Airtran??

[Pilot124]

Looking for some info on Airtran. I know you guys just voted down the last proposal (good for you) and that shows unity. How is life there, pay, QOL, moral, equipment and so on. Please, just Citrus pilots who have have something constructive to say good or bad. Thanks 124

 

[Spidey]

Looking for some info on Airtran. I know you guys just voted down the last proposal (good for you) and that shows unity. How is life there, pay, QOL, moral, equipment and so on. Please, just Citrus pilots who have have something constructive to say good or bad. Thanks 124

...Good...

 

[RadioClash]

717 is a nice airplane. I left a regional/commuter a few years ago and have no regrets coming over here. Most of the guys you fly with are great. Pay could be better for FO's. After 2 years here I hold a better schedule than what I did after 7 years at my previous company, more opportunities to move trips around. Don't have a contract in front of me but first year FO pay is $44.xx/hour, second year is $55.49 and 3rd is $60.59. Can't remember the rest and can't remember captains pay off the top of my head.

Insurance is high, for a family its around $350+ a month, depending on which plan you go with. We have a B fund, and a 401k (not company matched) you are on your own with the 401k.

New union leadership voted in, things should get better in that dept.

Trips on the 717 vary from 2 legs to 5 legs a day, not sure about the 737. I get anywhere from 14-17 days off a month and credit around 90 hours, sometimes more. Not sure how reserve is these days.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lear70]

Reserve has gotten worse because of the latest decision not to allow reserve pilots to drop reserve days. The good news is that means you will get more money. The bad news is you are stuck with 11/12 days off until you get off reserve. Trading out of a weekend for reserves isn't happening much lately and reserve is running 7-8 months.

Life as a lineholder as previously mentioned is fairly nice, although the trips have become much less commuter-friendly and hotel quality has gone downhill during negotiations as well.

Company is taking the stance of "we'll keep chipping away at their contract during negotiations so that just getting back the things they lost will seem like an improvement and they'll waste negotiating capital on it". Luckily the Association is aware of the tactic so hopefully its impact will be minimized.

The quality of life over a regional is undeniable, but they still have a long way to go. Personally if you could get picked up at CAL or Delta I'd take it over AAI. Possibly NWA or UAL if you lived in one of their bases and it worked out for you because of that (better long-term pay prospects because of widebody flying).

Upgrade is looking at 6-8 years for someone hired right now, plan accordingly.

I expect AAI's next T.A. will include a much better pay bump for F/O's, slightly better for CA's (closer to COLA), fix some scheduling and QOL issues with similar improvements to the B fund and 401(k) match.

There are better places to go, but there are also much worse places to be. Good luck!

 

[Sun Devil 2000]

Reserve has gotten worse because of the latest decision not to allow reserve pilots to drop reserve days.

TRUE

The good news is that means you will get more money.

FALSE: There are too many reserves right now and we are not flying at all. If credit gets above 80 hours scheduling is removing reserve days and cutting credit. So in essence more days off but, you don't get to choose them!

The bad news is you are stuck with 11/12 days off until you get off reserve. Trading out of a weekend for reserves isn't happening much lately and reserve is running 7-8 months.

TRUE

The quality of life over a regional is undeniable, but they still have a long way to go.

JURY IS STILL OUT!

Personally if you could get picked up at CAL or Delta I'd take it over AAI. Possibly NWA or UAL if you lived in one of their bases and it worked out for you because of that (better long-term pay prospects because of widebody flying).

VERY WISE STATEMENT!

 

[curtis46]

Been at A/T for 3 1/2 years;December schedule 19 days off 95 hours credit pay, all hollydays off.
What's make A/T a good place to be is the people you'll have the pleasure to work with.
There's also a large group of pilots who refused to sacrifice the junior guys by rejecting the TA,so guys like you can join,knowing that the first year pay is still livable along with a reserve system which makes the envy of most legacy carriers.
The only problem in my opinion is the apathy of our pilots group toward our union tasks.
I personnally volunteer by making myself available at the office one day per month ,so i can help in anyway possible.i heard there's about another 40 guys who offered their time also.
I'm confident A/T will be a place where we all will be proud to hang out our hat.
If you decide to join, welcome on board.

 

[Lear70]

The good news is that means you will get more money.

FALSE: There are too many reserves right now and we are not flying at all. If credit gets above 80 hours scheduling is removing reserve days and cutting credit. So in essence more days off but, you don't get to choose them!

Oh that sucks, I hadn't heard they were URP'ing people again... Sorry to hear that.

I came from PCL, was getting 13 days or so off and half of it was uncommutable. At AAI I took a 40% pay cut but got 16 days off regularly and was able to trip trade to make all of it commutable until the last 3 or 4 months I was there.

Definitely better QOL, although F/O pay sucks. When you get about 50 lineholders under you (not the reserve guys, but actual lineholders) you'll start getting most or all of your weekends off through creative trip trading (not SAP, just regular trades if you use the FLICA alerts and a good Windows-based phone), and your life will improve.

 

[curtis46]

BTW i'm a commuter with an household comprise of a wife 3 kids a german shepperd and a parrot(still trying to figure out how to make them fit as an avatar)!!
I take proud of serving our union,a family thing.
Didn't mean to highjack your thread,i had to post somewhere.

 

[Spidey]

Looking for some info on Airtran. I know you guys just voted down the last proposal (good for you) and that shows unity. How is life there, pay, QOL, moral, equipment and so on. Please, just Citrus pilots who have have something constructive to say good or bad. Thanks 124

Curtis46 is the kind of person that makes this place great! If you are ready to roll your sleeves up and work, this is a good place. Your app goes to the bottom of the pile of 17000 or near the top with recommendations. Good Luck!

 

[SkiFishFly]

FALSE: There are too many reserves right now and we are not flying at all.

Then why the heck is it dang near impossible for me to drop/swap in open time? I get the "insufficient reserves" message 99.999 percent of the time.


To the original post - life is pretty good. Pay could definitely be better. Good people to work with. Quite a few of the Captains were not willing to sell the FOs out and helped us vote down the recent TAs.

 

[Sun Devil 2000]

Then why the heck is it dang near impossible for me to drop/swap in open time? I get the "insufficient reserves" message 99.999 percent of the time.


To the original post - life is pretty good. Pay could definitely be better. Good people to work with. Quite a few of the Captains were not willing to sell the FOs out and helped us vote down the recent TAs.

Guess it depends on the seat and the Airplane.

 

[jke406]

Curtis46 is the kind of person that makes this place great! If you are ready to roll your sleeves up and work, this is a good place. Your app goes to the bottom of the pile of 17000 or near the top with recommendations. Good Luck!

OK, I'll bite. 17,000 applications? come on now. what percentage are in any way competitive?

honestly, I'm sure you'd agree he'd be "near the top" of the pile if he meets the mins, even without a recommendation.

 

[TV9Driver]

i've been here almost 3 years, average 15 days off and about 85 hours a month. I am able to get commutable lines every month.

As far as the pilot group sticking up for the f/o's - i'm not 100% sure of that one. The vote was approx. 60%/40%. So that means that about 600 pilots where willing to sell us down the river. (i don't have the exact numbers in front of me)

Also, most airlines have the "1 percenters" - the 1% of idiots working there. Here, i'd put that number at about 5%. I've noticed there are alot more "colorful" captains here than at the other airlines i've been at.

Insurance is abysmal (sp) and f/o pay is definitely subpar.

All that being said, AAI has a lot of potential - and like Curtis said, if you actively take part and help out, it will make this place alot better.

just my 2c

 

[RIDETHELIGHTING]

Don't forget there were some first year FOs that also sold us down the river. Wanting a bigger raise their second year. Very short sighted.

 

[Lear70]

I doubt too terribly many of the F/O's voted Yes. Especially given that the average raise was $5-$7 an hour and they'll be F/O's twice as long as they were initially promised.

All the same, I know a lot of CA's voted No based on F/O pay, health insurance, and Reserve rules alone and a lot of those CA's weren't affected by most of those things, so I greatly appreciate every single NO vote cast by those guys!

AAI will likely be a great place to work, but it's going to take a LOT of angst to get it there; management's certainly not likely to do the right thing for the employees... even though we ALL know they can afford it.

 

[PRINCE AKEEM]

Another benefit is that the 'slow jams' on the C Concourse are quite nice!

 

[Murphy]

Of the people polled in my new hire class from two years ago, 5 NOs and 3 YEAs so right in line with the overall vote.

 

[Daddy]

I hear you guys have a TA...any details?

 

[Citrusflyer]

I hear you guys have a TA...any details?

You're dreamin' dude. No TA.....we're not even talking.

 

[tubelcane]

What reason would any fo at Airtran possibly have to vote for either of those TA's? 3 in one class! I haven't polled mine, but I hope there weren't 3 yes votes in it.