Congratulations to the CAL boys

[§kyye Candy]

Still bummed out that all your friends are at FedEx and you are stuck at CAL, crapdog?

I still can't believe that you posted that on a message board since you are still on probabtion, but whatever. LOL

I can't believe that you are making the rest of us females out there look that bad. Wow. Try to get a grip.

CAL guys, hang in there - you guys are poised to lead the way for everyone. Best of luck!

 

[Whydoitry]

I want nothing but the best for my brothers and sisters at CAL, a rising tide lifts all boats. But I don't see where their leverage is. CAL is not very selective, hiring fo's from lots of regionals with no real experience. Some of the worst work rules in the airline industry, worse than their regional partners. I know there's a shortage of pilots, but if I'm Larry what is my incentive to pay my pilots more and make them less productive. What is my incentive to get a contract in a timely manner. If I was CAL mgt I would drag my feet as long as possible. ASA has been in negotiations for something like 5 yrs, why should a CAL negotiation take any less. The RLA favors mgt, and there is no reason why mgt should improve anything at CAL.

 

[thor2j]

I want nothing but the best for my brothers and sisters at CAL, a rising tide lifts all boats. But I don't see where their leverage is. CAL is not very selective, hiring fo's from lots of regionals with no real experience. Some of the worst work rules in the airline industry, worse than their regional partners. I know there's a shortage of pilots, but if I'm Larry what is my incentive to pay my pilots more and make them less productive. What is my incentive to get a contract in a timely manner. If I was CAL mgt I would drag my feet as long as possible. ASA has been in negotiations for something like 5 yrs, why should a CAL negotiation take any less. The RLA favors mgt, and there is no reason why mgt should improve anything at CAL.

First off CAL is selective in their process. Over 10,000 apps on file. Yes they have hired some f/o's with not much in the way of PIC, but it happens almost everywhere. Avg times at CAL are around 6500tt with 2500 pic turrbine. THere are exceptions. I know quite a few at Delta recently with no PIC time and very low total. Happens all the time. The leverage is we are in reasonable profitable time with growth plans. We have a lot of new blood that SEEMS to be willing to unify. Not this "oh I would do this but I have five kids in college, 2 ex wives, and the dog needs to be spade" syndrome. By delaying a contract for years at a major the company usually ends up with back pay, not to mention a renewal sooner then later. A happy work force makes for a productive work force. Just look around. I am not saying it will work, but if any legacy carrier can get anything it will be CAL or AA.

 

[AlbieF15]

very well said, Albie. and thanks for the endorsement. i am hopeful for a bright future at CAL.

as for Pocono Pilot...i have requested explanation from moderators why this pinhead is allowed to freely assault my professional peer group time and again. it's my belief that Pocono Pilot is in cahoots with the moderators of this board. others have been 'suspended' or 'banned' for much less damage than Pocono Pilot.

at any rate, Pocono Pilot is only useful to his/herself. and even that must be a challenge to justify on a daily basis. Pocono Pilot is the spirit of an unsuccessful pilot group. that is why he/she is not a successful interview candidate.

.

Well, flightinfo has its warts. Anyone with 10 bucks can post, and we all know sometimes there are trolls or troublemakers out there.

At the same time--the (general) lack of censorship allows us the freedom to rock and roll and allow some pretty free flowing conversations. The less moderator input, the happier I am. We can all choose to "ignore" posters and engage or disengage at our choosing. You may not appreciate that freedom until it is impeded--so don't sweat the small stuff.

I have really enjoyed some of the posts from some of the great folks here: Occam's Razor, Rez, PCL 28, Big Beer Belly, Megadeath, Scrapdog, Deuce130, and others.

I've also noticed that sometimes guys and gals have their heads up their butts....like Occams' Razor, Rez, PCL 28, BBB, Megadeath, Scrapdog, Deuce, and others....

Dive in. Grab the good stuff. Cut the chaff out of your crosscheck--either with the "ignore" feature or just the will not to take idiot's bait. But trust me--you don't want moderator input everytime there is a disagreement. Be a big boy and deal with it on your own.

Just my 2 cents from an internet message board junkie...

 

[SKLJ]

CAL is not very selective, hiring fo's from lots of regionals with no real experience.

This is a very interesting comment. All had college degrees and there was only ONE in my new hire class with less than 3000 hours of turbine PIC and 5000 hours total time. And that ONE was a regional captain building jet PIC time when hired by CAL.

 

[Captain X]

IBut I don't see where their leverage is.

The pilot group has PLENTY of avenues to make and utilize leverage. The SPSC was very instrumental behind the scenes in the "watergate" topic at hand.

CAL is not very selective, hiring fo's from lots of regionals with no real experience.

I really love this misconception. This "factor" is evident because it is, in all actual fact, out of the norm. The majority of the people that get hired at CAL have many years of PIC experience at a 121 carrier or military experience. You just don't hear about them b/c they are "normal."

Kinda like no one gets on the news and says "Today a man had breakfast on the SE side of town with his family." That's normal...and no one cares.

 

[Palomino]

Kinda like no one gets on the news and says "Today a man had breakfast on the SE side of town with his family." That's normal...and no one cares.

exactly. ignorance of the CAL pilot demographic continues to run rampant on flightinfo.

i have fun. work with good people. occasionally i run into a turd. but i probably qualify as a turd myself from time to time.

it's a job. at a major. with great equipment. good management. and a nice rising trend of market presence. the seniority progression has been tremendous with lots of opportunity. glad i made the move.

 

[BLUE BAYOU]

I was teaching P2P classes in EWR most of last week and have detailed information that I can't share on a public forum reference the water event. What I will say is alot went on behind the scenes our MEC Chairman, MEC and SPSC acted appropriately and this is a much bigger victory then it appears on the surface.

If we stand shoulder to shoulder all 5000 of us, we can achieve our goal of an industry leading contract. Last week certainly was a nice infusion of adrenalin to me.

I am prepared to do whatever it takes (legally of of course) to achieve our contractual goals.

...industry leading contract...maybe they'll add Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Diet Sprite, and iced tea!!!

 

[ACWild]

...industry leading contract...maybe they'll add Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Diet Sprite, and iced tea!!!

Ok, I'll bite... What the heck are you talking about?

 

[Spectre]

Reference the initial post...

"I heard that you fought the company hard and got your unlimited water back. Flight attendants are no longer required to report you for asking for a full bottle of water while on the flight deck.

Nice work on that! Lesser pilot groups would have probably rolled over and flown without access to water.

They took it away, you got it back, and now you celebrate the victory!"

...that's pretty funny as just about every other airline, the pilots get unlimited snacks and drinks.

 

[ACWild]

Reference the initial post...

"I heard that you fought the company hard and got your unlimited water back. Flight attendants are no longer required to report you for asking for a full bottle of water while on the flight deck.

Nice work on that! Lesser pilot groups would have probably rolled over and flown without access to water.

They took it away, you got it back, and now you celebrate the victory!"

...that's pretty funny as just about every other airline, the pilots get unlimited snacks and drinks.

Aha! So the initial post was made by Pocono? That explains why I missed it.
Every airline has management that makes stupid decisions. When they do, it's good to know that input from an employee group can rectify the situation. Let's say that we didn't get out water back for these flights. That's much more in line with what a lot of guys are thinking these days when pilot groups have been beaten down so much.
As far as "celebrating" the victory, that's just a perception that Pocono has painted in order to take another free shot at CAL.

 

[densoo]

"Congratulations to the CAL boys"

"boys" is right. Someday all grown up and get an adult contract with rigs, reserve, bidding, and all the other things mature pilot groups have.

 

[whatitdoing?]

Our time is coming, I'm not too concerned.

 

[SFR]

I have been getting a bottle of water every flight since I was a new hire 2 years ago. I never knew that water was an issue.

Was it really?

 

[AWACoff]

So how are the Northwest and United rigs doing? How's the water supply? Unless you fly at a regional, your contract has been decimated in the last few years. Everyone is suffering to the same degree, give or take. It is definitely time we started taking it back. On the water note, I've never even heard of this policy. Most every crew I've flown with not only has a full 1 liter bottle on the flight deck but also takes one for the overnight. A couple bottles of water are cheaper than a sick crew due to bad water.

"Congratulations to the CAL boys"

"boys" is right. Someday all grown up and get an adult contract with rigs, reserve, bidding, and all the other things mature pilot groups have.

 

[Diesel-9]

Duty rig NWA 1:2, CAL - None, Trip Rig NWA 1:3.75, CAL 1:4, Min Pay per Duty Period, NWA 5.00 hrs, CAL - None. These #'s are after NWA CH-11.

 

[av8er2]

In an environment that takes so much water out of the body this is amazing.

 

[Pat Fabin]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... CAL sucks.

Man, it never gets old!

 

[acbarney]

O.K. just a few facts....

Unlimited water was never the issue. It was a bottled water thing. There was an internal memo from a mid level manager published that said if the flight crew wanted a big bottle (1L) of water provisioned for them, they (the flight crew) would have to sign for it.

A stink was raised when the memo came out and higher authorities said please disregard said memo.

Another mid/low level manager apparently didn't get the dis-regard memo and called a captain in for a carpet dance when he had signed for additional water for the flight crew.

Another bigger stink was raised, and another memo from on high has been published saying please make sure you have the water you need for your flight Crew....

the saga hopefully is over now.

 

[nimtz]

...industry leading contract...maybe they'll add Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Diet Sprite, and iced tea!!!

]

Well anything is better then Blue Juice! Cast stones when your own group does anything good for this job. BTW, trans con turns and 80 bucks/hour for the 190 doesn't count!

 

[BigShotXJTdrvr]

O.K. just a few facts....

Unlimited water was never the issue. It was a bottled water thing. There was an internal memo from a mid level manager published that said if the flight crew wanted a big bottle (1L) of water provisioned for them, they (the flight crew) would have to sign for it.

A stink was raised when the memo came out and higher authorities said please disregard said memo.

Another mid/low level manager apparently didn't get the dis-regard memo and called a captain in for a carpet dance when he had signed for additional water for the flight crew.

Another bigger stink was raised, and another memo from on high has been published saying please make sure you have the water you need for your flight Crew....

the saga hopefully is over now.

Not sure how that explanation makes the issue any less rediculous. The manager who wrote the first memo worked for Continental, right? Someone put that manager in a position to write such memos, correct? That's the culture they grow there... like the rest of the mold in Houston.

 

[BID]

Well, ridiculous or not, it is an excellent explanation. Those are the facts, unlike what Pocono used to start this thread.

Here is what I do know, and that is many of us that ACTUALLY FLY FOR CAL, are working to make it a great place to be employed.

I really see a lot of potential here, and look forward to an awesome career at CAL. Even with this crappy contract I am very happy to be here. and this is coming from someone, that oh my GOD ACTUALLY WORKS AT CAL!

 

[thor2j]

Duty rig NWA 1:2, CAL - None, Trip Rig NWA 1:3.75, CAL 1:4, Min Pay per Duty Period, NWA 5.00 hrs, CAL - None. These #'s are after NWA CH-11.

Working for NWA....uh, need I say more.

 

[TheBaron]

O.K. just a few facts....

Unlimited water was never the issue. It was a bottled water thing. There was an internal memo from a mid level manager published that said if the flight crew wanted a big bottle (1L) of water provisioned for them, they (the flight crew) would have to sign for it.

A stink was raised when the memo came out and higher authorities said please disregard said memo.

Another mid/low level manager apparently didn't get the dis-regard memo and called a captain in for a carpet dance when he had signed for additional water for the flight crew.

Another bigger stink was raised, and another memo from on high has been published saying please make sure you have the water you need for your flight Crew....

the saga hopefully is over now.

My only question would be...
why is a Captain dancing for anyone other than an ACP or SCP and where was his representation?

 

[tmac3333]

My only question would be...
why is a Captain dancing for anyone other than an ACP or SCP and where was his representation?

1) Who do you think the mid-level manager was?

2) How do you know his representation wasn't there?

 

[TheBaron]

1) Who do you think the mid-level manager was?

2) How do you know his representation wasn't there?

Wow...now that you put it like that...it's even more pathetic. How did it get that far? Sounds more like something that would happen at a lowly 135 company.

 

[Spectre]

]

Well anything is better then Blue Juice! Cast stones when your own group does anything good for this job. BTW, trans con turns and 80 bucks/hour for the 190 doesn't count!

CAL FO 1st year pay = $31/hour.

No medical insurance for your first 6 months.

CAL is doing lots of good for this job...

 

[CAL EWR B737]

CAL FO 1st year pay = $31/hour.

No medical insurance for your first 6 months.

CAL is doing lots of good for this job...

How about you judge CAL after CAL ALPA negotiates Contract 08 and not before.

Contract 02 scum bags and spineless control MEC and pilot group has head in the sand.

Contract 08 solid MEC and building an Army of volunteers for our SPC to negotiate an Industry Leading Contract (that is one of the likes of FEDEX and UPS or at the very least like the pre concessionary contracts at Delta and United)
Pilot group at CAL today is never like any of what we have had in my twenty years here.

New hire pay and benefits today at CAL stink and I apologize to every new hire I fly with about how we screwed them in contract 02. Change is on the horizon at CAL.

By the way as a 737 CA last year I made 180K W2 - Stock Options and Profit Sharing 25K and B plan 15K Yes it stinks in comparison to FED EX, UPS and SWA but what did you guys make at Jet Blue????

 

[flygirlqt]

Deleted

 

[ACWild]

CAL FO 1st year pay = $31/hour.

No medical insurance for your first 6 months.

CAL is doing lots of good for this job...

Just to keep things in perspective, you have to weigh the 1 year vs a whole career. Plus, unless things have changed, I remember hearing a lot of grumbling about JB health insurance costs. Things are probably great for those who have been at JB long enough to hold captain, but the newhires aren't going to fare as well. Then there's the whole two-man-crew trans-con turn debacle...

Folks, there is no perfect airline. CAL is no different. Pick what you consider a great airline and we can probably make a laundry list of how it sucks in one way or another. Heck, SW has a great company history but working that type of flying isn't for everyone. Hopefully, with the next contract we'll rectify a lot that is wrong.