El Pilot

Sounds good thanks. How Senior is the MIA-BOG-MIA turns? I am colombian and it would be a dream to fly into the motherland and back to MIA.

nitefr8dog

Senior...one of our best day trips. Long layover in Mia between runs
and on beginning and end. Good chance you would get to see BOG on IOE.

AK81

A February post said ABX wasn't hiring. Anything different with the new planes coming?

Jurassic Jet

Class of 17 started last week. Hiring 16 a month through at least November.

feelthebern

Hi all,

I have a CJO with ABX for July. Excited to join the team, but have questions:

My goal is getting to the pax majors, but I've heard ABX does not fly a lot.

I know there's growth, but will the growth equal more flying for junior FOs?

What can the average block time/month be expected for a junior FO commuting from KMIA?

How feasible is it to pick up open time as a junior FO commuter, if it's even available?

Thanks

El Pilot

Good Afternoon all, How dose commuting work as a junior FO? Dose the company provide hotels while in between trips from CVG or only at layovers?

Do you need a crashpad at CVG as a commuter?

If for example you commute into CVG and your showtime is not till couple hours later, are there sleep rooms in
CVG?

thanks.

Reactivity

Everybody who launches a career in aviation eventually learns that this is a highly dynamic industry. What is true today may not be true tomorrow. What was true yesterday might not be true today.

So it is true today that junior (reserve) FOs are not flying much. We are currently overstaffed on the FO side for the flying we have. Not long ago, we were losing 8 - 10 FOs per month and it was all we could do to keep up with the attrition. Even as our Amazon flying wound down as the leases on six 767-200s expired, we continued hiring just to prevent getting behind so that we would be ready to handle any opportunities that came our way. Then FedEx & UPS stopped hiring and the passenger carriers slowed down their hiring as well. Our attrition has now slowed to 1 - 3 per month and our last new hire completed IOE almost two months ago. Today the trip trade board is full of line holders offering up their trips in trade for days off, and those trades are being picked up by junior FOs who will fly on their days off because they're not flying on the days that they're on. This will not be the case for much longer.

Unquestionably. Being overstaffed is a temporary condition. Our normal condition is to be very lean. Getting staffed up for the 10 aircraft we have coming is going to be a challenge. Everybody is going to be busy. There is going to be more premium open time than you can shake a stick at. There may well be junior manning if the open time doesn't get picked up.

45 - 50 hours.

Today, it's non-existent. Tomorrow, that will not be the case. See my previous comment regarding premium open time and junior manning.

Reactivity

You are domiciled in CVG. The only time the company provides a hotel in CVG is for R1 (airport/hot reserve) crews.

Some people like the certainty of having a crashpad to go to, but no, you do not need a crashpad. In over 7 years with this company, I have never had a crashpad. There are a couple of hotels offering crew rates that run a little over $70 per day, and they give you the room for 24 hours from the time you check in. I have rarely spent more than three days a month in a hotel room in CVG, and I figure the break-even point on a decent crash pad is about five days before even considering the need for transportation that goes along with having a crashpad.

There are a few, although several of them are supposed to be reserved for R1 crews, not that anybody is doing R1s at the airport these days. There is a large lounge area in DHL Building 6 filled with large recliners. The room is mostly dark at night, if not particularly quiet owing to the amazing number of cargo pilots who seem to have obstructed airways. There is a room next to the lounge that is also full of recliners and is completely dark at night.

C17B74

Pretty good deal @ $70ish a day especially on a 24hr period. Lounge recliners and whatnot sounds terrible, definitely do the hotel in that situation. Good notes on the break even point vs a crash pad which is something to consider no doubt.

C17B74

Bringing on 10 more jets should alleviate any lack of flying for quite awhile before it ever stabilizes. Always good to have plenty of demand in this industry.