Any info on Tradewinds

[CSY Mon]

It was mentioned during the interview that they anticipate hiring 70 this year, including a big class (18-20) in May.

Did they say if the big class in May was for the B-747 or the A-300?

 

[Flywrite]

It was indicated that everyone would be going to the A300 for a while, no 747 class planned until late in the year. Having said that there was a lot of activity going on that was obviously related to staffing levels on the 747.

 

[FlyingFish13]

What are the chances of being based in China on the Bus?

 

[General Lee]

CSY MON,


Do you mainly do ICN, or do you do turns from MIA? I saw one of your 747s in MIA last week----where do you do turns? Can you give me an example of a week of flying for you? Is it true that all newhires are FOs? What is it like for those guys flying the Macau stuff? Sounds like an interesting job.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Flybet3]

This is a company that I am definetly going to apply in the future once I get my 1000 Turb PIC.....seems like a descent outfit and plus they've got GSO as a base, i like it down there.

 

[CSY Mon]

Do you mainly do ICN, or do you do turns from MIA? I

Yes.

We do ICN out of LAX, that includes short and long lay-overs in ICN and ANC.

Some turns out of MIA, did Bogota yesterday, but we have other turns as well.
Some nice lay-overs in the MIA systaem:
Buenos Aires, Santiago, and others. Beatiful women and good food.

All newhires FO?
In general yes and no...
When the 747 came on line 6 months ago they hired captains off the street to save training costs.
(Seniority is nice at a major airline with 5 to 12 years for upgrade, at smaller companies strict seniority is a luxury they can't always afford...And they tell ya just that at the interview)

That being said, a small company may double it's size in 2 years and rapid upgrades could happen to all....Or not.

Most FEs are PFEs, and make more than FOs.
In theory they have a SO program, but have not seen it yet.

What is it like for those guys flying the Macau stuff?

Them guys have a month on and a month off.
Domestic flying in China.
Probably OK for a young single dude, but rough on family life.

(Easy compared to military flying however, one of my buds just came back from flying a year in Afganistan, now he is going to Iraq for 6 months, his dog bites him when he walks in the front door )

 

[CSY Mon]

What are the chances of being based in China on the Bus?

Not sure.

The Bus and the Boeing ops are like 2 separate companies.
Don't know any Bus drivers and don't know if China goes senior or not.

 

[Flywrite]

Not sure.

The Bus and the Boeing ops are like 2 separate companies.
Don't know any Bus drivers and don't know if China goes senior or not.

At this weeks interviews they told us new hires could expect either Taipei or Fort Wayne as a base. Having said that it was mentioned that most of the pilots currently in the Taipei system were pretty happy there, so I dont know what movement would be like.

 

[Bellerophon]

Be carefull of one Bus captain. I was flying into KDAY one night with the RVR reporting 600/600/600. A Tradewinds bus and a Express Net bus both shot the approach and landed. We shot a Cat III autoland to our mins. When I saw the Tradewinds capt at the hub I voiced my suprise that their Airbus was Cat III. He said "no they are Cat I". I then asked what are your mins. He said: "600+600+600 = 1800. I am sure (hope) that these Captains were in the 2% idiot club and do not reflect the tone of the rest of the pilots. I know this because the rest of the fights diverted after we arrived. So just watch out and don't let them talk you into something like this.

 

[CSY Mon]

He said: "600+600+600 = 1800.

He-he, that is new one.

If the weather was on its arse before they started the approach, they could not legally shoot it.

If that was the case, wonder why they would risk their tickets to get in.

(To my knowledge Tradewinds does not pay any extra to bust mins, so anybody doing it, is on his own.)