Flight Options - July 1

[guido411]

NRH,

Good questions, but there seems to be no answer to the first question. Despite many people asking on the company FAQ site "WHAT constitutes a Tier 3 airport?" there has been no black and white answer. Basically it seems somebody in a higher up position than the rest of us, randomly decided one day what was going to be what. No money savings have been conveyed to us pilots. No rhyme nor reason has been applied, or at least passed on to us either. Fact is when the first revision to the original Tier list came out, some former Tier 2's where reclassified as Tier 3's. Again, nobody told us WHY. Every guy I've flown with that is at a Tier 3 has always taken the approach that they're going to fly out on the first flight of the day and arrive on the last flight of the day, anything else was just icing on the cake. So it's not because some people have been difficult that they've decided to do this.

As for your second question, the Tier 3 guys (that don't quit or are fired) will not have to MOVE but will have to claim a current Tier 1 or 2 domicile to commute from. In other words, the company will let you live anywhere but they'll only buy you an airline ticket from a Tier 1 or 2. For many people in Tier 3's this is not a viable option because the closest airport (other than their current domicile) is far, far away. Many of the people I have talked to have decided to stay where they are and make the company fire them as to collect unemployment while they find a new job.

Also for the Tier 3 guys, the company is being so kind as to provide a hotel room for them in their new domicile on the night BEFORE Day 1 and AFTER Day 8 so they can be in position for a flight at the a$$-crack of dwan the nest day and then be well rested for the 5 hr trip home after Day 8. Basically, they're allowing a person to work a 10 on 5 off schedule. They are going to provide this "benefit" for a year after Sept. 1 to allow time for Tier 3 guys to relocate.

But, seeing as how you don't work for FLOPs this may all be a moot point because if you hire on here you will HAVE to select a Tier 1 and if you ever want to move it will have to be to another Tier 1 only. Hope this answeres your last question. And if you find somebody that knows HOW they classified the Tier list, post it here because I know about 800 other FLOPs pilots that would like an explaination.

 

[NRHPilot]

guido411,

Thanks for your time in answering my questions. That is what I needed to know.

NRH

 

[On Your Six]

Fleet transitions...

A little off topic, but how's the transition to 4-5 fleet types going? Are the Citation (CJ, III, and V) pilots quickly being reallocated to the Beechjet or Hawker fleets? What about the F50, CL601 and GIV pilots - are they racing to claim their Legacy seats?

I realize that many of these aircraft may still be on the property for a long while (until the contracts run out), but I would imagine that some of the transition is starting to take place. Along those lines, how many Citation Xs are expected to be on the property through the end of 2005 - are you adding many more or is Swift still flying them?

Lastly, what percentage of your Hawker 800XPs are XP-Cs with the new flight deck? Thanks

 

[guido411]

NRH,

No problem.

Six,

The transition to 4 fleet types will be slow (4-5 years) but has been going faster than anticipated. But there are many owners that will sit till the end of their contract. There are many CJ owners that always ride on 400s, haven't seen a CJ in months. Also many CIII owners riding on 800s or better. Would you be in a hurry to spend more money for what you already get? neither would I.

As for pilots of expiring fleets, I think they are being merged into the 4 fleets according to what their seniority will hold. I assume this because people are leaving in droves and yet no bids come out. These seats have to be filled by somebody.

As for the CXs. I think we have 7 to date and I think 2 of these are owned and operated by FLOPs. A couple of the Xs are owned by us but flown by Swift due to a long term pilot service agreement of some kind and a couple are owned AND operated by Swift on a lease or charter agreement of sorts. All new Xs will be crewed and owned by FLOPs and the Swift birds will be crewed by us when the contracts expire. The ones that Swift own may have to be bought by us later or we may have to buy a coople others since we have no ownership.

Lastly for the XP-Collins, no clue. I know all the newest XPs have them and all future deliveries will have the Pro-Line but have no idea how many on property.

 

[Heavy Set]

NRH,

No problem.

Six,

The transition to 4 fleet types will be slow (4-5 years) but has been going faster than anticipated. But there are many owners that will sit till the end of their contract. There are many CJ owners that always ride on 400s, haven't seen a CJ in months. Also many CIII owners riding on 800s or better. Would you be in a hurry to spend more money for what you already get? neither would I.

As for pilots of expiring fleets, I think they are being merged into the 4 fleets according to what their seniority will hold. I assume this because people are leaving in droves and yet no bids come out. These seats have to be filled by somebody.

As for the CXs. I think we have 7 to date and I think 2 of these are owned and operated by FLOPs. A couple of the Xs are owned by us but flown by Swift due to a long term pilot service agreement of some kind and a couple are owned AND operated by Swift on a lease or charter agreement of sorts. All new Xs will be crewed and owned by FLOPs and the Swift birds will be crewed by us when the contracts expire. The ones that Swift own may have to be bought by us later or we may have to buy a coople others since we have no ownership.

Lastly for the XP-Collins, no clue. I know all the newest XPs have them and all future deliveries will have the Pro-Line but have no idea how many on property.

Good post Guido. I am sure having both the regular XP and XP-C versions just adds to the logistical complexity that FLOPS management wants to eliminate in terms of training and crew scheduling. NJA has the same situation and I am sure they both would like to standardize on the XP-C as soon as possible.

As for the X, I am sure the pilots transitioning from the CL-601 fleet are having a tough time squeezing into that narrow cockpit (at least it gets to the destination quicker).