CAL monthly credit

[JackSparrow]

Can anyone at CAL tell us how much credit an average reserve and an "average" lineholder gets per month?

Also, how do aircraft get assigned to new hires? Do you get to "bid" for them?

Thanks!
JS

 

[ACWild]

Well, as an average line-holder as an fo on the 737, I've been getting 89 hours consistantly as a line award regardless of what I bid for.

Aircraft assignments go by what openings are available and then class seniority (by age) picks.

Good luck if you're trying to get on.

 

[classof75]

A fellow pilot recently told me that 50% of CAL pilots will have retired within the next five years.......can anyone confirm this number?

 

[ACWild]

A fellow pilot recently told me that 50% of CAL pilots will have retired within the next five years.......can anyone confirm this number?

Depends... Is age 60 still a factor?

 

[classof75]

If the age 60 rule remains in place does CAL project 50% retirements in the next five years?

 

[Redman]

If the age 60 rule remains in place does CAL project 50% retirements in the next five years?

It is more like 50% over the next 10 years. airlinepilotcentral.com shows 2100+ retirements by 2015. Total pilot group is just shy of 4900 right now I believe.

 

[catIIIc]

Yeah I am getting consistantly 13-15 days of and 89 hours of pay. Gotta love the splat.

 

[Mookie]

CatIIC,

so how's the golf game with that much time off? and...are we going to be "brothers" anytime soon? have you heard anything on your end???
(got a new driver...game on!!!!)

mookie

 

[catIIIc]

Mookie with all the ice and snow we are getting here I may not be able to play until april. I got a new hybrid and I been chipping in my garage. No rumors about merging with you guys but UAL is still on the burner if Delta merges with somebody.

 

[Patriot328]

~74% on 756FO for Feb and 14 days off with commutable 3day trips (all the international stuff out of EWR is commutable).

69hrs of actual flying, about 24hrs of DH. If you convert the DH to 75% and account for the blended rate that is paid while deadheading, it works out to be equal to 88-89hrs of straight block 757 pay for the month.

If I were flying every trip instead of DH/IRO on three of them, I would be getting 92hrs of straight pay for the month. DH/IRO reduces the pay for this month by a little less than 5hrs. That will add up at the end of the year, though (a few grand). When the DH pay goes back up to 100% in July-(ish?), pilots that DH/IRO on the 757 will make more than if they were to actually fly the same trip because of the blended rate for deadheading....

 

[Hutchman]

What is wrong with that picture. DH is paid at a higher rate than actually flying it. I bet the company makes the DH an IRO eventhough they are not needed.

 

[Dilligaff]

I think he's saying DH is paid at 75% of his hourly rate.

 

[Patriot328]

Sorry for the confusion... You're both right, though.

DH pay is a blended rate for the aircraft you are flying. Our small 737s are considered Small Narrow Body. Our -800 and -900 737s and 757s are paid as Large Narrow Body. The 767/777/787s are all Widebody pay. If you are on the 756 fleet, when you deadhead, your hourly rate is blended between the LNB and WB pay rates. When DH pay goes back up to 100% in July, someone DHing on a flight will make more than the person flying it (assuming the same longevity). Example:

2nd year LNB pay is about 62/hr
2nd year WB pay is about 71/hr
2nd year blended rates is about 66/hr

If I fly a trip that's say 8hrs out and 9hrs back, I'm getting paid 17hrs at 62/hr

If I DH on the first part and then work the flight back as IRO, I'm getting paid 8hrs at 66/hr and 9hrs at 62/hr, making more money than if I'd flown it.

That doesn't work on the 767 fleet because the flying rate is higher than the blended rate. You'll make more money flying both directions as opposed to DH/IRO.

Of course, this isn't true right now because currently our DH pay is 75%. It will go back up to 100% in July.

And surprisingly enough, we deadhead around all the time.

Regarding the blended rate, the 76 and 72hrs reserve guar pays out blended rate as well.

 

[catIIIc]

I believe what Hutch is trying to say is that when DH goes to 100% look for you to IRO both ways so they won't have to pay you the bigger pay rate.

 

[IAHERJ]

It hasn't been done in the past so why would they do this now? There are more issues than DH pay that come into play with the DH/IRO stuff. duty limits and INTL 32/7 issues are far more important to the staffing formula than a guy deadheading in first class for a few more bucks an hour than the First flying the plane.

IAHERJ

 

[JackSparrow]

Is 14 days off pretty typical in all the planes? How senior do you have to be to get 16-17 days off in the 73 and 756?

 

[venr122]

Before PBS at about 60% I was holding 16 day off transcons with a little trading....since PBS and now at 44% I have held 12 days off 3 months and just now got 16 days off again. Good news I have moved up fast, bad news is PBS still is not a satisfactory product. But I would expect closer to 12-13 days off until you move up a bit.

 

[ClubORD]

Out of training I spent one month on reserve in EWR and I think I got one of the last lines offered (84%) for Feb. 90 hours block w/ 15 days off. However, some trips are not commutable but definately beats a reserve line.

 

[JackSparrow]

Thanks for all the good info! As you can see, I'm trying to decide whether to give up seniority at LCC-brand-X to go somewhere with a retirement fund, LTD/LOL insurance and international flying. Right now, I'm an FO and getting 87 hour lines with 17 days off, home every night, reasonable paycheck. It's a tough decision whether to drop this and take some short term pain for a longer term gain at CAL.

If you don't care about commutability (ie live within 1 hr of EWR) how many days off could you expect after a year in the 73 and/or 756?

 

[venr122]

I would think thats pretty reasonable to expect....specially if your not picky in where and when you want to fly. (737 does lots of different flying)

 

[Patriot328]

If you don't care about commutability (ie live within 1 hr of EWR) how many days off could you expect after a year in the 73 and/or 756?

Definitely more in the 73 than the 75. As DH pay goes up, the movement on the 756 will slow as senior pilots bid over so they can get paid to sleep. Still, even with say 12 days off a month, you're home quite a bit if you live close by. Most trips on the 756 are 3day international and don't start til around 1800-2100 and finish around 1200-1400 on the 3rd day with credit anywhere from 13.5 to 20 hours for the trip, depending on where you're going. The late start and early finishes does add quite a bit of "home time". If you do daytrips on the 757, you'll get more days off, but will most likely have earlier start and/or later finishes than doing the international 3days. I've seen daytrips go fairly junior because of how many commuters we have in domicile.

 

[JackSparrow]

Sweeeet. That's good info -- thanks!

 

[JackSparrow]

How much can you change your schedule after the bid is awarded? For example, would it be doable to pick up some days off by swapping/dropping trips?

 

[pkober]

Trip trading in IAH 737 is hit or miss. I'm a Oct 05 hire and am at 68% on the IAH 737. In January I was able to trade all my trips and get almost all weekends off. In February I failed PBS and can't trade anything. If the trip you are trying to trade is on days when the staffing is below reserve minimums than generally scheduling won't let you do it. However, I just wait a few hours and make the same request with a different scheduler and it sometimes works.

The good news is that with PBS there are a ton of trips being advertised. So if you live in domicle you can pick up almost an endless supply of turns.

With 6 days of military a month I generally work about 10-11 days a month at CAL and get about 75 hours.

 

[tico]

Thanks for all the good info! As you can see, I'm trying to decide whether to give up seniority at LCC-brand-X to go somewhere with a retirement fund, LTD/LOL insurance and international flying. Right now, I'm an FO and getting 87 hour lines with 17 days off, home every night, reasonable paycheck. It's a tough decision whether to drop this and take some short term pain for a longer term gain at CAL.

If you don't care about commutability (ie live within 1 hr of EWR) how many days off could you expect after a year in the 73 and/or 756?

Wont you have to get in the left seat their at your job for some PIC jet time....I am sure that while they may not advertize it Continental is probably only hiring Captains from the regionals/LCC's

 

[ACWild]

Wont you have to get in the left seat their at your job for some PIC jet time....I am sure that while they may not advertize it Continental is probably only hiring Captains from the regionals/LCC's

Unless things have changed recently, they are hiring FOs and Capts.

 

[Truckdriver]

Jack,

GOOOOOOOO!!!!! Your senior to me. I've moved up about 40ish or so in the last three months and I would like to keep going up. I have lots of buddies at CAL and if you jump over there, I think you will like it. If you can deal with the paycut the first couple of years you'll do fine. Sounds like a closer drive to EWR for you anyways. If your under 40 you should go because the retirement over there will make you lots more than a 3% match. Good luck on your decision.

 

[Truckdriver]

Wont you have to get in the left seat their at your job for some PIC jet time....I am sure that while they may not advertize it Continental is probably only hiring Captains from the regionals/LCC's

??????? I'm sure he had some PIC jet time to get into the LCC that he is currently at.

 

[SuperFLUF]

.......If you don't care about commutability (ie live within 1 hr of EWR) how many days off could you expect after a year in the 73 and/or 756?

Dude, if you live within 1 hr of EWR reserve is the way to go. You get 76 hours at the blended rate (or full widebody on the 777 -and we're hiring right in to that bird) and you get a guaranteed 12 days off and as you get more senior you get more days off. As a new hire you would fly about the same as a lineholder and as you get more senior it drops off. Senior reserves average 30 hours and a couple nights away from home a month.