Air Tran or CAL? haven't we been here before?

[BluDevAv8r]

Hope all is well with you too. I'm lookng forward to more Italian in Houston. I'm happy to help out my fellow man and brothers. I flew 96 hours last month, I would love to share that with you.
PM

I think it is I who would be sharing some with you my friend. 98 hours + 7 deadhead last month. But only 1 rolled day off.

Come to the city sometime and we will get real Italian...even better than that wannabe stuff we had in IAH.

-Neal

 

[AlbieF15]

Neal,

Is is FUN? Seems to me the CAL hiring has put a spark in some smiles that wasn't there 2 years ago. You guys might just be the "sleeper" out there that raises the bar for the pax guys in 3 years...

 

[seahorse]

Don't listen to critter ty. Come over to CAL and fly what you want. Fly domestic transcons, fly to Europe / S. America, or fly Asia. Fly the 737, 757/767, or 777. Fly what you want.

Critter has to fly with redneck Georgia hillbillies. How is that ty, you valujet scab? You like it?

Come on Uppercrust, help me out, I'm going for TKO. Knock him out now.

 

[twepilot]

Nice change in verbiage..No more blowing huh??

"Come on Uppercrust, help me out, I'm going for TKO. Knock him out now"

Just like a married couple...

"Critter has to fly with redneck Georgia hillbillies. How is that ty, you valujet scab? You like it?" Nice sentence structure..For a ten year old.

RV

 

[twepilot]

Pa-34, c-172 Whoaaaa! Better get some experience dude. Putt-knocker.

RV

 

[BluDevAv8r]

Neal,

Is is FUN? Seems to me the CAL hiring has put a spark in some smiles that wasn't there 2 years ago. You guys might just be the "sleeper" out there that raises the bar for the pax guys in 3 years...

It absolutely is fun Albie. Great crews so far (front and back end). Great destinations. Reserve has been tough this summer but we all knew it would be like this. Should have a line by October at the latest though and no one can complain about 3 months on reserve although a buddy hired 2 weeks ahead of me had a line at 6 weeks. We will actually be in negotiations well before 2009. Lots of changes over here, and all for the better in my view.

You best be dropping me a line if you have any NYC layovers. Unfortunately we don't get down your way on the 737 but I might be doing some GA flying down there so of course I'd holler at you if I do.

-Neal

 

[Patriot328]

Airtran is hardly a "glorified regional" as you put it.


Some pay numbers from Airline pilot central

AirTran
Yr FO CAPT
1 43 102
2 56 102
3 61 106 (most likely upgrade to captain by end of yr 3)
4 66 112
5 72 120
6 74 124
12 79 153



CO (737)
Yr FO Capt
1 30 30 (boy that looks a lot like regional pay)
2 55 132
3 64 133
4 73 134
5 80 135
6 88 137
12 98 144 Upgrade prob around year 8

Airtran insurance is rather expensive but at least you are covered within one month of being hired.


....

That's about as useless comparison as I've seen.

Look, go to who hires you first, then you can worry about the other when/if they call. Also, if you live in ATL and don't want to move, there's a lot to be said about living in domicle.

All that said, that pay rate and upgrade time isn't anywhere near reality at CAL. The $30/hr for first year is true, but holding a line almost immediately on the 737 and after a whopping 2 months on the 756 puts first year pay closer to 40k than 30k. Still sh*t, but it helps having a few thousand extra dollars at the end of the year.

Poor schedule? The 737 out of EWR might have early shows and late finishes, but it has a lot of variety to manipulate your schedule if you want to. My buddy got a conversion line (on his second month on line) with 14 days off 85 hrs of block and wknds off. Probably not typical, but not too bad.

The 756 lines barely qualify as work. Whoever said the trips are sh*tty is smoking crack. VAST majority are 3 day trips to Europe. 1800-2100 check ins, 24hr overnight in some really nice hotels and cities, and then fly back home to stroll into EWR between 1100-1400, before the afternoon WX hits. I know there are more productive places out there, but 2 leg 3day trips worth 15-20hrs ain't too bad. If you want to do domestic, it does exist on the plane, but not too much in EWR.

The 777, that's just a jobs program. Don't think too many people actually work. Newhires will be going into it, in theory. There are 17 open positions that were not even filled on this last bid. Still crap pay for first year, but you aren't going to be exactly busting your rear end.

2nd year pay on all these aircraft (and they are all available 2nd year) is more than Airtran. Captain upgrades are nearly identical (within a year or so) and CAL pay (approx $141/hr blended rate on RSV on 4th year pay) is considerably higher than Airtran's ($112/hr). Hey, if you're going to get paid 1000hrs a year, I figure you'd want an extra $29,000 at the end of it, but to each their own.

Airtran's pay catches the SNB pay at CAL by year 12, but that overlooks LNB and WB pay at CAL (don't even have to leave the 737 to get LNB pay.. $163/hr at year 12).

HTH

 

[Kharma Police]

Don't listen to critter ty. Come over to CAL and fly what you want. Fly domestic transcons, fly to Europe / S. America, or fly Asia. Fly the 737, 757/767, or 777. Fly what you want.

Critter has to fly with redneck Georgia hillbillies. How is that ty, you valujet scab? You like it?

Come on Uppercrust, help me out, I'm going for TKO. Knock him out now.

Just curious, how do you get a TKO in flightinfo.com? Also, in your world are CAL scabs better than "valujet" scabs?

 

[bestpilot]

Da' Tranny is a safer place to be, CAL has no hedges in place at this point. If fuel prices go lower (much) the mgt (CAL) will look very good by not locking in to prices in the 60's. I think it was Ty who posted that Da' Tranny locked into a large percentage of their fuel in the low to mid 60's. Oil is down quite a bit this week but still trading in the low 70's. Da Tranny is the the only place to be if you don't want to fly boxes besides SWA.

Da freeking Tranny be da place fer me but if you gots to be doin the trips crossin dem Oshenns, or you jus love livvin in Houstin or Newerk, then goods luck to you, bros and sissies.

You jus gots to look at it all, bro, like da bases, and da upgrades and like da trainin and da pay, and then, like ole wise Ty Guy says, you aint gonna like be knowin til like your like really old, or like really laid off and stuff.

But like most of da peeps at da Tranny be sayin AWWWWWW YEEAAAAHHH!!!!!

 

[Ben Franklin]

The 756 lines barely qualify as work.

SHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

:beer:


Sincerely,

B. Franklin