to upgrade at this point. The pay situation is the primary driver for people to upgrade, along with getting enough command time in order to leave and be a potential candidate to get hired on somewhere else.
If you are already typed in the aircraft (judging by your profile), you would probably be recalled into the right seat first, and then moved over to the left seat after 4 to 6 months (depending on demand.) You probably would be on Captain reserve for the entire time you worked for Corporate Airlines unless we doubled our current fleet size. Remember, you do have the right to refuse recall until all those people that are junior to you have been recalled, or have resigned there seniority numbers. If you want to stall in making a decision that may be a way to go.
The reality is pretty grim here. If you have a good paying job and have the opportunity to fly turbine equipment at your current job, you may want to stay where you are. If you are unemployed, or flight instructing, you probably are better off dipping your toes back in the muddy water.
Good Luck!
There may be a small group that will pass up upgrade for personal reasons (don't want to sit reserve, not ready, etc.) However, that group is probably very small.
It is my opinion that most F/O's on the property will not pass up the opportunity to upgrade at this point. The pay situation is the primary driver for people to upgrade, along with getting enough command time in order to leave and be a potential candidate to get hired on somewhere else.
If you are already typed in the aircraft (judging by your profile), you would probably be recalled into the right seat first, and then moved over to the left seat after 4 to 6 months (depending on demand.) You probably would be on Captain reserve for the entire time you worked for Corporate Airlines unless we doubled our current fleet size. Remember, you do have the right to refuse recall until all those people that are junior to you have been recalled, or have resigned there seniority numbers. If you want to stall in making a decision that may be a way to go.
The reality is pretty grim here. If you have a good paying job and have the opportunity to fly turbine equipment at your current job, you may want to stay where you are. If you are unemployed, or flight instructing, you probably are better off dipping your toes back in the muddy water.
Good Luck!
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