ABX Air

[Turbosnake03]

great information!!!!! any ballpark guess on how long the upgrades are running in the three different a/c?

 

[GoABX]

What upgrades are running right now is meaningless. Over the past few years we've had up to 42 on furlough. 8 years ago upgrades were running 5-7 years. With the exception of the last few months, there have been minimal upgrades....STAGNATION. Looking forward retirements will be 24-36/yr over the next 5+ years, Riverside rumors say 16-34 crews starting in Feb/Mar. So there is potential for movement finally. Rumors range from 75 to 130 newhires next year. Obviously, an Astar/ABX consolidation would change that. So for those that are here...hang on. For those who really want ABX, apply early and apply often.

 

[IFlyFL410]

Thanks for all the info. Can reserve pilots pick up trips out of open time? Is there only the one reserve system with a 2 hour callout?

 

[LarryinTN]

Upgrades aren't running. Over the past four years there have been so few as to be meaningless. The most junior Captain has a seniority date of 8/4/1994. At some point they will have to start upgrading again but there's no way to estimate upgrade times without information that we don't have.

 

[LarryinTN]

Yes, reserve pilots can pick up open flying on days off although there may not be a lot left over for the most junior pilots. When your seat is running short there's plenty but then there are cycles where everything is pretty much bid up by the more senior guys.

All reserves are scheduled for off-premises reserve with two-hour callup. Each night they have some hot standby crews (called R1) who come in and sit at the airport all night waiting for recoveries or flight assignments. These assignments are given to reserve pilots from the reserve rotation but, like any flight assignment, they get at least two hours notice before they must report for R1.

 

[IFlyFL410]

Ok, thanks for the info once again. What is first year FO pay? Is there per diem if you are R1? Do they tend use thier reserve on a regular basis or is there alot of sitting around?

 

[LarryinTN]

First year pay shows $38/hour ($29,841 at guarantee) for all F/O and S/O seats.

You are paid per diem if you land at another airport. The same applies to R1 crews.

Reserve usage goes in cycles. Some times you fly nearly everyday of reserve and sometimes you fly very little. They like to keep the staffing such that the reserves are fairly busy but it's rarely balanced between seats and aircraft.

If I am correct in my assumption as to who GoABX and ABXBooger are then they have spent a lot more time on reserve than have I and can give you a better idea of what it's like.

 

[IFlyFL410]

Thanks again for the info. It's been of great help.

 

[GoABX]

Are all these little knit-picky details on reserve rules, duty times etc. really that important? If you had a copy of our contract, would it some how effect your decision?

5 years ago all these details might be relevant when we ranked 8-9 in industry pay. Now ABX is #1 for what we fly. (We haven't moved everyone else went into the sh1tter.)

The fact is from an (overall) pay perspective we are the third best game in town. If you look at QOL some could make the argument ABX is number 1.

Besides UPS/FDX whom are you going to hold out for?

If you are interested, update your paper and get it in.

 

[PCL_128]

If you are interested, update your paper and get it in.

Get it in? I didn't think you guys were taking resumes yet. If you are, I will certainly get it in as quickly as possible.