The Dominican

I don't know about the other two but If I have to put money on it. Jesus will return before that SIM is operational.

The Dominican

1.
Is worldwide home base program still going on at National?
Yes

2.
If the answer is yes about worldwide home basing program, living and commuting out of ICN is possible at N8?
Yes. We have several pilots commuting from Asia.

I am asking this because I see lots of 5Y, K4, ups, fdx metals sitting on the ground in ICN but I rarely see national's.
We only have 9 747's and two A330's. They have a lot more metal than us. But we do go to INC.

Tavel to/from work during my days ON at National seems very attractive deal, but if ICN is not one of their regular destinations, I guess they let me commute via commercials once the chief approves basing in ICN?
INC will be your base if you so choose. They will pax you out of INC to where they need you.

3.
At N8, trips always start and end in MCO?
Oh God, NO. You will start and finish everywhere in the world except MCO. We go there for maintenece flights.

4. How long does it take for Captain upgrade these days on 74 fleet?
Seems to be 1.5 to 2.0 years. As to how the addition of the 777 will affect that. I smashed my crystal ball back in 89.

PS. All my answers are based on the 747 fleet. The A330 is like working for a totally different company.
And how the 777 will work out? Again, No crystal ball.

united20

Thank you very much 🙂

ObadiahDogberry

I think there are a lot of variables at play here. The 777s will play a big role. Many of the Aussies have a lot of 777 experience from their time at Emirates/Etihad/Qatar/Cathay/Korean and my guess is many of them will be making the jump back over.

Also flown with a lot of Aussies recently who are thinking about leaving, and/or are definitely leaving. Apparently Cathay is offering a lot of money for guys to come over there, and there are more and more grumblings from the Aussies about how travel/scheduling seems to be trying to make things worse. Just one example, while Atlas and Kalitta are getting business class travel, National just changed the wording on the travel policy, downgrading it from "premium economy or better" for international deadheads six hours or greater, to "premium economy, if available". The Aussies are getting fed up with stuff like that, and regularly being extended in to GDOs, and finishing trips on the other side of the planet and getting 30 hour middle seat economy flights home. So if the money closer to home keeps increasing, there could be a massive exodus. So that may affect upgrades as well. Throw in the occasional direct entry captain, and you can see why it is pretty much impossible to predict what an upgrade timeframe might look like.[/size]

The Dominican

I don't know about that one dude. I worked with these guys for 14 years in Japan and they could have a dinner date with two supermodels cooked by Gordon Ramsey himself, and they would spend the evening complaining about the color of the plates. You know how you can tell when an Aussie pilot is about to complain? When he wakes up.

First the contract at Cathay is way substandard as compared to yesteryear. No housing allowance amongst other things, and the cost of living in HKG use to be bad before Covid, now with inflation is just ridiculous. Maybe a shorter commute to Oz would be an insentive?

I would place this impending Aussie exodus between OPT and the Sim being operational. But again, this is me winging it without the use of a crystal ball. With the way this paid hobby of ours works, we can all be unemployed next week.

B757

..Never had any problem flying with the Aussies.. None whatsoever..Heard interesting info about your time at AJX though..

Fly safe,
B757

united20

Would somebody please share

What is the pay during new hire training in miami?

Major routes on 747 side?

How many crews are operating usually? (Of couese, depends on duty time)

ObadiahDogberry

Pay is normal rate at min guarantee, plus per diem.

Nothing is scheduled on the 747 side, all ad-hoc. But you will definitely get to know the routing between HKG and ANC quite well. HKG and DXB (DWC for operating, DXB for deadheading, but we use the same hotel whether you are operating out of DWC or deadheading via DXB) are places you will almost always find crews. ANC is pretty common over the winter. JFK, ORD, and LGG are all pretty common stops as well, with HAN popping up a lot more recently. In the weeks leading up to Valentines Day and Mothers Day, flower runs to Columbia out of Miami are common as well. DoD is a big part of the operation, so you will see a lot of Air Force bases, as well as the occasional Navy and Marine corps bases, both Stateside and overseas.

Almost always a four person crew, no matter the duty time, unless a crew member calls out sick at the last minute. They want all crews to be legal for four man crew limits (up to 30 hours), and if you end up doing two or three person flying too often you will be restricted, so they do everything they can to keep it at four pilots at all times. As of yet, I have never flown with less than a four person crew.

ObadiahDogberry

I have never had any issues with the Aussies either, they have all been great. I think the complaining thing is all pilots in general, we are professional complainers. Would be interested to see what stuff is being said on their private Signal group however.

C17B74

Geeeez, that's really laying it out there especially if you were originally expecting a 14hr - 18hr or a tad more day and then you have some significant delays at your next station for another hop. That does provide a lot of wiggle room to wear crews out well beyond a full day = ouch. Stay frosty!