Continental 737 or 757-pros/cons

[SOVT]

A guy in the 08/02/05 class was awarded IAH 756 on the last bid.

 

[Pig]

The most junior position on this last bid was a 756 FO to IAH. Don't think the old assumptions are going to hold true as far as how bad relative seniority would be on the 756 since they are hiring 24 a month directly into the 756. As far as dead heading pay, who cares as a new hire since you'll be getting min guarantee anyway on reserve. By the time it matters it will be a non-issue since in goes back to 75% Jul '06, and 100% Jul '07.

With 24 new hires a month going into the 756, that may be proportionally more than the 40 a month going into the 737 since there are a lot fewer 756 FO's than 737 FO's.

 

[MJG]

IAH is more senior than EWR on all aircraft types.

And then there's CLE, what's the story there??? Very senior 737 or what???

 

[Flyforyou]

My sim partner is from CLE. He just finished IOE and got CLE based for next month. Things are moving fast...

Fly

 

[CAL EWR B737]

The most junior position on this last bid was a 756 FO to IAH. Don't think the old assumptions are going to hold true as far as how bad relative seniority would be on the 756 since they are hiring 24 a month directly into the 756. As far as dead heading pay, who cares as a new hire since you'll be getting min guarantee anyway on reserve. By the time it matters it will be a non-issue since in goes back to 75% Jul '06, and 100% Jul '07.

With 24 new hires a month going into the 756, that may be proportionally more than the 40 a month going into the 737 since there are a lot fewer 756 FO's than 737 FO's.

Sorry don't buy your assumptions. The most recent system bid has 503 NYC B756 FO's VS 456 NYC B737 FO's. There is a lot of IRO flying in EWR. IAH has 583 737 VS 241 756 however due to IAH being far more senior than EWR a new hire will be very very junior on the 756 in IAH for quite some time and somewhat junior on the 737 (especially compared to EWR) .

Yes, DH doesn't matter on probation but that is very short sighted. On the 737 one would be a line holder in a couple of months getting between 80 and 90 hours of pay Vs 76 or 72 on reserve. If one on the 737 didn't care about money as first year pay is terrible he/she could bid for quality of life and get 18 days off for 76 pay hours of pay VS 12 days off on reserve. Also I wouldn't count on flying to many legs on the 756, and thanks to the rocket scientist at CALALPA a junior B756 FO could look forward to much dead heading and resting in a coach seat.

If you lived near base and don't mind reserve than the B756 could be a good deal in the non summer months. By the way for those that don't know the B756 at Continental is our 757/767 sub base.

 

[CAL EWR B737]

One additional point and it's a significant one. Once on the 756 there will be a tremendous amount of leap frogging. Many are going to bid onto the airplane in front of many of the new hires. I foresee a lot of 737 FO's bidding onto the 756 once they can hold it above the 50% mark insuring they hold mostly 767 and avoiding much of the IRO flying. I would image this would be quite frustrating to a junior 756 FO. Especially since they can't bid down to 737 FO for two years however a 737FO can always bid up to a B756 FO (no freeze bidding up to larger aircraft),

 

[venr122]

That is a very good point. If I had been offered the 756 as a new hire I would have jumped. But now that I am on the 737, I will bid the 756 at 40% and enjoy being a lineholder on the 73. I do wonder how much all this QOL stuff will change when PBS comes on line.

 

[ACWild]

I don't think PBS can solve deadheading issues, so the 756 will still be a lower QOL, imo.

 

[Crucianpilot]

These are all good points. Also keep in mind that there are some of us out there who may bid equipment by schedule as well. So not everyone wants to do long haul, overseas flying. Those folks would stay on the 737 in order to avoid this. Some people want to stay domestic only. Some want to fly COD's and be home every nite, etc.. So just bid what you want, I have flown 75 for the last 2 yrs, that's why I bid it.

 

[Pig]

what is a COD?

 

[Crucianpilot]

Continuous on duty. Leave at nite, min rest and return in the morning. If you live in base, not a bad deal.

 

[Vref+10]

CODs

I was just curious, which equipment and base had CODs?

 

[KozzyCFI]

With respect to 756 reserve, would a deadheading FO to be used as an IRO on the return flight from Europe be given the 20-some hour overnight in Europe like the normal crew receives, or would the deadheading FO basically turn right around and fly back??

Also, how does CAL set up reserve blocks?? 4 on 3 off?? 5 on 2 off?? 6 on 1 off?? or combinations??

 

[acbarney]

I am a new hire 756 reserve pilot sitting in Berlin on an IRO trip as I write this. The schedules are never less than 2 off. most have two blocks of 4 and two blocks of 2 off. The IRO trips have, for the most part, the same duty and layover times as the FO trips, they just work more trips due to the 50% pay for dead head.

 

[CAL EWR B737]

Continuous on duty. Leave at nite, min rest and return in the morning. If you live in base, not a bad deal.

We don't have continuous on duty overnights at CAL, well at least in the 18 1/2 years i've been here.