Airnet PDX

[dcramer16]

Hey, just a quick couple questions. What are the routes out of PDX? I looked on the website and it's saying Seattle, Helena, and Denver. Surely they have a bunch of local flights. Are they still needing someone in Portland and Seattle?

[dcramer16]

I just found the schedule on the website, and it doesn't look like there are any local flights out of PDX. If based there, you're not going to fly the Caravan to say Chicago, Kansas, Texas, etc, are you? The best I can figure is you'd be flying to Reno, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. Maybe as far as San Diego, Denver, and Phoenix. Am I close to right?

[mikecweb]

Not close.
You are assigned a run....which is subject to change.
But it's not like one day you'll be going to LA and the next day Denver.
The schedule on the website is FAR from accurate.
Choose the company. The base is a luck of the draw once in training and you'll get what you want eventually based on senority. Worry about the route once you get to the base.
PDX currently is PDX-RDM-PDX 5 days a week.

[dcramer16]

Doesn't sound like much money if it's PDX RDM PDX, or do you go to Redmond a couple times a night? Craig told me not to worry to much about bases. I have class on March 3rd, and he told me many people have washed out of training because they were getting ahead of themselves and worrying about things they didn't need to yet, such as bases. So I'm not worrying about it too much, just trying to have an idea here. I have a family, and will have my house in storage while in training, have a daughter in school, so I'm trying to make very "basic" plans. My storage will be in Montana, so I want to get close if I can, and last I heard they are hurting for people out in Seattle and Portland.

[mikecweb]

Not sure if they are hurting for people there or not.
5 day runs pay pretty good. You should probably be able to pull 30k and change. Craig is right. Don't worry too much until you are done with training.
Good Luck.

[tbmpilot]

Originally Posted by dcramer16

he told me many people have washed out of training because they were getting ahead of themselves and worrying about things they didn't need to yet, such as bases.

Thinking about what you'll eat during training is getting ahead of yourself.

Unless you have NO life, thinking where you and your family will live is highly relevant. I think most of these people view pilots as having no life. It's proven by what they don't tell you.

[ackeight]

With a 5 day run with no overtime on those days you will make around 35K Gross. I the think PDX spot just got filled. Seattle has been filled for awhile. I'm not sure about Pheonix. We don't have any props that even come close to Montana besides SEA and PDX. That was a good piece of advice that Craig gave you. Live by it during training.

[CirrusMonkey]

Currently, how senior is PDX?

[spilot]

So how does it work...after passing the checkride, are you assigned a base, or provided with a list of available options?

Must the hire-into-base deal be on the table before training begins, or can you force a base as a floater, if none of the available bases look good after training?

The ads say treated like a person, not a number... If they think pilots shouldn't worry about where they'll live in six weeks.... they're wrong. Some of the bases have cost of living making only room-mate-style living possible, while other markets let you have a big town house for less than your share of a room-mate-apartment.
With the pay being what it is, quality of life is a direct function of the cost of living in the particular base.

[minitour]

Am I allowed to say anything this time or am I still under the "####" rules and "dirty laundry" stipulations?

Even if I can't say anything about the whole training/base/where will I live thing, I will say the company is fantastic. Seriously.

I don't regret my decision to come here at all.

...and that's saying a lot for me.

-mini

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by spilot

So how does it work...after passing the checkride, are you assigned a base, or provided with a list of available options?

Must the hire-into-base deal be on the table before training begins, or can you force a base as a floater, if none of the available bases look good after training?

The ads say treated like a person, not a number... If they think pilots shouldn't worry about where they'll live in six weeks.... they're wrong. Some of the bases have cost of living making only room-mate-style living possible, while other markets let you have a big town house for less than your share of a room-mate-apartment.
With the pay being what it is, quality of life is a direct function of the cost of living in the particular base.

Okay - you guys are reading into this all wrong. It's not that the company doesn't care - it's simply there is no possible way to tell what runs will be open by the time you pass your checkride.

I'll say it again - no possible way.

They would if they could, but the system is too dynamic. We went round and round on this with minitour, and all he could come up with is "they should do better."

Seriously- find a way to predict when a Jet PIC decides to leave the company. Then predict which Jet SIC will bid and win his seat. Then predict which Prop PIC will will bid and win HIS seat. Then predict whether or not a different Prop PIC will bid THAT run, or if it will go unbid and be available for a new guy.

Remember, we bid RUNS here, not BASES.

Factor in that sometimes new runs are added, and old runs are closed. Factor in all the bidding that must take place when that happens.

Your standard Airnet hopeful sees only a tiny fraction of the huge picture of manning this airline.

The reason they say "don't worry," isn't an attempt to treat you like a number. They say "don't worry" because it is a absolute waste of time to worry about something you or they have no control over whatsoever. I would love to be able to tell my wife where the heck we'd be going if I get a Jet seat, but I simply can't. You have to adapt to this environment, fight what is winnable, and concede what cannot be won.

[minitour]

Originally Posted by Ian J

The reason they say "don't worry," isn't an attempt to treat you like a number. They say "don't worry" because it is a absolute waste of time to worry about something you or they have no control over whatsoever.

The problem is the image that attitude presents. "You're not a number" is absolutely the case here. First hand experience telling you that...you aren't. There are people here that actually care about you as a human being and not a seniority number.

However, "don't worry" is very dismissive. Telling someone not to worry without any further input is the same as ignoring them altogether. If there's anywhere the company could do better, this would be the easiest.

Again, as far as I can tell...the training/run assignment/where do I live thing is one of the only two negatives I've seen. Really that isn't bad. The overall picture is that Airnet is a great place to be. If you really have to be concerned about where you're going to live (and with a wife and kid(s) I would be too) then just be honest with them about it. I was up front with everything when I started so there'd be no surprises. It wasn't necessarily the best set of circumstances to tell in an interview, but I didn't want to be "that guy" three weeks later saying "oh yeah and I'll be out of the country for a week in February...is that a problem?") They hired me knowing I needed to be in certain places and that I had commitments coming up. It hasn't been a problem. Honesty, in this case, was the best policy.

The biggest problem is that during training, when you should be 110% committed to the profiles, regs, GOM, etc. you've got that nagging voice in the back of your head saying "great...so when I pass my checkride and the only thing available is Podunk...how is that going to work with my family?" You're going to need to trust it and just get through training (which isn't too hard...but you have to stay on top of it).

Fact of life guys...you can't just "not worry about it" unless you're the only person you have to worry about. Throw in a wife with a good stable job and possibly kids and you're going to worry about it.

-mini

[dcramer16]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Okay - you guys are reading into this all wrong. It's not that the company doesn't care - it's simply there is no possible way to tell what runs will be open by the time you pass your checkride.

I'll say it again - no possible way.

They would if they could, but the system is too dynamic. We went round and round on this with minitour, and all he could come up with is "they should do better."

Seriously- find a way to predict when a Jet PIC decides to leave the company. Then predict which Jet SIC will bid and win his seat. Then predict which Prop PIC will will bid and win HIS seat. Then predict whether or not a different Prop PIC will bid THAT run, or if it will go unbid and be available for a new guy.

Remember, we bid RUNS here, not BASES.

Factor in that sometimes new runs are added, and old runs are closed. Factor in all the bidding that must take place when that happens.

Your standard Airnet hopeful sees only a tiny fraction of the huge picture of manning this airline.

The reason they say "don't worry," isn't an attempt to treat you like a number. They say "don't worry" because it is a absolute waste of time to worry about something you or they have no control over whatsoever. I would love to be able to tell my wife where the heck we'd be going if I get a Jet seat, but I simply can't. You have to adapt to this environment, fight what is winnable, and concede what cannot be won.

I'm not complaining that I won't know where I'll live. I understand that runs are constantly changing. It's just that this is the first job I've ever taken that I don't know where I'll be living. Having a family it makes me feel kinda unstable. It's quite an adjustment. I can't tell my family where we'll be in another 2 months. I always like to plan ahead, and in this case I can't. So I'm just trying to feel things out, and have a general idea what the heck is going to happen to us! Can't wait to start working there though!

[minitour]

Originally Posted by dcramer16

I'm not complaining that I won't know where I'll live. I understand that runs are constantly changing. It's just that this is the first job I've ever taken that I don't know where I'll be living. Having a family it makes me feel kinda unstable. It's quite an adjustment. I can't tell my family where we'll be in another 2 months. I always like to plan ahead, and in this case I can't. So I'm just trying to feel things out, and have a general idea what the heck is going to happen to us! Can't wait to start working there though!

I think some of the guys on here and at the company interpret this feeling as "getting ahead" and "biotching". Really, it's just a new thing to learn and a little uncertainty. Absolutely nothing wrong with that..

I'm sure you'll be fine. I understand exactly what you're feeling. Do your best to stick it out and all will be worth it in the end.

-mini

[ljg]

Originally Posted by tbmpilot

Thinking about what you'll eat during training is getting ahead of yourself.

Unless you have NO life, thinking where you and your family will live is highly relevant. I think most of these people view pilots as having no life. It's proven by what they don't tell you.

Yeah you're right, but that's the aviation industry. Plus, this point of view has been already thoroughly griped on JC without a satisfactory answer to "how would you do it differently?". Plus, most pilots would LOVE to live in Teterboro, NJ or Olathe, KS!!!

[ackeight]

Originally Posted by ljg

Yeah you're right, but that's the aviation industry. Plus, this point of view has been already thoroughly griped on JC without a satisfactory answer to "how would you do it differently?". Plus, most pilots would LOVE to live in Teterboro, NJ or Olathe, KS!!!

Hey now! I took one of the Olathe spots. haha. It's only 10 miles out of kansas city, which is MUCH better than New Orleans.


Ok in response to EVERY Airnet hopefull that has/will ask this question again. Ian has it right. The line of work Airnet is in is too dynamic and always changing. Airnet doesn't work like normal 121 carriers. Or even like some larger fractionals for that matter. The majority of our system relies on bases that only have a few aircraft located there(sometimes 1 like in my case). This alone makes it hard for everyone to live where they want. I came into Airnet fully knowing that I have to pay my dues in my aviation career for it to pay off in the long run. Living in places where I don't want to. Flying aircraft I don't care for(that one was for you Stiggy ). If you don't like the way Airnet works and you have a family or girlfriend you want to live with, this is a very hard company to do that with. For the majority of pilots Airnet is a stepping stone to a job that might allow you to easily live with your family. I have no regrets comming here and working hard without knowledge of knowing where I'll be in this time next year, or for that matter 2 months. Alright time to go to work. peace out.