JLTD

I have heard that some people are getting a call within a week or two of applying. In my case though, it was about 3 years. I applied back starting in 2019 when things were slow…and I think my application got lost in Covid despite updating.

Fortunately I had a couple of friends in the company that contacted the HR department; app was found and I got a call within about 3-4 weeks.

If you have an application in for more than a month give the HR department a call and follow up… They are super nice - but also super busy.

As far as training questions, I was in a class over the summer and it took about seven weeks from start to finish; lots of self study so recommendation to utilize good study habits, form a group etc. It might have been shorter, except that almost our entire class got Covid.

With so many people leaving the company in the last year, the wait for OE has been pretty long. The shortest wait I saw was about two weeks after the ride.

Egg320

Is it true Kalitta opened a Singapore and Sydney base for pilots on either the 747 or 777 or both?

sky jet

No. The DO has told us that there are discussions about allowing pilots to live anywhere both between the union and management and amongst management themselves. Discussions do not always lead to implementation. I wouldn't come here thinking that a foreign bases was a sure bet, and contracts come and go, so a base today could be a place that hasn't seen a Kalitta plane in years sometime down the road.

Varmint

Is it true that K4 has taken on quite a significant number of go jets e-3 visa holders? If so, what happens in the event the economy comes to a screeching halt and furloughs are necessary? Are the visa holders the first to go or will an American citizen be furloughed first and everything done in standard seniority order?

goinaround

Seniority order. But I feel like you’re baiting a different conversation……..

Varmint

From what I understand, it is a 2-year renewable visa so I was curious if the visa would be terminated early, allowed to expire after 2 years, or still renewed in the event of an economic downturn requiring furloughs to maintain seniority status.

Simple question, no baiting....

havoste

Your question is best answered with a precedent, during COVID-19. No Australian on an E3 Visa were furloughed out of seniority order at any regional that had them at the time (unless the regional itself collapsed, eg Expressjet), and if they were furloughed were allowed to continue renewing their visas and recalled in seniority order.

Big C

Can anyone speak to average monthly credit for a 747 on a 16 day line? What about current upgrade times? How long is training in YIP?

maxjet

This question hasn’t been answered in a while, it’s cloudy here and I have some time today so I will attempt to answer you questions. I am retired so I can only speak of the history of such questions.

At K4 you can NEVER plan on say, 100 hours a month even though you flew that credit the past 4 months. Without going into a lot of details, suffice it to say, you go to work on day 1 and you go home on the last day.

Right now is the tail end of a Very Bullish cycle in air freight. That is coming to an end, and pilots will have to “work” the system to get anywhere close to 100 hours of credit. My prediction is that K4 will be returning towards the model of the past as things slow down. Several 747 BCF’s will be retired or mothballed for future deployment.

The old model at K4 was that everyone was pretty much on reserve after day 1 that month. There is a good reason for that. Unlike most airlines, Kalitta doesn’t have spare aircraft laying around. What they have is spare hours on aircraft that are operating. The DHL, Turkish, or whomever, standard freight runs are done at a price that allows K4 to pay the bills. Now say the State department calls and says, “we have 24 Americans infected with Ebola that we need transported in the next 72 hours.” Kalitta proposed an obscene hourly rate for this and once accepted, the wheels start to turn. They have multiple aircraft that they have sitting somewhere for 12-14 hours. They tighten up the schedule and free up 2 BCF’s for a 48 hour period. They do the same with flight crews. You thought you were going to be sitting in Bahrain for 2.5 days? Now you are going somewhere else. That is why most pilots learn that they own you from day 1 at work until you go home. If you cannot handle having your schedule nebulous then stay away. I suspect that this may be a source of angst for pilots that have been hired since 2020 as things slow down.

Upgrades? I don’t really see how you could realistically plan less that 6-7 years. People are leaving for better jobs for sure, but that is the key that needs to have your attention. They are leaving for BETTER jobs. freight is a leading economic indicator for the passenger airlines. If we enter a recession for an extended time the pilot shortage will wane for a bit and people will stay at K4. If the business world wide continues to slow and stays slow K4 will shrink the 747 fleet as the 777 fleet increases resulting in net 0 upgrades.

Bottom line. Can you handle being away from home for 16-17 days a month? Can you handle not having a set schedule? Can you get along with other pilots who may have a bit of a quirky personality out of the aircraft? Can you handle the boredom of extended flights?
If so, signup and enjoy life until the next uptick in the industry. When that happens you can reevaluate and decide to stay or move on. You will be much more marketable coming from K4 than. a commuter operation. If you can deal with the issues above it will the best life you can imagine.

I am sure others will disagree with my assessment but it does get the conversation started.

efc4life

Currently available lines are average 13-16 days On, have no trouble crediting 85-110 hrs without working days off. We have a HUGE upgrade bid coming in January. The latest upgrade class had guys around the 4 year mark which will drop with this upcoming bid. We have been told the "intentions" are to keep the 747 fleet the same as the triples roll in.