HeadInClouds

I'm looking for some information on duty versus block time at 121 cargo outfits.

To get the ball rolling, my outfit averages between 2.2 and 2.5 hours of duty for every hour of block time and this seems extremely high--I've heard many places average more like 1.6-1.9. Additionally, nearly every day worked is around 14 hours of duty for usually around 5.5 to 6.5 hours of block time and there are only 12 to 14 hard days off each month. I recently overheard some cargo pilots in an un-named company lounge complaining about never getting released from standby so I'm guessing that is normal since it is that way at my company as well. I'm really looking for as accurate data as you can give and if you want to submit with a company or type of company attached that could be helpful for the sake of comparing types of operations (like long-haul, short-haul, ACMI, ad hoc, domestic, international, etc, etc).

As a followup to my first inquiry, what is your company's bid period guarantee and how often or easy is it to gain credit above guarantee? My company has 65 hours per month guarantee but it is virtually impossible to fly over guarantee and opportunities to get credit over guarantee are few.

I guess what I'm getting at, is I'd like to be able to calculate comparative take home pay a little better with some assumptions and we all know that guarantee and per diem and block to duty can greatly skew the numbers listed on the profiles here.

Thanks for any info you can offer.