MasterOfPuppets

IAH has 728 Guppy CAs that’s about 300 more than it needs. When the contract gets signed the flying will be reflowed and IAH 737 CA will dry up….that’s a simple fact.

EwrRocks

There is also a new 100 million dollar simulator building about to be finished in Denver that doesn’t scream Mr. Kirby (I think that’s what everyone is suppose to call him now) wants to drag this negotiations along or intended to change the course of United going forward. (Assuming no outside big event)

Sunvox

What's up with that?

I can't believe no ones mentioned that before. 638 captains for 31000 flight hours in the May bid?? That's more than 200 captains too many., and the FO side isn't much better at 564 active and 664 planned.

MasterOfPuppets

the entire middle of the country bases are punching above their weight because that’s where the company can find CAs.

when the contract gets signed they will want to force people to the coasts. So your upgrade choices will be EWR/DCA/SFO/LAX until the middle of the country shrinks to its natural size.

you want to be a CA in DEN/IAH/LAS/MCO/ORD/CLE? Then take it now or be ready to commute or be an FO after the contract is signed.

Chowdah

Master of puppets is one of the voices of reason here, if you read his post completely before hitting reply, you’d see he was speaking specifically about the historically senior bases being flooded with CA to keep TK at capacity.

bid what you want, want what you bid. If you want to upgrade, do it. There are certain unsavory actions (like picking up open time with pilots on furlough) that aren’t strictly codified, but upgrading isn’t one of them.

TFAYD

and it’s not just CA. There will be no FO slots either. IAH specifically will stagnate for years.

All of that of course assumes that the. We contract will make folks want to upgrade at either coast. If the contract falls short - and based on the latest NC update it still falls short - I don’t really see a change in status quo and we will see 1,000 guppy CA in IAH

horrido27

Of course they will.. ANYONE can complain.. but doesn't mean everyone else has to listen or has to help. A One Star once picked on me (as the lowest enlisted guy in the group) when we were *****ing about our Rank Structure. The questioned that was asked-
"I make you King for a Day, how do you solve the problem?"
Leaned a lot that day. Everyone can complain, but how many try and find solutions to the complaint?

Therein lies the real question. And my thoughts are not popular but I really won't lose sleep over it.
Yes, we can improve everywhere.. but at the end of the day, the improvements at the top level need to be higher than the improvement at the bottom level. Last time I looked, no one from the top of the pyramid was expected to go down to the bottom.. but everyone at the bottom was expecting to get to the top. THAT is how seniority works.
1 year 1 day pilot upgrading to the Left Seat is not the norm when it comes to how an airline Seniority List is.. That is what we should all be questioning.

Don't know where to begin, but I'll try-
1) Going from 1st yr Probie Pay to 2nd yr Capt pay is an amazing jump. But it's only happening because senior people don't want the heartache that they knows comes with the position and our current UPA. Those here a year do NOT know how bad it can be AND do not understand our system yet as the Captain, they are EXPECTED to know.

2) Downgrade? Are you serious? Anyone who has been here before the Merger has earned their seat.. and ESPECIALLY if they were Legacy United!
I will NEVER tell you or anyone else to upgrade. I will also never support someone who wants to upgrade at the one year mark when they really don't have a clue what they are about to get themselves into.

3) I had to put on a bag on the afternoon of 9/11. I and thousands of our fellow Union Pilots stepped up and flew after the attacks. Then many of us came back and had to keep 2 aircraft and two ways of flying/operating in our heads as we were both Professional Airline Pilots AND Guard/Reserve Pilots. (or FE's)
If someone joined the US Military on 1 Jan 2000 and retired, then was hired at United in 2022.. good for them. Hopefully they understand the Seniority system and don't need to upgrade for the cash (as they have an Active Duty Pension).

4) I am allowed to have an opinion. My opinion is that we should not be upgrading pilots solely because they just got off Probation. And literally, that is what is happening. We were told not to expect any more vacancy bids until the Summer.. for Fall planning. Now, we see another bid to merely try and entice those who have gotten off Probation AFTER the closing of the last bid. Do you not see what is going on here?
If I had taken all the junior pilot names and reached out to them personally and said- "Don't upgrade or you're going to personally regret it"... that's both an HR problem and a RLA problem. On me!
I'm not that stupid (even for an enlisted guy)..
But at the same time, just making it clear that if, in Dec.. I have a jumpseater giving me a sob story about being on Reserve and it still sucks (even with a new UPA) and they are probably looking at it still sucking for the next two years- Tough. You choose an Upgrade vs enjoying your Seniority as a FO. Many told you to be careful about taking an upgrade when those senior knew what it entailed. But you didn't want to listen.

We, as a Pilot Group and a Union have done a **** poor job of teaching Unionism. These forums are a great tool to get some comm and education out.
Recently on a Forum where I was kicked off.. a pilot (just about to get off Probation) questioned "How hard is it to go from the right seat of an Airbus to the Left seat of a 73 (Guppy!)"
seriously?
Am I or others allowed to voice our opinion or do we just sit back because if we say "Don't do that!" its against the RLA or your views of unity?

I do believe that the majority of our Pilot Group wants an Industry Leading Contract. But part of that is understand seniority and the UPA.
Another part is realizing the History of both Legacy United Pilots, and Legacy Continental Pilots- and why they are so adamant on certain things.
I took the upgrade on the 756 KNOWING I would be on Reserve. Reserve sucks.. but sucks less when you live Local.
Reserve is also (for 98% of the time) a choice. A choice of seniority. Reserve is also part of EVERY airline pilot job, along with many other careers.
I expect our Reserve rules will get better in a ILC23. But I hope it's not at the expense of Lineholders/Seniority.

We may not agree on many things here.. but I still believe in Unionism and doing the right thing. Guess I also expect a level on knowledge and understanding from my fellow colleagues.

Motch

FriendlyPilot

First snapshot out.

EWR and SFO 756 CA Unfilleds! So its so bad that a pilot that’s been here a year doesn’t want to fly 767-300s and 767-400s to Europe as a Captain for $315 or $369 per hour? What is the world coming to?

95 Unfilled Captain bids total. 166 unfilled 737 FO in IAH and 52 Unfilled 787 FO in EWR. Almost 1,000 total unfilled slots.

This is crazy. Never seen anything like this in the almost 30 years I’ve been here.

Took me 20 years to be a 767 Captain and now its going unfilled?

We only have 100 planes being delivered in 2023. Over 150 in 2024. How are we supposed to staff them? Its not that we don’t have enough people to fly Captain, because all the FO positions are unfilled as well.

This is crazy. We need more pilots. A LOT more.

JTwift

Unfilled FO has to be there for new hires to go into. So, hooray for lots of hiring!

unfilled CA, however….well, we’ve beat that discussion dead.

RaginCajun

No one wants to sit RSV without a complete rewrite of the rules…we don’t need an improvement of the current one. We need a complete rewrite…and until that happens..it’s not worth the massive blunt force QOL hit. It’s a generational shift to the status quo. F*ck the $$. The MEC and NC should know this going into negotiations or the past few years will be a complete waste of time. At this point if they aren’t imputing this into their UPA equation…United Next will never come to fruition.