Celeste

Does anyone have the uniform pants from A Cut Above? Are they a close enough match to get away with wearing them instead of the crew outfitters ones?

NobodyLikesMe

I have the American blue pants from A Cut Above instead of the United midnight blue. They match. I've never had one person call the fashion police or chief pilot. They fit well to boot.

GetOffMyCloud

First time posting here, and I felt compelled to share my experience at TSA since that's probably one of the purposes of this thread.

I left RAH and started at TSA in December as a CQFO. I was very excited to leave a stagnant airline and finally get my 4th stripe. Throughout my interview and while in training all I heard was that I'd probably never see the right seat, that the company has no grievances on file, and they are totally different now and want their pilots to be happy.

I've been online for a month now, and I feel like I've been had. The vast of my majority of flying has been in the right seat, and scheduling has put me through a great deal of misery already. My very first day of flying ended with them not having a hotel reservation, and we didn't get to the hotel (that I found) until 4am. Apparently it's protocol here to make sure you have a reservation.

I will say to their credit that the DO and chief pilots are good guys overall, and if you keep your nose clean they will have your back; however, these guys don't have a direct impact on your QOL. The folks that do, such as payroll and scheduling, are not so nice. Apparently us CQFOs were hired without anything officially explaining our pay structure, so we've all been getting hosed while we wait for an elusive MOU to get signed. As far as schedule goes the reserve rules here are atrocious, and scheduling doesn't have any willingness to help you out at all. For example, on my last day of reserve I once asked to be released 50 min early to make my flight home, and they denied me that privilege.

TSA is growing like crazy, and it's probably a good place for a new regional FO since he/she will probably get a fast upgrade, but you might want to look into other places with a quick upgrade. I find a lot of TSA pilots like to say, "Well, it's better than it used to be" and talk about the cancellation pay and overtime compensation. That isn't good consolation for the fact that this is a crappy place to work. I know they aren't currently hiring CQFOs, but if they do again in the future, and you are thinking about it I would think long and hard (giggity) about it first because if you're like me and had 14-16 days off with a good line then QOL at TSA is going to be a rude awakening, and this CQFO is personally not sure if giving that up was worth the "upgrade".



Hey Bedford, if you're reading this PM about giving me my job and seniority back.

mckelvie37

Thanks for the heads up. Searching myself for a Regional to send an app into. No 121 experience though. It appears that from the post, it wouldnt be a bad place to get your feet wet in correct?

minimwage4

You expected 14 to 16 days off and good qol as a cqfo?

CBreezy

Right. This guy is not very smart.

"You're going to be a First Officer with a Captain qualification. but on the bottom of the senioirty list. You will be used where we neeed you but mostly as a Captain"

"Cool. So I get to only fly as a Captain with 18 days off a month? Sold."

KyleMyers

Unfortunately, you're right. It feels like we've all been duped. Regarding pay, TSA management has found a way to completely circumvent the pilot contract with CQFO's, exploiting their current pilots right along with the CQFO's that signed up for the position. We were told in the interview that we would be paid CA rates any time we were used as a CA. That sounds great, until you come out of training and start being used as a reserve. Many, many times, we've been called to sit airport reserve and been told, verbatim, we're sitting airport reserve as a CA. The payroll department has refused extensively to compensate us for that time at CA rates, and only paying us for block time used as a CA.

So even though all of us the first month were put on the CA reserve list every day, used only as CA's, and sat reserve all month as CA's, they will not pay us as CA's. This hoses current and fully upgraded CA's the most, and undermines the entire industry. Not only are we now being put on the FO list and not included in CA reserve coverage (allowing trip trades/drops and better schedules for current CA's), but they are circumventing the min day reserve pay section of the contract and having CQFO's sit CA reserve schedules at $43 / hr, making us officially the lowest paid CA's in the industry. This whole thing has been one heck of a mess, but it's made all of us want to move on even more so. Good luck to everybody.

CBreezy

To say that the management was woefully unprepared for this is an understatement. This has been embarrassing.

On the other hand, to say that you're the lowest paid Captains in the industry is false. With the exception of the mess the first month which should be addressed by the MOU waiting to be signed, you are not Captains. You are a first officer. You are paid a blended rate, a rate higher than any First Officer in the regionals, and when you fly as a Captain, you are paid as a captain. This was plainly laid out on here. There are many CQFO who have never seen the right seat.

AZ wildcat

Plainly laid out on where? APC?
My class had the pay explained in person by some of the decision makers of the company and what is being applied is much different. That ain't right.

flyguy94

43/hr is not the highest paid first officer.