Bombardier bask to work, Comair update

[Caveman]

You need 500 hours with the company to upgrade. That could take forever sitting reserve on the 70 and that's assuming you had all the other numbers to upgrade. If you also needed a 1000 more TT you would be stuck forever. A new hire will sit reserve on the 50 for less than a year and a line holder in the 50 will make more than a reserve in the 70. More than 11 FO's bid the 70 but only 11 were picked because a lot of them, me included, put in conditional bids that wouldn't select us unless we could hold the upper 50% seniority. In other words if we couldn't hold a regular line we didn't want it.

 

[Guam360]

I really get the feeling that since the bid came out for the 70, and now recinded, eveyone got a look at how senior the 70 CA went, I can't imagine the bottom of those senior CA's bidding for it again knowing they will be on reserve forever, I feel that they may have to junior assign new CA's to the 70. remember, there will only be 27, so it is a dead end.

if I was Seniority#16 on down as a Capt. I wouldn't go for the 70, If there are 30 seats.
What do fellow CMR guys think?

Us new CA's might end up there? I don't have my contract in front of me...

 

[PositiveRate]

Just curious...how many 70 seaters are expected to be delivered this year? I didn't even think of the potential downside to getting the new plane right off the bat....interesting posts.

 

[Caveman]

Guam360,

Personally I wouldn't mind being junior-manned as a CA into the 70. I live in CVG and sitting reserve in domicile is a totally different ballgame than commuting. I'll gladly take the 75 hour Captains pay and stay home most of the month. Plenty of time for golf and the money to enjoy the free time. Now, if I wanted PIC to move on to a major that would be a different story, but $60K @ year to hang out at home isn't a bad deal at all.

 

[PositiveRate]

Got a letter in the mail today from sharon jones today talking about the strike and the fact that new hire classes have been postponed. No real news I guess, but it's nice that they sent it out.

She said they continue to interview and will keep us informed as soon as class dates become available.

Anyone else get the letter?

 

[miller22]

JA to 70 seater

There is no real good reason thats been presented to me to go to the 70 seater. My first thought when I was told I might be sent to the 70 seater was "great, bigger aircraft, more money and an extra FA."Delta is looking at Carribbean and Mexico markets again which means the 70 seater would be perfect for the short runways out there. Dallas crew base is sure to follow for the 70 seater. For an FO already losing money in CVG from Comair training pay, a base move now would realistically drive me to bankruptcy. Even with the 1st year reserve pay, I wouldn't be able to hold my head above water with a crashpad in Dallas.

All Captains on the 70 seater are the top 35 in the company, which generally calls for horrendous flights as an FO. That's not an overgeneralization on my part, thats from about 20 other FO's flying with senior guys.

Reserve time on the 50 seater is a little over one year. Reserve time on the 70 seater is projected to be 2-3 years. Reserve sucks a big one, especially if you commute. You're paid only 75 hours a month and fly much less. Sure its cool to stay at home and play golf...for about a month, then you want to go places, but you've got to be within 90 minutes of the airport at all times...and that includes about a 15-30 minute ride in from the Long Term parking lot. In CVG, that effectively limits you to a radius of about 50 miles from the airport, considering you're in uniform, packed, ready to go, and there's no traffic. Only 11 days off for reserve guys, with 2 sets of three and the rest single "floating" days, which means aside from your six "hard" days you never really know what day you're going to have off.
Having said that, I'd much rather do that for one year, than three.

There's a reason they had to jr. man FO's to the 70 seater, and when I figured it out I quickly agreed with the rest of the group.

Just my humble opinion. Take it for what its worth...about $.02

 

[skiddriver]

miller22,

I'm waiting for a class date and know that I'm looking at at least a year on reserve following training. I have a couple of questions.

I was told at our interview brief that you had multiple call-out periods a day - how many and how long are the periods? What is your experience on how often a month an FO on reserve for the 50 seat flies? If you don't get called the first day or so of a reserve period, does that mean you normally sit out the whole thing? Or does chaos theory apply?

I don't have any problem sitting reserve (I usually can find some project to keep myself occupied when I have a hole in my schedule), just want to get a feel for the process so I can plan ahead.

Thanks...

 

[Slim]

On reserve, you have to be within 90 minutes of operations once notified.

There are eight windows, A1-A8. Windows A1-A5 are 14 hours long. A6 is 10 hours (my current window), A7 is six hours and A8 is four hours. These windows may not cross over into the next calendar day.

When the weather is good, and the operation is running smoothly, chances are you will not be called. When the weather isn't good, as the last week has not, you probably get called. During April, with fairly good weather most of the month, I flew 4:41 with an A7 window. This month, I have flown 11 hours.

The company provides a pager. The A7 and A8 windows go senior. If you have to sit reserve, those are good windows to have so that your day-to-day activities aren't disrupted too much. My wife likes the A7 window a lot.

Fly safe!

 

[Anaconda]

checking the last bid results, the most junior lineholder has been out on line since november, so that's six months on reserve. yes, his hire date is months before the strike, but that's really not applicable. not too shabby.

don't forget guys way more junior than that gentleman are holding cd lines which can pay pretty good and are certainly more commutable than reserve, imho. also, hotel in domicile.

eleven days off becomes effective july 1, and it's 1 set of 3 and 1 set of 4 "hard" days off, 4 "soft" days.

 

[miller22]

skiddriver,

Slim answered your questions better than I could.

Anaconda,

I'm stoked to here about the 1 set of 4 and one of 3 thats very good news.

thanx guys.

 

[Guam360]

Miller22,

I guess you do not work for Comair, Your post sounds like you know everything, except, when was the last time we paid for training, where have you been?

Good luck when you do though...

Don't forget 15 minutes to actually answer your pager + the 90 minutes!

 

[Guam360]

Hey Anaconda,
I couldn't resist.

I swear I need to stop replying to posts on here.

I will PM you later with the FMS procedures.

 

[miller22]

Guam,

I'm not sure exactly when pay for training ended...but it was around mid 2000.

your point is...?

 

[Guam360]

No point at all....

Good luck....