Is Porter still conducting interviews?

Should be more interviews around mid November for courses in the new year.

Cheers
MS

Hey Guys,
I am starting with Porter this week!
I am looking for a place to stay near YTZ !! Please pm if you know something.
Thanks
T

Hey Terminator,

Glad to hear you finally got the call! See you on the line.

Congrats
MS

Is Piyush Gandhi still the man to address cover letters to?

Simon Fenn is the Chief Pilot now. So best to address them to him.

Good Luck
MS

Thanks. I appreciate the quick reply. Any comments on if they are looking new hires or have they filled their quota? I understand they have an initial groundschool sometime this month, but has anyone heard of any further ones?

Thanks MS !

Biggles : No more groundschools for 2009 but 2 more in 2010 (February I think).
They are calling people now for interviews !
Good luck
T

To you guys applying to Porter:

Had a few beers with a buddy who flies there and he mentioned how (in his opinion) the near future looks like.

It may be a reality check for some of you and hope it helps you make a more informed decision.

1) It is a great company to work for. Still has a million creases to iron out, but the people and environment are phenomenal.

2) There will be 2 more planes introduced next year (for a total of 20 Q400). The hiring for those is going on and ground school will probably be in late winter.

3) After that there is no more growth planned for some time. New hires will be looking at an upgrade in 3 to 4 years as a very minimum.

4) Direct entry Captains and new FOs will sit at the bottom of the seniority list for a long time. This means reserve, split duty days and picking up the pairings nobody else wants.

5) Despite some rumors, at this time there is nothing confirmed regarding more Q400s nor the C Series. Anyway, the C series won't fly until late 2014, if on schedule.

But Porter has given us surprises in the past, and who knows what is really cooking in the board room.

Good luck,
V

V1RotateV2 wrote:To you guys applying to Porter:

1) It is a great company to work for. Still has a million creases to iron out, but the people and environment are phenomenal.

2) There will be 2 more planes introduced next year (for a total of 20 Q400). The hiring for those is going on and ground school will probably be in late winter.

3) After that there is no more growth planned for some time. New hires will be looking at an upgrade in 3 to 4 years as a very minimum.

4) Direct entry Captains and new FOs will sit at the bottom of the seniority list for a long time. This means reserve, split duty days and picking up the pairings nobody else wants.

5) Despite some rumors, at this time there is nothing confirmed regarding more Q400s nor the C Series. Anyway, the C series won't fly until late 2014, if on schedule.

But Porter has given us surprises in the past, and who knows what is really cooking in the board room.

Good luck,
V

OK..lets take these one by one....

1. Absolutly correct.
2. Almost correct. Should read at least two planes. Ground school currently planned for 30 new 2010 hires.
3. 2010 Growth? Only opening a new $45+million terminal, introducing US preclearance and at least 3 new destinations, increased frequency to some current routes..so far.
4. Welcome to a seniority system, but 3-4 years upgrade wait will prove to be a fantasy.
5. Correct, nothing public has been announced regarding more aircraft, but the last comment is where the answers are...and due to comment #1 it's far better to be "in" and find out what's coming than not! Same could be said for WS.
Cheers and good luck!

Is commuting a possibility (now or future) with Porter? Any talk of future bases/hubs?

Hey, 365TAS

4. Welcome to a seniority system, but 3-4 years upgrade wait will prove to be a fantasy.

Do you mean fantasy shorter time period or longer?

Thanks to V1RotateV2 and 365TAS for the information. Just have a couple more questions if anyone can help me.
What time are most of the FO's being hired with? (They say 3000TT on their website; seems a little high for a minimum.)
How do upgrades work? Seniority, experience or ...
Are the 30 people to be hired in 2010 going to be spread out over year or just a couple of ground schools early on?
Is the pay a flight credit system? And if so what is starting flight rate, guaranty and actual expected average?
What is second year pay for Captain's and FO's?
What are the Per Deims?

Thanks is advance

365TAS wrote:4. Welcome to a seniority system, but 3-4 years upgrade wait will prove to be a fantasy.

If Porter is now staffed for 20 planes (or will shortly) then the last FO will upgrade, if nobody leaves and with no direct entries, when Porter gets their 35th+ aircraft.

Another doubling in size again in less than 3-4 years will really surprise me.

Anyway, don't want to start a debate. Just passing on some info from a good source so that pilots looking to join Porter can do their own math.
Still, 3-4 years seems a lot better than other career paths out there, if that is your goal.

365TAS wrote:3. 2010 Growth? Only opening a new $45+million terminal, introducing US preclearance and at least 3 new destinations, increased frequency to some current routes..so far.

Correct, but this does not open Captain positions and for some reason the quick path to the left seems to be very important for a lot of people here.