Junior FO life in ORD
12-13-2015, 10:00 PM
#21
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Joined APC: Dec 2015
Posts: 27
About how senior do you have to be to get a couple weekends off / month in ORD 737? Curious about major holidays too. I know this is extremely variable and depends, but just curious what some of you have been experiencing.
12-14-2015, 09:35 AM
#22
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Joined APC: Feb 2013
Posts: 88
To answer the original question, ORD 737 FO still remains greatly understaffed. Last winter reserve wasn't too bad because they hadn't expanded ORD flying yet, but over last summer, fall, and definitely this winter they seem to run out of FO's almost everyday. Don't expect to sit at home much on ORD 737 FO reserve. And you should expect to fly into your FDO more often then the folks in the East or West coast bases. Look at the reserve list for the past week to count how many pilots, if any, stayed home.
They don't really have enough pilots to cover all the trips. Its very common to see pilots from other bases (usually junior guys who can't hold ORD) picking up last minute trips in Chicago. And if nobody takes the bait, scheduling moves the trips to other bases where they have more coverage.
In regards to days off question, it really depends on bidding strategy. I got Thanksgiving off and didn't even ask for it. It's an either / or strategy. Either you work weekends and holidays and get nice trips and more days off, or you get lousy trips in order to get days off you want.
They don't really have enough pilots to cover all the trips. Its very common to see pilots from other bases (usually junior guys who can't hold ORD) picking up last minute trips in Chicago. And if nobody takes the bait, scheduling moves the trips to other bases where they have more coverage.
In regards to days off question, it really depends on bidding strategy. I got Thanksgiving off and didn't even ask for it. It's an either / or strategy. Either you work weekends and holidays and get nice trips and more days off, or you get lousy trips in order to get days off you want.
12-17-2015, 05:22 AM
#24
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: Sleeping in the black swan’s nest.
Posts: 5,726
Oh, I hear you. It was total BS that one side got to bid into DEN before the SLI. And a pity that many of those junior guys got flushed out when we bumped in. But that's life. We are still fat here and there will likely be another DEN 737 CAP bump, imo. That will get me. Luckily, I've raised my kids and am sitting on a ton of equity. I'll just move on to a new adventure. I feel bad for those who are stuck out of base while life (kids ballgames, recitals, etc.) is happening. What a messy merger.
I was a DEN 737 captain, on paper, once for 3 weeks.
12-17-2015, 05:33 AM
#25
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2011
Position: Pressing On
Posts: 524
No commute is great out of DEN but LA and ORD suck slightly less.
Good luck
12-17-2015, 07:05 AM
#26
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Posts: 154
Wife commuted from DEN to LAX for about a year ending last year. Depends on what your commuting desires are. She did late shows/late returns so she could commute in day of. She was able to commute in the morning of her trip. But lots of times, it was on F9 or SWA to get there as the UAL 37 jumpseat was already taken by a senior dude. And on the back end, she almost always blocked in at the end after the last flight to DEN departed at around 20:30 or so. Thus, lots of $129 rooms for 4 hours of sleep to catch the 0550 the next morning.
12-17-2015, 07:21 AM
#27
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: Sleeping in the black swan’s nest.
Posts: 5,726
I commuted DEN-LAX for about 2 years. The nice thing about LAX is that weather is almost never an issue. The thing that isn't so great are the limited later flights LAX to DEN. It's tough to get home on the same day after a trip. SWA used to have a flight that departed LAX-DEN at 20:50. That was a life saver on several occasions.
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