AWA interviewing again

[Guppiedriver]

America West just had an equipment bid which will free up some F/O slots. In addition the CEO just announced that he intends to grow the operation by 10% next year while only picking up 2 planes. That means higher crew utilization. I think he is relying on a new contract with the pilot group in the near future. Right now all our lines are between 77 and 82 hours. If you fly more, the excess credit goes into a sort of time bank so in the future if you fly less that the required 77, you still get full pay. The last TA and any future contract will get rid of this ridiculous system and we will go to the "get paid what you fly" system. This will allow the airlines to schedule us for, and allow us to fly up to, 99 hours. This may take care of some of the 10% growth but they also want to hire more pilots because a large number of us don't want to fly 99 hours. Ha ha! Right now they are holding new hire classes on an as needed basis. The captain upgrades are being paired with transitioning F/Os,. There is a 2 year seat lock on new F/Os. If you change equipment after that, you are locked until you upgrade. The last TA changed that to "locked for 4 years after you change equip. Reserve varies. I was expecting 2-3 years but with the new hiring it may be only a year. That's if you want to hold a line of mostly all-night flying. Many stay on reserve until they can hold days. I have flown 20+ hours on reserve and I have flown 70+ hours on reserve. It varies a lot! 10 days off on reserve. 3 blocks of 2 days off and 1 of 4 days off. You can ask to move them. If you are hired, you will be assigned a plane. The TA would have changed that to an equip. bid for new hires by seniority which is by age. The interview portion has changed a bit. It is longer (about 50 min vs. 25 min) and they are a bit more intense. A lot of people have been denied in these first weeks. I think there is a slight change of philosophy since they had some trouble with some of the new hires last year. Good luck all!

Good info RacerX, but if I may, here is my two cents worth.

As far as the 10% increase goes there will be an increase in flying for the current fleet, but I doubt we will see higher crew utilization. It's just not possible with the bidding system we have. Our resident PBS (bidding program) guru explained how it is not possible for the company to add more flying to our lines. (Unless the lines were built with more productivity. Unlikely with the current contract.) However, the Airbus fleet is apparently capable of about 2000 more hours per bid period. So it appears we will see higher utilization, but it will be aircraft not crew. Parker also said that he was talking with manufacturers and/or leasing companies about getting more planes.

Your right about reserve, it is hit and miss as far as how much you will fly and how long you are on reserve. But if you get hired into the 737 you will experience very little late night stuff. Even junior lineholders on the 73 fly mostly day trips. Now the real trick is getting the airplane that you want as a new hire.