Comair March 21st class.

[uba757]

Anyone here in the March 21st Comair class? Uba757

 

[viper01]

I hear the A/C type they are hiring for is the Dornier 328. Yeah I hear they are getting 35 of them. I couldn't help myself.

 

[flighttime]

Anyone know how many they are going to hire, and what one could expect for reserve time?

 

[Whitestoneclimb]

I have an interview March 15th. Maybe I'll see ya. Any gouge for me?

 

[flyrunner80]

Hey my good friend is in the March 21sth class. His flightinfo name is ilkwamh2. I'm sure he'd be glad to talk to you.

 

[moscowcfi]

I hear the A/C type they are hiring for is the Dornier 328. Yeah I hear they are getting 35 of them. I couldn't help myself.

LMAO!

 

[ilkwamh2]

I have an interview March 15th. Maybe I'll see ya. Any gouge for me?

Just be yourself and you'll do great! If you try to be someone you're not, you might be able to fake it for the 8 hours you're there for the interview, but it'll be hard to fake it when you get hired. Good luck! Hope to see you in class.

-W

 

[Looking4Traffic]

Your time on reserve may be short provided that we:

1. Get new airplanes;

2. Get new bases; and

3. Get a new equipment type.

It appears that at least two of the three questions have been answered. We'll see about the third. Nothing in this business is guaranteed but I'm more optimistic about the future here then I was a few months ago.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[uba757]

Look I like the car. Like you said nothing is guranteed so all you can do is take a chance and hope is the best decission. I just got switched to the March 14th class, again decisions, decisions. "The end justifies the means". Uba757

 

[uba757]

Whitestone depending on the Captain that you get and your experience they will ask you about Alt. minimums, Max speeds, Some weather questions, they will ask you about the systems in the airplane you are flying, Jepp description, Hr will ask you about rules you did not like at your old company, your attitude, if hired what is Comair getting. ETC...... Just be yourself and be honest, no matter what be honest. Uba757

 

[Whitestoneclimb]

Thanks for the input. I'm checking out www.aviationinterviews.com for the gouge. I'm an ex-ALG captain, so its been a while since I interviewed anywhere. I'm not sure if I can handle the pay though. Training pay of $250 a week and they don't pay for your hotel????! I'm married with 3 kids and lots of bills. How do they expect you to survive? Anyway, thanks for the help.

 

[Hovernut]

Training pay of $250 a week and they don't pay for your hotel????! I'm married with 3 kids and lots of bills. How do they expect you to survive? Anyway, thanks for the help.

I think training pay is a tad more, but I don't have the contract in front of me right now. You do get a hotel....for only a week, though. Up until midnight tonight, this was the only domicile and you were expected to 'live' here. Tomorrow, the MCO and GSO base bids come out, and when they're filled, the JFK bid will open. If they aren't filled, rumor has it they won't junior man them, just fill the vacancies with new hires.

So, I don't know if they'll JM right off the bat on the 1st day of training and pay for the lodging of those JM'd into another domicile, or what.

Viper's DoJet comments are BS....for now, anyway! Fred Buttrell hasn't mentioned them at all in any correspondence I've seen. If we do get them and base them in MCO for intra-Florida flying...all the better. I'm hoping to hold MCO CRJFO on this bid anyway!!

 

[viper01]

I tried to tell everyone I was just joking about the dorkjet, but like hovernet said, "my comments are bs for NOW."

 

[chperplt]

Viper's DoJet comments are BS....for now, anyway! Fred Buttrell hasn't mentioned them at all in any correspondence I've seen. If we do get them and base them in MCO for intra-Florida flying...all the better. I'm hoping to hold MCO CRJFO on this bid anyway!!

Buttrell spoke of the Dojets in the crew room last week. He said that Delta has offered them all to us. The jets would be in addition to the 35 LOA aircraft. The company is in talks with an engine company and a few other support companies to see if they can be flown without problem.

He did say they would be a pefect intra Florida bird.

Time will tell....

 

[Slim]

I missed FB's pizza lunch talk.

Did he really say DL is willing to give (?!??) the 328s to CMR? There has to be a catch in there somewhere.

While there would be incredible upgrade opportunities for the F/Os, I have to question the tech support. Like the F100s at AA, spare parts for the DoJet could be incredibly expensive. One reason AA parked the Fokkers was the expense of the spare parts. Suppliers raked them over the coals.

This also makes me wonder if DL has come to realize the value of CMR relative to the other DCI carriers. I know FB has publicly stated CMR isn't exercising any due diligence vis-a-vis SkyWest and the rumors of a sale of CMR to SkyWest. I haven't heard any denials coming from ATL regarding a sale of ASA to SkyWest.

Fly safe!

 

[HowlinMadMurdoc]

Buttrell spoke of the Dojets in the crew room last week. He said that Delta has offered them all to us. The jets would be in addition to the 35 LOA aircraft. The company is in talks with an engine company and a few other support companies to see if they can be flown without problem.

He did say they would be a pefect intra Florida bird.

Time will tell....

That's interesting given there's talk 15 of the 328's are already on the market for sale with the other 15 waiting to placed on the market pending completion of MX checks.

Theoretically speaking, given DL's expected 2005 financial condition, why would they place the 328's with CMR when the planes can be flown by Skyway for less than CMR? What's to prevent DL and Skyway from finalizing an agreement that has Skyway flying the planes in FL? Why have CMR go through the process of an additional aircraft type (training, MX, and new aircraft start-up costs) when Skyway already has a proven operational and MX track record with the plane?

Here's more fuel for the fire. This excerpt is from the March 2005 issue of AIN Online regarding Avcraft:

A Shrinking Market
Meanwhile, the accelerating trend toward larger regional aircraft presents a problem for AvCraft, as a number of airlines, including PSA and Independence Air, removed their Fairchild Dornier equipment in favor of 50- and 70-seat Bombardier CRJs. Along with the 33 Independence Air 328Jets, the estimated inventory of 328 turboprops in storage last month exceeded 50.

In the U.S., only Midwest Airlines' Skyway unit uses Fairchild Dornier airplanes, flying ten 328Jets from Milwaukee. Last April Midwest Airlines entered negotiations with Delta to fly some of the grounded 328Jets as Delta Connection, in which case it would assume their leases from Independence Air. Almost a year later those plans have yet to materialize. However, a Midwest Airlines spokeswoman said that negotiations with Delta have become “more active” recently.

Early last year Bartel announced his company would complete and deliver five partially assembled Dornier 328Jets by the fourth quarter and build 18 new 328s this year. But as the new year approached it became clear that those plans wouldn't come to fruition when no word came from Oberpfaffenhofen about the start of production. In January plant manager Wolfgang Walter told the German press that first deliveries would occur sometime in the first quarter, and that the company lowered its production rate target to 12 airplanes.

AvCraft had taken possession of a number of white-tail 328s from Fairchild Dornier's insolvency manager in 2003, all of which Bartel claimed to have sold. The manufacturer's current order backlog for new aircraft includes fifteen 32-passenger jets for Hainan Airlines of China, seven Envoy 3s for the British executive charter company Club 328, and one for distributor Aerodienst Nurnberg, Germany.

Club 328 announced an order for eight Envoy 3s last year and took delivery of the first one, a former demonstrator, in September. However, AvCraft needs to modify the Envoy 3 spoiler system for steep approaches up to 5.5 degrees, a capability essential for Club 328's planned operations into London City Airport.

Hainan, the largest 328 operator, flies 27 of the airplanes. The regional airlines Sun Air of Denmark and Cirrus of Germany reportedly rank as promising prospects. Cirrus has taken delivery of two second-hand 328Jets, which replaced propeller aircraft on its Bern-Berlin and Bern-Vienna links assumed from Austria's InterSky. AvCraft delivered a used 328 turboprop to Australia for sea-air rescue operations, and hopes to win follow-on orders.

http://www.ainonline.com/issues/03_05/03_05_avcraftp108.htm)


This isn't flamebait - just wanted to throw a few ideas out there for discussion. I have no clue what will happen with those planes.

HMM

 

[chperplt]

Who know why Delta does anything..

Just passing along info from the company president.

 

[Hovernut]

Thanks for the info Chper, I hadn't heard that floating around the crewroom, and I haven't been able to attend any of the meetings. I've always wondered if there would be more deliveries than the contracural 35. If the Dorks do come, that would increase my opportunity to upgrade. Hmmm, FO in my home of MCO, or reserve CA in JFK....decisions.....decisions....

Viper, that's the thing about joking around, sometimes you get what you wish for! About the engines, I understand ACA did all their takeoffs with max power because they didn't have a reduced thrust program like what we have on the CF34s. If they can institute that program on the Dorks, maybe the engines will last a little longer. I'm looking forward to those Key West overnights!! Heck, maybe we'll even start service to Cedar Key, and Atlantis!!

 

[viper01]

hovernut, I didn't wish for anything

 

[chperplt]

Hover,

It's going to be an interesting few months. Everyone on the ALPA board seems to think we're going to be JMing into both seats for JFK. I can't see that happening in the left seat with only 70 crews. I'll go to JFK and be a senior FO there. A 3 1/2 hour commute vs a 4 1/2 hour commute. A commute is a commute.

 

[twobits]

deleted

 

[DDpaysoff]

.

This also makes me wonder if DL has come to realize the value of CMR relative to the other DCI carriers. I know FB has publicly stated CMR isn't exercising any due diligence vis-a-vis SkyWest and the rumors of a sale of CMR to SkyWest. I haven't heard any denials coming from ATL regarding a sale of ASA to SkyWest.

Fly safe!

The fact is ASA is more attractive from an aquisition standpoint than an IPO. Comair would look better as an IPO. It gives delta some options. I don't know how I can explain this without pi$$ing anybody off, so I won't..

IF, the above were to happen they would be one at a time and on an as-needed basis for capital to keep DAL out of Ch. 11.

 

[DDpaysoff]

Hover,

It's going to be an interesting few months. Everyone on the ALPA board seems to think we're going to be JMing into both seats for JFK. I can't see that happening in the left seat with only 70 crews. I'll go to JFK and be a senior FO there. A 3 1/2 hour commute vs a 4 1/2 hour commute. A commute is a commute.

JMing JFK captains? LOL!

I am revising my prediction to a few less than 100 numbers below the junior CVG CA right now.

 

[chperplt]

JMing JFK captains? LOL!

That's what I said... Are you reading the crap on the ALPA board?

There are a lot of junior captains who would rather go right seat CVG than go to JFK. It seems rediculous to me.. we'll see what happens in a few weeks.

 

[Slim]

DDpaysoff,

Your assesment seems completely logical and the reasoning sound. Sadly, following nearly 25 years in this industry, Logic and sound reasoning are rarely the order of the day. The only consistency is change!

Fly safe!

 

[Propsfullfwd]

So what aircraft was the class for at Comair today??? Let me CRJ-200 maybe the 700...


Props

 

[j41driver]

I understand ACA did all their takeoffs with max power because they didn't have a reduced thrust program like what we have on the CF34s. If they can institute that program on the Dorks, maybe the engines will last a little longer.

It is true that for the majority of the Dornier's time at ACA we did full power takeoffs. About 6-8 months before they were retired a reduced thrust program was implemented. I'm not sure why we didn't do this from day one...sure would have saved a ton of money. We've had reduced thrust on the CRJ for quite a while (since the beginning?) and even on the J41 and J32 when they were here.

That DoJet sure was fun....

 

[ilinipilot]

HEY W, you go on with Comair, congrats.

"Way" to go.

D

 

[DDpaysoff]

It is true that for the majority of the Dornier's time at ACA we did full power takeoffs. ..

They must have been, since they were already at 6,000 feet over the employee parking lot
My question is how is the pressurization system on it, because it needs a good one. This plane would be a dream for the carribean. Paint a Puerta Rican flag on it, throw a few kilo's in the back and send them to Executive for 8 million a pop.

 

[j41driver]

They must have been, since they were already at 6,000 feet over the employee parking lot My question is how is the pressurization system on it

Yeah...the takeoff was my favorite part. I was in the CRJ the other day and the CA (he was an ex-J41 pilot) looked over at me and remarked how well we were climbing...I guess for the CRJ 4500 FPM (we were low and light) is pretty good. I chuckled at that...We consistantly did 5000+ FPM in the DoJet. I even saw 9999 FPM (that's the max it would display) on a couple ferry flights. Really cool.

Pressurization kept up just fine. No problems 99.99% of the time.