AirTran New-Hire Question

[jimcav]

Welcome to AirTran guys. I look forward to flying with you.

 

[Steeler Fan]

Welcome to AirTran guys. I look forward to flying with you.

Ditto...I used to jumpseat on ATA from time to time...your pilots are a great group. I glad you're coming to AirTran.

We're lucky to be getting some great newhires. There are exceptions though (FL717, AFCitrus, 75M, and Steeler Fan).

 

[75M]

I glad you're coming to AirTran.

Hey Mongo, did they teach you how to speak like that at Notre Dame?

 

[AV80R]

717 or 737?


Zephyrhills – ok, forget everything I told you about the QOL issues when it comes to choosing the 717 or the 737 (and yes, you probably will get to pick your airplane). Many senior guys bid the 717 - sometimes its because of QOL issues, sometimes, like in my class, there were former TWA pilots who’d flown the airplane before, you just never know.

Both airplanes have their pro’s and con’s and since you have flown the 73, you know it’s a very nice airplane. I have flown both the 73 and the 71 and must say I prefer the 71 most of the time. It’s truly a state of the art airplane.

HOWEVER! There is one more very important quality of life issue you need to consider before you decide –



THE 717 SEAT CUSHION!!!


Airtran is a proud sponsor of NASA Space Research and is the very first airline to develop a seat cushion that's completely interchangeable with the seat cushion in the space shuttle itself – The Tempur-Pedic® Deluxe Adjustable Flight Seat System.

The seat cushion consists of state of the art ¼ of an inch Swedish Pressure Relieving Tempur-Pedic Ultra-Mini-Mattress (comes with adjustable temperature control on the captain’s side.) The incredible Memory Cell Cushion allows the crews to work in an unbelievable comfort for many minutes at a time. The seat is approved for 15G’s by NASA, however the stringent FAA Supplemental Type Certification (STC) Process resulted in a 100G rating for airline crews (not quite sure about the discrepancy here).

Jokingly aside, both airplanes are great, the QOL will improve on the 73, and frankly from what I’ve heard it’s not very different from the 71 right now. Most people pick the airplane they would like to upgrade in.

In your case, since you already have a 73-type rating AND pic time in it, 71 might make sense. This way, when it’s time for you to transition to the left seat you’ll be very comfortable in whichever airplane you get.

Be ready to bring your own seat cushion though (gel, foam, air, you name it, there are many different models out there). I do and it’s still not as comfy as the 73 seat. Do you remember the seat in the j31? Trust me, you’ll miss it!

Welcome aboard!

 

[Zephyrhills]

Actually I don't remember the J31 at all. I seem to have this mental block when it comes to flying that thing....kind of like when people go through a traumatic experience in their life, and they block it our from their memory for good. I don't think I ever even flew the J31, come to think of it.

Thanks for all of the welcomes. I can't wait to meet you all in ATL. ATA is a great airline, and I know they are going to pull out of this mess. It's going to feel like flying with ATA at AirTran being so many of our guys have come over. I am sure I'm going to feel right at home.

Oh and Pickle...you were 100% right before I left to fly the boxes ALL NIGHT LONG WHILE I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SLEEPING LIKE THE REST OF THE NORMAL FREE WORLD. At least I learned one thing...I could NEVER fly for one of those companies that have a Brown or Purple tail. I think in the past 3 months of flying the graveyard shift, I took about 3 years off my life and added about 300 gray hairs to the top of my head!

See you all in ATL, and thanks again for the advice!

 

[BigEasy]

BERT!!!!!!

You couldn't hack the night freight, you are WORTHLESS after 9 pm. I should know!!!

Love,
Pickle

ps, if this isn't BERT!!! then never mind.

Hey, there's another Bert from ATA at AT with almost the same background as me!

Hey Pickle, hope things are well. A bud of mine just started hauling freight at your old gig in MIA.

Later.

 

[Ty Webb]

Ahhh, the 717 seats . . . . they are comfortable . . . . compared to sitting on an upside-down milk crate, perhaps. It is a great airplane overall, though, and I miss those handy-dandy fold-down desk thingies.

Which aircraft to bid as a newhire?

In the 717: you'll move up each time someone upgrades in either airplane, or when a newhire gets 717, but you'll be one of 500.

In the 737: you'll only move up each time someone is hired below you, at least until the first batch of 737 FO's become eligible for upgrade (in another year) but you'll be one of approx 120.

Since there are many more 717 FO's (and almost all future deliveries are on the 737) I would say your relative seniority as an FO will improve faster on the smaller 737 fleet.

The 737 captains will be becoming more junior as time goes on (and senior 717 CA transition), so you will find the opposite to be true as a Capt.

In other words, I would say that the 737 will be better for FO's, but you would have a better QOL upgrading on the 717 . . . . so if you are about QOL, bid 737FO and upgrade 717. If you would rather build experience in type before upgrade, the 717 is probably your machine.

Either way, welcome aboard. It has really been a pleasure flying with all of the quality pilots we have been hiring . . . . With the upgrade running at 2.5 years right now and probably decreasing to 2 years soon, you should be back in the left seat PDQ.

 

[Zephyrhills]

Well it sounds like both planes have their benefits. It's going to be a tough choice...I almost hope I'm the most junior in the class so that I won't get a choice.

If that 2.5 year upgrade holds up for the next few years, that will be great! For now I am just thankful to be joining such a successful company, so if it takes 10 years to upgrade it'll be just fine with me. It's the commute to MCO that scares me the most!

Thanks for all of the warm welcomes, and I'll see you all on the Green Couch soon!

Bert

 

[BSkin]

Don't know much about the 73, but the 71 is just plain a great jet to fly! Only thing that sucks is that seat!

 

[Pickle]

BigEasy:

Z-hills is not actually another Bert, I just called him that after our Fixed base instructor kept calling him that in training.

Hope your friend has a good time at Happy-jet, I know I did (for the most part!)

I was just telling someone yesterday about how when we were in SFO and all the radios were off and I was clueless as to how to get them back on.

Pickle