CS per-diem, parking, etc.

[John B]

Hello everyone,
I was hoping someone could give some info on the CS per-diem. Does one spend the majority of it while on the road? Is it taxable? If working out of DFW or BWI, does one pay for parking? What is day 1 and last day like? Any info is helpful. Thank you in advance!

 

[Sparse]

Hello everyone,
I was hoping someone could give some info on the CS per-diem. Does one spend the majority of it while on the road? Is it taxable? If working out of DFW or BWI, does one pay for parking? What is day 1 and last day like? Any info is helpful. Thank you in advance!

Per diem is 2.30 per hour. $55 per day.

One could spend the entire amount and more but few do. I refuse to eat fast food unless nothing else is availible. I eat pretty well on the road. I keep my perdiem in a separte account and I ended up my first year with about $4800 left over in my account. That includes the 2% cash rebate on my Costco AMEX.

A portion of it is taxable, maybe 20%.

Not sure about DFW and BWI, but generally you can park at an FBO for free, just give a generous tip to the driver each way. I think at BWI you can park at Signature. We have quite few BWI pilots, maybe someone will pipe in.

First day is usually an early airline flight and in some cases you may get an airplane at your home base. Plan on a late arrival back to your home base. By company policy, they have until 0300 AM to get you home without paying OT. I don't know many airline flights that arrive at 1200 to 0300 in the morning. I have been extended maybe three times in a little over a year of employment. If you get extended beyond 0300, it is a day of OT.

Hope this helps.

 

[brokeflyer]

you guys have to use your per diem?.....you dont get meals on the road from the company?

 

[Stinkbug]

Crew meals are provided upon request...$10 is deducted from our per diem per meal.

 

[John B]

Per diem is 2.30 per hour. $55 per day.

One could spend the entire amount and more but few do. I refuse to eat fast food unless nothing else is availible. I eat pretty well on the road. I keep my perdiem in a separte account and I ended up my first year with about $4800 left over in my account. That includes the 2% cash rebate on my Costco AMEX.

A portion of it is taxable, maybe 20%.

Not sure about DFW and BWI, but generally you can park at an FBO for free, just give a generous tip to the driver each way. I think at BWI you can park at Signature. We have quite few BWI pilots, maybe someone will pipe in.

First day is usually an early airline flight and in some cases you may get an airplane at your home base. Plan on a late arrival back to your home base. By company policy, they have until 0300 AM to get you home without paying OT. I don't know many airline flights that arrive at 1200 to 0300 in the morning. I have been extended maybe three times in a little over a year of employment. If you get extended beyond 0300, it is a day of OT.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for the reply. If one has a Sat. start day, what would be a likely time to get back? Do they usually wait until 0300 or is that just on occasion? Also, when you say "an early airline flight" would that generally be 0300 or 0700 (just an example)? I just want to make sure I understand. Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Sparse]

Thank you very much for the reply. If one has a Sat. start day, what would be a likely time to get back? Do they usually wait until 0300 or is that just on occasion? Also, when you say "an early airline flight" would that generally be 0300 or 0700 (just an example)? I just want to make sure I understand. Thank you very much for your help!

no saturday starts. start days are mon to thurs depending on fleet.

 

[XTW]

If one has a Sat. start day, what would be a likely time to get back?

Nobody starts on weekends. All start days are M-F, depending on which fleet you are assigned. Every other weekend is off.


X

 

[Sparse]

you guys have to use your per diem?.....you dont get meals on the road from the company?

Isn't that what per diem is for? I know what you are talking about but you just wait, your company will come back at you eventually and want to eliminate that perk. I was a union member too long not to know that.

 

[Just Peachy]

crew meals

Stinkbug...
Thats a pretty good deal, 10 bucks per meal deducted from your per diem, and still getting 25 bucks. Hows the quality of the food??... They pick the stuff or do you get some input?? What happens when they order, and you get your flt plan changed and go somewhere else?

Since the company has limited us on our meals, the quality has decidedly gone down and the meals are just plain cheap for the most part, and yes, some are of good quality. uke:

 

[RNObased]

Isn't that what per diem is for? I know what you are talking about but you just wait, your company will come back at you eventually and want to eliminate that perk. I was a union member too long not to know that.

I have no doubt that you are correct. That will be a interesting battle. The quality has gone down hill so bad that I don't want the crew meal most of the time anymore, but it is better then starving, barely. However if the quality of what you guys are getting isn't better then ours, I won't pay a dime for it.

However the new guys think the food is great, guess it is all your frame of reference.

 

[Sparse]

I have no doubt that you are correct. That will be a interesting battle. The quality has gone down hill so bad that I don't want the crew meal most of the time anymore, but it is better then starving, barely. However if the quality of what you guys are getting isn't better then ours, I won't pay a dime for it.

However the new guys think the food is great, guess it is all your frame of reference.

The quality is usualy acceptable but on occasion not so good. I figure I am going to spend 10 bucks on lunch anyway, so it's a conveniance thing. I have had some really outstanding meals though. I typically get maybe one or two crew meals a tour, other times I usually have time to grab a crew car and get some really good local food.

 

[Guitar rocker]

Isn't that what per diem is for? I know what you are talking about but you just wait, your company will come back at you eventually and want to eliminate that perk. I was a union member too long not to know that.

Sure it is. But as you know, when you have no time to run out and use that per diem, how else are we supposed to eat anything? Hey, if you think that "perk" will be eliminated....here is the alternative. ....we dont do quick turns, we run into town (which may be a nice ride away) and eat something which we want to eat. That wouldnt be the most effective or efficient means of running this type of operation. Time is money, right???

My guess is that CS or NJA would be happy to provide us with meals if that is the alternative.

Last but not least, what does being a "union memeber" have anything to do with this issue??? Some of you CS guys love to bring up union this and union that whenever you can, even when it is not applicable as in this case.

 

[brokeflyer]

that sucks you guys have to pay for that....if they wanna take ours away that's fine with me......we'll just take 4.5 hours out of our day to go eat somewhere.....they tried that before and that's why we have free crew meals. Now, when were not flying or just sittin the hotel then we have to buy our own food.....I like to eat good so I would spend about $40 a tour on my own food

 

[FLYLOW22]

Last but not least, what does being a "union memeber" have anything to do with this issue??? Some of you CS guys love to bring up union this and union that whenever you can, even when it is not applicable as in this case.

Interesting question.

 

[Majik]

Isn't that what per diem is for? I know what you are talking about but you just wait, your company will come back at you eventually and want to eliminate that perk. I was a union member too long not to know that.

Our per diem is to buy food when we are not actively assigned flight duty (Scheduled trips or Hot Spare).

The company has a choice:
A. Provide them with crew meals while they are flying and keep the aircraft occupied and moving.
B. Deny them crew meals and let them go get their own food during meal periods and lose a leg or 2 worth of flying each day.

The cost of a crewed aircraft when needed is much more expensive than the cost of a grilled salmon and a sliced pork loin crew meal.

As to your union member comment - Because WE decided to have a binding agreement with our management the company HAS to get our approval before they randomly take something like crew meals or per diem away. Sure, the company could ask us if we wanted to do away with either crew meals or per diem but based on their 2 choices, why would they?

Did that answer your question?

 

[Sparse]

Last but not least, what does being a "union memeber" have anything to do with this issue??? Some of you CS guys love to bring up union this and union that whenever you can, even when it is not applicable as in this case.

What is applicable is, and I am just guessing, that it is part of your contract. When your contract comes up for negotiation, you can bet NJA will want some adjustments for cost savings. Everything is negotiable and nothing remains the same. Didn't you just see a scaling back of your meal choices? That is what I meant. I saw it happen in about 7 -8 contract negotiations. I repect your choice in belonging to a union. I prefer not to belong to one so I chose a company that tends to treat it's employees well enough that one is not needed. I experienced a union, that I paid over 100,000 dollars in dues money over my career, abandon me when I retired and would not defend the very retirement they negoatiated. I hope your union never abandons it's members, whether their active, furloughed or retired. To many airline types, not all, ALPA has put a bad taste in our mouths for unions. I hope you understand.

 

[John B]

Thank you for the replies!!!!!!!! Can anyone describe a "typical" day or tour? Do the days feel long? Theoretically, if you had another job that paid more than double the starting pay at CS, would you consider going there for the quality-of-life? I realize that is a difficult question, but are people basically happy and grateful for the opportunities at CS? Thanks again!

 

[Sparse]

Thank you for the replies!!!!!!!! Can anyone describe a "typical" day or tour? Do the days feel long? Theoretically, if you had another job that paid more than double the starting pay at CS, would you consider going there for the quality-of-life? I realize that is a difficult question, but are people basically happy and grateful for the opportunities at CS? Thanks again!

That's a tough one. If you are making twice the starting pay, you have to figure on taking 3-4 years to get back to that level. Who knows where this industry is headed. Not knowing what quality of life issues you are facing it would be hard to answer. You have to be willing to be away from home 6 nights at a time. The days are not that bad. I can count on one hand the number of 14 hour days I have had in a little over a year. Most days are 10 hour max. Many are shorter. It all dpends on the fleet. 7 days off is nice.

 

[John B]

That's a tough one. If you are making twice the starting pay, you have to figure on taking 3-4 years to get back to that level. Who knows where this industry is headed. Not knowing what quality of life issues you are facing it would be hard to answer. You have to be willing to be away from home 6 nights at a time. The days are not that bad. I can count on one hand the number of 14 hour days I have had in a little over a year. Most days are 10 hour max. Many are shorter. It all dpends on the fleet. 7 days off is nice.

Thank you! 7 days off sounds VERY nice. Also, knowing the schedule for a year is VERY appealing. Everybody seems to have positive opinions about the company. Thanks again!

 

[FRACTRASH]

It never fails. You get the same NJ jack offs on here blowing there own Horn. Who gives a blank if you get meals and we don't. You're like that kid down the street who gets a new bike and can't wait to tell all the kids on street to try to make them jealous. We all have it pretty good. Just do us all a favor and the next time you see CS in the title, just stay out of the post. NJ have to be the most winy pilots I've ever seen in my career.