NightHawk

Thanks! Sounds good

flydiamond

Voluntary/involuntary tdy historically. There is no limit as to how many consecutive months an individual pilot may be tdy’d. Some junior cas were recently involuntarily tdy’d 3 months in a row out of sanford during the slower fall months (Aug-Oct if I recall). Sometimes the vacancy that becomes effective Sept 1 causes some movement that naturally shrinks the summer seasonal bases for fos because they won’t fill the secondary vacancies. However I will say lately the trend has been more tdy in to the seasonal bases in peak as opposed to tdy out during the off season. That’s prob because there is more movement with regular vacancies etc. things will change in the future. It’s very hard to say how things go around here since each base is so small, and they’ve been doing things differently lately such as increasing off season flying in those seasonal bases in what I view as an effort to flatten seasonality (eg IWA does a lot of SNA and SAN flying in summer off season, VPS has more year round flying to distant destinations such as BOS).

also, a word of caution: the contract has no protections against pilots being as the company coined it “vacancy reduced,” which is like a displacement except it only involves base, not aircraft type or seat, and the pilot doesn’t receive system wide displacement rights nor moving benefits . They can literally move 8 fos from one base to another without tdy protections, even if said “displaced” pilot would rather go to a different base with a more junior pilot. All because whoever negotiated the contract messed up the definition of “position” and the language in the displacement section of the contract. The union called them out on a this and came to an settlement with the company on a no cite non precedent setting basis, however, they may try and do this again in the future if contract negotiations get bad. The company pulling this card again will literally cause junior pilots to live like migrant farm workers.

the contract here needs *major* improvements in Areas such as this and it should be major pause for anyone thinking of coming here who doesn’t live in One of the newer, junior bases. There will probably be plenty of vacancies for new hires to bid to bases like VPS and LAX coming up soon, but there is little in the contract that will provide those pilots any stability.

pacificapt

I live in Houston and would have a 2:30 hour drive to AUS if based there. Is there any possibility of stacking the day trips together and forming a 4-5 day trip? And staying in a crash-pad those days?

flydiamond

Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are very low fly days so you can expect those as your days off as a junior pilot, especially in the off season. Not to mention we have a horrendous “pbs” system that will cause you major stress to try and arrange your schedule like that. Why would you come here to commute and pay for your crashpad when there are options out there with multi day trips?

pacificapt

Currently have a 4 hour commute to base and being able to drive to work would simplify things substantially.

I'm already paying for a crash-pad in base so really don't see much of a difference.

labbats

If only there were airlines with bases in Houston to shoot for….

Why come to a brand new airline that isn’t what you want as a final destination? Particularly in this hiring environment?

pacificapt

Definitely my first choice would be UAL or SWA. But if they aren't knocking on my door I don't see any reason not to improve QOL and get a new type in the process.

Margaritaville

As a junior pilot, you won't be able to stack your trips. Are there crash pads even available in AUS? I don't think any other airlines have a domicile there which would create crash pads and I've heard apartments are really expensive there. On reserve they can and do send you anywhere on a moment's notice.

I think you would hate it if you try to do what you're proposing. If you like our business model, and can move to a junior base, you'll love it. That has really become the requirement to be happy here. This is a live in base airline. If you can't or won't live in any of our bases then you should look elsewhere. We need people who will be happy here and want to stay not "try it out", take a type, then leave for an airline that has a base in your city.

If you get an interview, be honest and tell them that you plan to try it and take a free type rating and wait for someone else to call. See how that works out. Hopefully, they are able to weed people like this out, because we are going to start getting more and more like this.

NightHawk

Thanks, good info.

KC135

On the bright side if recent hires keep leaving it could add some pressure for the company to stop slow rolling contract negotiations. But wow it really is miserable to fly with some of these new hires. I feel bad for them, the last one I flew with was worried about his wife divorcing him since he's rarely been able to get home and was debating quitting without another job lined up. That is the main reason I try and get the truth out about how different this place is, keeps people from wrecking their life and I'd rather fly with people that actually want to be here or at least really understand what you're signing yourself up for. Plus I'm sure the accountants already crunched the numbers and found out it's cheaper to keep replacing new hire attrition vs agreeing to a new contract that gives the whole list a 30% raise and decent work rules.