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Virgin America QOL...this time lets keep it about QOL

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Junior2

The one and only
Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Posts
30
I want to know the basics about Virgin America as it stands TODAY. The last post was about 90% about financials. I couldn't care less about financials...rather, I need current line pilots to answer some basic questions about life on reserve in SFO and LAX as well as what the line holder sees.

I have worked for a stagnant shrinking company for the last 8 years, and really don't care about the future beyond the nest 2 years at Virgin.

I have an interview set up for the end of this month, and it is important that the schedule is able to work for me.

1. What is the time frame for training, where is it done, and do I have Jumpseat benefits during training?

2. What is reserve like for a Seattle Commuter? Can you be junior and get long call? What are the call out times for both long and short call?

3. What income can I plan on during training? How about first year?

4. Medical benefits? I need to put my wife and 2 kids on them...how much does this cost?

5. What ability do you have to swap schedules on both reserve and the line?

6. How many pilots (a good guess is fine) are based in Seattle?

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, keep this thread based on what is asked and about QOL of a junior and senior pilot.

Thank You
 
I want to know the basics about Virgin America as it stands TODAY. The last post was about 90% about financials. I couldn't care less about financials...rather, I need current line pilots to answer some basic questions about life on reserve in SFO and LAX as well as what the line holder sees.

I have worked for a stagnant shrinking company for the last 8 years, and really don't care about the future beyond the nest 2 years at Virgin.

I have an interview set up for the end of this month, and it is important that the schedule is able to work for me.

1. What is the time frame for training, where is it done, and do I have Jumpseat benefits during training?

2. What is reserve like for a Seattle Commuter? Can you be junior and get long call? What are the call out times for both long and short call?

3. What income can I plan on during training? How about first year?

4. Medical benefits? I need to put my wife and 2 kids on them...how much does this cost?

5. What ability do you have to swap schedules on both reserve and the line?

6. How many pilots (a good guess is fine) are based in Seattle?

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, keep this thread based on what is asked and about QOL of a junior and senior pilot.

Thank You

1. Training was short from what I was used to. A month and a half from day one through LOFT in San Francisco

2. Long call is 14 hours and short call is 2 hours. It seems as though long call is going senior, but once you can hold it, Seattle should work well for you.

3. First year is $49 an hour and no soft money. Reserve pays 75 hours a month now, so that's a nice boost. I think training was $2500 a month if I am not mistaken. I could be wrong though

4. Medical is $123 a paycheck for me. It is family coverage but I can't remember the plan we are on. My wife is in charge of that. :)

5. We just got the ability to swap days on reserve. On a line, it is quite easy from what I understand. It's all automatic. Scheduler not involved.

6. Not sure how many are in Seattle, but I wouldn't worry about the commute if you can take VX. I've never had a jumpseater from VX on the jumpseat out of SEA.
 
Also, just to add a few things about your situation. I don't have first hand information, but I believe they are just hiring to fill the pool at this point. I don't know when they are going to run classes again once they are through April or May. Just be prepared to be in the pool for a while. Of course, everything can change in a real hurry around here. It seems to be the way of things.
 
Is Training just Monday - Friday 8-5 with weekends off? How soon can you jumpseat, Day one?

Ground school is Monday through Friday, but sims are whenever they schedule you. I think we were able to jumpseat by the end of week one.
 
Junior2,

Sorry that I cannot add to the reserve discussion, but I can give you a little bit more on commuting. We have 2 flight deck JS in every plane. Priority for VX pilots is first come for the first JS, senior at door close for the second JS. This way everyone gets a fair chance. You can also sit FA jumpseat if there are no FAs taking it, so long as you commute in uniform. Cabin jumpseats vary by tail number. There are a lot of company FAs and pilots commuting out of SEA and summer loads can be full.

You will get your badge and entered into cass before the first weekend of indoc.

Have fun at the interview & best wishes,
Ralph
 
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1. What is the time frame for training, where is it done, and do I have Jumpseat benefits during training?
You can plan on SFO for all training events. Jumpseat as soon as you get your ID badge and entered into CASS. In my case, I started on a Monday and on Friday I got the badge and in CASS.

2. What is reserve like for a Seattle Commuter? Can you be junior and get long call? What are the call out times for both long and short call?
Long call usually goes senior for reserves. For the time being, I'd plan on being short call reserve, which is a 2 hr callout. Long call is 14 hrs, and you check your schedule the day before between a certain time window.

3. What income can I plan on during training? How about first year?
$2,500 flat through training. Once on reserve, $49/hr on a 75 hr guarantee. Virtually no chance to make any soft money on reserve. Per diem $2/hr.

4. Medical benefits? I need to put my wife and 2 kids on them...how much does this cost?
Kaiser HMO, Anthem Classic PPO, and Anthem Wellness PPO.

bri5150 quoted you $123 per paycheck, and that's the Anthem Wellness PPO plan, with the family cost (most expensive per paycheck). It covers you, the wife, and all the kids. For the wellness program, the deductible is $3000, but the first 1500 is paid by the company, you never see a bill. Then the next 1500 comes out of your pocket. After that, 90/10 split, 90% insurance pays and 10% you pay.

Kaiser I think is the cheapest (the HMO plan) but you are limited in terms of location and IMO don't have as much freedoms as with the regular plans. You have to get a referral every time to see a specialist, for example.

5. What ability do you have to swap schedules on both reserve and the line?
As a lineholder, you can add/drop/swap as reserve coverage allows. On reserve, there is no swapping schedules. Recently, I've heard with the new work rules you can swap around first day and/or last day of reserve, so maybe that's some leeway. As a lineholder, your QOL can be excellent with lots of opportunity for days off. Even our most junior lineholders get 17-18 days off.

6. How many pilots (a good guess is fine) are based in Seattle?

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, keep this thread based on what is asked and about QOL of a junior and senior pilot.

Thank You
Hard to say, but there is a lil bunch of VX commuters from SEA. Usually when I go to Seattle, we don't have a whole lot of JSers but coming back down we get stuffed with United pilots and FAs. From my personal experience, a good 90% of jumpseaters are all United pilots and FAs coming down from SEA to SFO. As a VX pilot, you will always have priority over them on a VX flight. Worse case scenario, you can get the flight deck jumpseats. Even worse case, you can get the FA jumpseat if no VX FA has taken it. The VX FA jumpseat can only be used by VX FAs and pilots.

FYI, I've never had a flight yet in which we had to leave behind a VX pilot because we were completely all full in the pilot and FA jumpseats.
 

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