ASTAR Applications and Interview Prep?

[goastar]

Resources

Lucky strike, go to airlinepilotcentral.com. Look under "airlines". Good resources for your hunting.
Good luck.

 

[rican]

Anyone else in the hiring pool for ABX? Just wondering how many of us there are and if anyone has gotten a call or heard anything.

 

[LarryinTN]

I know that there are some in the hiring pool but don't know how many. I'll see if I can find out. Those poor guys have been 'swimming' for almost five years!

 

[rican]

Thanks for checking. I can't believe it's been 5 years. It would be sweet if you guys started hiring early next year. That's about the time I'll be furloughed.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Thanks...I'll check it out.

Lucky strike, go to airlinepilotcentral.com. Look under "airlines". Good resources for your hunting.
Good luck.

 

[mamba20]

Does DHL put you at FE or the right seat to start?

 

[LarryinTN]

Does DHL put you at FE or the right seat to start?

Once again, there is no "DHL" airline in the US. It is either Astar or ABX Air.

Astar's recent new hires have gone to the panel. Last I heard it currently takes about seven years to hold the FO seat. They have no PFEs but do have 60+ yr old pilots who have moved to the panel but I'm unsure as to what percentage of the FE seats are filled with "retreads" (no offense intended) and what percentage is filled by new-hires. Astar has no two-pilot airplanes so my guess is that they will be putting new-hires into the FE seat for some time. Perhaps an Astar guy can fill in more details.

ABX air has only one airplane type that uses an F/E, the DC8. The DC8 fleet is down to 15 to 18 airplanes. The majority of the FE's are PFEs with only four SO's left on the panel. The latest rumor that I heard was that they were going to upgrade those four to the DC9 after the first of the year and then have no intention of putting anymore "pilots" on the panel. ABX has the option for retiring pilots to go back to the panel but it isn't very attractive and there must be openings, which they haven't been, so we haven't had any "retreads" in quite some time and wouldn't expect any in the future.

The big question mark for both companies is what is DHL going to do over the next few years? Some think that there will be some kind of consolidation between the two airlines, others think that one will grow while the other shrinks. ABX Air has 13 B767s on order but no announcement as to how they are to be used. If they are additional airplanes then there will be a lot of growth. If they end up replacing the remaining DC8s then we're just treading water. One would think that over the next five or ten years all of the DC9s, DC8s, 727s, and A300s will be replaced. If, how and when that happens will make all the difference.