CAL System Bid is out

[Patriot328]

System wide:

37 Captain displacements

245 FO Vacancies




2 CLE and 3 GUM CA vacancies, all other base and fleet CAs are reduced.

777FO: 7 EWR vacancies and 10 reductions in IAH.

737FO: 95 EWR and 88 IAH vacancies. None in CLE, 3 in GUM

757FO: 35 EWR and 27 IAH vacancies.

 

[Phrogs4ever]

Yeah, and that's a minimum of 37 Captain displacements. Newark showed zero reductions in 737 Captains, but you can bet there will be a handful of Captains that haven't even been trained yet get bumped back to FO somewhere. System wide ripple effect.

 

[DHPFLYN]

How hard is it to get IAH 757 once training is over? Or is everyone mostly going to the 737?

 

[Flopgut]

170+ retirements NOT on the bid that should have been.

Hope those guys/gals enjoy it, cause they sure are screwing the rest of us.

 

[CAL EWR B737]

Of note the cover letter on the bid did say hiring will continue at 40 per month until the spring.

 

[pianoman]

Kind of torn here. I'm EWR 777 FO but not senior enough to hold it if displaced. So choices are 757 at ~84% currently or 737 at ~58%. I like the 756 flying better I think, but the schedules are pretty bad at that seniority.

Anyone flown both at CAL have any input?

 

[Phrogs4ever]

Also, forecasted retirements for 2008 ... 7.

 

[Flopgut]

Seemingly small bids often have the most drastic results. I bet this one will be a doozey.

 

[COpilot]

Kind of torn here. I'm EWR 777 FO but not senior enough to hold it if displaced. So choices are 757 at ~84% currently or 737 at ~58%. I like the 756 flying better I think, but the schedules are pretty bad at that seniority.

Anyone flown both at CAL have any input?

I was a Sr B727, moving to Jr B757 about 10 years ago. I would ask are you single, do you commute, do you care about destinations? Even jr trips to UK, and DOM on the B756 are good for commuting (plus I like the plane better), but above the splat line on the B737 might give you some choices but still, not very commutiable.

i'd lean B756 for myself, good luck.

 

[Furloughed80]

Are any of you factoring the potential for a merger in your bidding decision?

 

[pianoman]

I was a Sr B727, moving to Jr B757 about 10 years ago. I would ask are you single, do you commute, do you care about destinations? Even jr trips to UK, and DOM on the B756 are good for commuting (plus I like the plane better), but above the splat line on the B737 might give you some choices but still, not very commutiable.

i'd lean B756 for myself, good luck.

I definitely like the 756 better as a plane, but having a wife and baby and home, specific days off that match up with my wife's work schedule are very important, more so than money, destinations, or equipment.

I'm thinking I would have more control to get M-W off every week on the 73. Also the 756 has those ridiculous schedules where you work about 10 days straight sometimes.

 

[Paul R. Smith]

Are any of you factoring the potential for a merger in your bidding decision?

Seriously, how would that influence my bid?

 

[Jetjockey]

Seat locks and fences. Be in the seat, equipment you want for the next 5 years. Look at past precedence in previous mergers.

 

[Powda5]

I have a trn date in 2 weeks for EWR777FO. The way I read it, I can get out of that and stay in my current seat (even though it is a lower category IAH737FO)? Waiting on ALPA to return call.

If you DO go to training based off this bid, does the cnx of seat lock apply to what you are awarded--so you go to 777 and then can bid off it in 6 mo? Or is the seat lock cnx only so that you can PARTICIPATE in this bid and get awarded something (but then will have the lock)?

 

[instructordude]

What's the QOL for a 777 FO on reserve in EWR?

 

[pianoman]

What's the QOL for a 777 FO on reserve in EWR?

Great if you live there and don't mind making min guarantee. Probably would suck as a commuter though.

 

[Paul R. Smith]

Great if you live there and don't mind making min guarantee. Probably would suck as a commuter though.

Are you senior on the 777?


All the guys I talk to (commuters) love it. And they have about 1 year seniority.

 

[ACWild]

I got my first bad schedule on the 777 this month... London and Paris back to backs on six day blocks. The thing that gets me is that I didn't do anything different on PBS than I did since the summer. Although it's commutable, you would need to get a crash pad for the time in between the back to back trips. With a little over two years on the property, I'm relatively junior on the plane.

 

[turbinej]

been on both airplanes. The 756 is very commutable even go home in between trips. the 737 i did not find commutable. that was at 60% when I got off the airplane a year ago.

 

[Furloughed80]

Seat locks and fences. Be in the seat, equipment you want for the next 5 years. Look at past precedence in previous mergers.

Exactly.

 

[Phrogs4ever]

Seat locks and fences. Be in the seat, equipment you want for the next 5 years. Look at past precedence in previous mergers.

I don't follow. Are you saying that two airlines merged and pilots were not able to bid out of their seats/upgrade for five years? I don't see how that's possible. What merger was this?

 

[COpilot]

Seat locks and fences. Be in the seat, equipment you want for the next 5 years. Look at past precedence in previous mergers.

You mean to tell me there has been no movment at US and HP the last two years?

No F/o's have been able to bid up? Is there going to be a large draw to the EWR CO B737 base from any crewmembers merger with NW, UA, AA etc.

 

[pianoman]

Are you senior on the 777?


All the guys I talk to (commuters) love it. And they have about 1 year seniority.

No, I'm junior. If you can get a line or sit long-call reserve, almost every trip is reasonably commutable. If you draw short-call reserve and commute, you'll either be sitting around the crash pad indefinitely (I usually fly a trip and 1/2 per month) or getting some mistrips.

 

[Jetjockey]

I don't follow. Are you saying that two airlines merged and pilots were not able to bid out of their seats/upgrade for five years? I don't see how that's possible. What merger was this?

Northwest/Republic comes to mind. Something crazy like 20 year fences to prevent the Republic DC9 guys from bidding the bigger equipment as NW. I'm sure someone very familiar with that can chime in.

 

[LJDRVR]

All this merger talk seems to be generated by post-bankruptcy carriers whose overpriced executives are being hurt badly by falling stock due to rising energy costs. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see consolidation happening yet.

Streenland and Tilton have zero credibility.

 

[Pocono Pilot]

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see consolidation happening yet.

So you want all these mergers to happen then? I don't! But what do I know. I'm just a lil regional jet Captain. LOL

Anyway LJRDRVR, you were completely wrong with your predicition that the Age 60 rule wouldn't change, so you're probably going to be wrong this time too. LOL

 

[subsonic]

Thinking about CAL. In the B-757 at EWR, is that going to turn into all international flying or will it continue to be both stateside & overseas trips? Thanks.

 

[Patriot328]

Thinking about CAL. In the B-757 at EWR, is that going to turn into all international flying or will it continue to be both stateside & overseas trips? Thanks.

This isn't official by any means, but what we've been told is as the -900ERs come online, nearly all the 75-200s will be used international with the -300s staying domestic (MCO, LAS, etc), though there is talk of sending the -300s to HNL (the etops ones, anyway)...

 

[turbinej]

There is going to be more than just displacements. Because of this bid the company has released all seat locks except those that have a seat lock due to training failure. If someone is in training right now or just upgraded and does not want to sit on reserve for an extended period of time can bid back off the airplane and choose an airplane that they can hold. For example an FO who just finished training on the 756 is 85% and came off the 737 at 40-45% can bid back to the 737 with no seat lock on the 756 which is normally 2 years to go backwards. Even a junior captain who will not be displaced but does not like the schedule he/she has may bid back to first officers as well.

 

[turbinej]

756 domestic flying goes pretty senior, junior guys do mostly UK