TSA hiring into left seat?

[bladeusa]

well im not at TSA so i cant speak on their behalf... but i kinda agree the whole deal sucks for those already there... and how does it affected junior FO's who dont have the time? id say it does.. if senior FO's were allowed to bid over then they would move up the FO list.. get a better line.. get off reserve etc.. just my thoughts..

 

[TWA Dude]

...if senior FO's were allowed to bid over then they would move up the FO list

Allowed to bid over to where? The cqfo's have the seniority of newhires so the regular fo's bid senior to all of the them. The cqfo's assigned captain lines don't affect fo bidding. Mind you, we're talking about fo's with the seniority but not the company required flight time to upgrade. I don't see how they're harmed.

Dude

 

[rush061272]

FO bids get rejected because CQFO's took the available CA slots. Do not tell me you were "assigned". There are plenty of CQ's cover letters for the inteview requesting, or being highly interested in that position. I think if AMR would start hiring off the street without recalling you, you would understand how it feels to lose your position to someone who does not belong there.
There are plenty of 41 FO's with time to upgrade. Last few jet classes had 41 FO going to CA jet position that's at least 3200 hours and 1000 turbine. The reason they do not upgrade FO's on the 41 because CQFO's are cheaper. Whether it is CQ's fault or not they have taken away the positions which were earned by the current FO's.

 

[nck4857]

Allowed to bid over to where? The cqfo's have the seniority of newhires so the regular fo's bid senior to all of the them. The cqfo's assigned captain lines don't affect fo bidding. Mind you, we're talking about fo's with the seniority but not the company required flight time to upgrade. I don't see how they're harmed.

The cqfo's are bidding as captains, captain lines. The FO seniority list has barely changed because these new hires are not on it, they go straight to the captain bidding list. Hardly any of the fo's are upgrading so none of the fo's have moved up at all in the last 3 years on the fo list, therefore they are still on reserve after 3 years. None of the cqfo's are being placed below us on the fo list. Scheduling basically treats these very junior cqfo's as captains. Also, there are PLENTY OF QUALIFIED FO'S WAITING TO UPGRADE, many of which have over 3 or 4 years of seniority. If the company had done it right from the beginning, many of the fo's would have upgraded by now and therefore every fo still bidding as an fo would be bidding better lines and schedules.

 

[acaTerry]

Just for curiosity, how are the 41 skeds? AT ACA 11 off, 12 if WAY senior.
How is RSV? Commutable or do they keep you till Whitlow kicks in on the last day of the RSV bank? At ACA, if not called by 1700 on last RSV day....released. But RSV can statrt as early as 0001 on the first day...so you commute on a day off.
Do the RSV days come in 3's or are they scattered around in 2's?

 

[nck4857]

Right now the schedules are pretty crappy, lineholders are getting 11 days off, with a couple of senior pilots getting 12 days off. Reserve is somewhat commutable, depending on where you commute from. Reserve pilots have 10 days off. We can usually call in and get a reserve time starting around 9 or 10am so as long as you can get in before that, it is possible to commute in on the same day. The only problem is that we're so under staffed and scheduling is so messed up that everything doesn't always work like it should. Also, as long as there is adequate coverage, they will generally let you move your reserve days around throughout the month, but even then everything is still subject to change by scheduling. During the pref bid trial period, there were many of us with 14, 15 or even 16 days off per month.

 

[acaTerry]

I heard that the pref bid is supposed to be coming back soon?

 

[temcgrew]

They arent hiring any more CQFO's. I think the company learned their lesson though. They have created a lot of problems on the line and now are quitting at a rate of about 1 per week. Or not cutting it in the sim

The company had only planned to hire so many, you make it sound like the got scared and decided not to hire any more!!! Maybe they were scared of the big bad alpa reps at tsa!!!

As for CQFO's not cutting it in the sim, the majority of the december class has time in the aircraft. There are 5 upgrades in the december class and 13 CQFO's and the only busted checkride so far was a 3 1/2 year FO who is upgrading!!!

I'm not sure about the ones who are quitting at a rate of about 1 per week, that could be true.

before anyone gets down on this, didn't CHQ do this for SAAB captains when they were growing into an all jet fleet? It was for growth, and it seemed to work for them.

 

[TWA Dude]

FO bids get rejected because CQFO's took the available CA slots.

I agree that a certain number of eligible fo's are being bypassed for upgrade. That's wrong and it's being grieved.

Do not tell me you were "assigned".

I didn't bid for it and neither was my preference ever considered. I was in fact assigned. You can try to pin blame on pilots but it really belongs on management.

I think if AMR would start hiring off the street without recalling you, you would understand how it feels to lose your position to someone who does not belong there.

You're right. I've never, ever seen an airline violate a contract. I have no idea how that could possibly feel. (read sarcasm)

Whether it is CQ's fault or not they have taken away the positions which were earned by the current FO's.

Who's taken away the upgrades, cqfo's or TSA management? Once you figure that out perhaps you'll know where to direct your anger.

Dude

 

[TWA Dude]

The FO seniority list has barely changed because these new hires are not on it, they go straight to the captain bidding list.

Not true. All the cqfo's start out bidding as fo's. The past two months I've bid as fo.

Hardly any of the fo's are upgrading so none of the fo's have moved up at all in the last 3 years on the fo list, therefore they are still on reserve after 3 years.

Perhaps in STL but certainly not in RIC.

None of the cqfo's are being placed below us on the fo list.

Please peruse the RIC list and be more informed.

Scheduling basically treats these very junior cqfo's as captains.

Scheduling treats every pilot the same way; like crap. They use cqfo's as captains when they need it. That's the whole point and it's in the contract. What's not in the contract is hiring cqfo's and delaying upgrades, hence the grievances.

Also, there are PLENTY OF QUALIFIED FO'S WAITING TO UPGRADE, many of which have over 3 or 4 years of seniority. If the company had done it right from the beginning, many of the fo's would have upgraded by now and therefore every fo still bidding as an fo would be bidding better lines and schedules.

You posted some inaccurate statements as supporting evidence so I still don't see how fo's without the time for upgrade are directly harmed by the presence of cqfo's. This isn't guesswork by me; I've been bidding as fo these past two months with only other cqfo's junior to me. Next month I was assigned to bid as captain and once again only cqfo's are junior to me.

Dude