Virgin America QOL

[Flyer1015]

Hey guys got a couple of questions about VX. I'm really thinking about Virgin as it seems the culture is great. I live in ORD and I'm concerned about commuting. How is it and is there a commuter policy? Are there lots of folks that also commute? Does it seem when Virgin further expands down the road will there be a centrally located crew domicile? I know in IAD they let you start pairings out there for commuters, is this true for O'Hare also? Sorry if these have been answered before. I'm just an RJ captain looking for a chill friendly place to work.

We have many ORD commuters, and it's also a place where other Midwest guys go through for those who have 2-leg commutes (like from SDF, IND, etc). There are two flight deck jumpseats and if you're in uniform, you can jumpseat on the extra FA jumpseat. Some of our airplanes have 1 extra, and some have 3 extra FA jumpseats. As long as no FA is listed on it, you can get that in worse case scenario. That FA jumpseat is limited to only VX FAs and pilots, not other airline. The commuter policy is 1 in rolling 12 months, and if you get 2 then you get a PIP in your file (performance improvement plan, and then gets flushed after a year or two). When VX expands, it seems they are still concentrating on California. I highly doubt a central US base would open up anytime soon, and even if it did, it would go super senior. As for those IAD pairings, that's been long gone. You will be based at either SFO or LAX. JFK is a small base that is super senior.

And yes the pilot window is now closed. I would imagine that it will open up again in the summer/fall time.

 

[sealy101]

Spirit is hiring and I suspect we will have a base in ord soon.
Feel free to take a look.

 

[lowapprch]

Spirit is hiring and I suspect we will have a base in ord soon.
Feel free to take a look.

Really? Interested now. How's the life at spirit? Is it overall a good atmosphere?

 

[sealy101]

I have been here just over a year. Prior Crj capt. I love it.

 

[Atccfi]

I know this has been discussed a little before, but I fear the info may be dated.
1) How would QOL be for someone living near IAD?
2)Could you expect to layover at home much? Maybe sit reserve at home at all?
3) How about general reserve QOL? Thank you.

 

[145drvr]

I know this has been discussed a little before, but I fear the info may be dated.
1) How would QOL be for someone living near IAD?
2)Could you expect to layover at home much? Maybe sit reserve at home at all?
3) How about general reserve QOL? Thank you.

I'm an east coast commuter (2 leg) and I commute thru IAD a lot (especially to SFO). For commuting from the East it is definitely one of the better/easier places to commute from. Also I've been on reserve for awhile, just now holding a line.

1) I don't live in the area so someone else would have to field this one

2) I would say yes. I did seem to get a good number of IAD layovers while on reserve. Once holding a line you could setup your pref bid to try to get as many as possible. As far as LCR (long call reserve), you could probably make it work, even more so since call out is now 14hours instead of 12. We had a guy do LCR from Charlotte and he never had a problem. It was too difficult for me to do with a 2 leg commute. LCR guys also get to pick their preference of trips in open time while short call does not. If you use Fedex to commute you can be in SFO by 6am.

3)The reserve QOL is getting much better. 75 hours guarantee from 70 for reserves. plus $5 more per hour under the new pay scale. Min 12 days off instead of the usual 10. first use/last use choice. And some other changes that make it better. Also we are getting into the busier schedule months, so you will most likely fly more than sit around.

overall IAD is a good place to commute from. If you are on short call reserve your first day will be a PM day with a start time of 3:30pm so you can commute out that morning. You can ride on VX but UAL is always available with many flights throughout the day. That early morning UAL flight always seems to have a good amount of open seats. I usually take the 8am(ish) (dept times are always changing) UAL flight and have always gotten on, although sometimes upfront. The crews always treat me great. I then use the 10:25am VX flight as my backup. Good luck!

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Being at the other end of the list I can't advise you on reserve life out of IAD, but I can add info on our internal jumpseat policy. All planes have 2 up front, and one or more available FA cabin JS depending on configuration.

First JS up front belongs to first VA pilot to the gate, the second belongs to senior VA pilot at door close. This way junior pilots have a pretty equal chance at getting on while respecting seniority. We have very few FA commuters out of IAD, but numerous very senior pilots.

FA cabin JS is open to VA pilots in uniform behind VA FAs.

I have commuted out of IAD since the start, have had to ride up front several times, but to my knowledge no VA pilot has been left behind.

 

[BuckMurdock1]

Min 12 days off instead of the usual 10

Just to clarify; this is only for months with 31 days I believe--of which there are 7.

 

[Chairman]

Just to clarify; this is only for months with 31 days I believe--of which there are 7.

Incorrect now 12 every month minimum

 

[Flyer1015]

Prior, you owed 19 RDP (basically reserve days) per month. So for those bid months with 30 days, you got 11 days off (30-19 = 11). Bid months with 31 days you got 12 days off (31-19 = 12).

Jan, Feb, and March were all 30 day bid months.

Jan 1-30
Jan 31 - March 1
March 2 -31

In those 3 months, you got 11 days off.

Now, effective on the day the reserve rules are implemented (I think June 1) every reserve pilots get 12 days off per bid period.

 

[blackbox]

Dont forget Min. 3 days off between RDPs. I have also heard, its not uncommon to get released early on your last day of reserve. Some as early as 9 am. There is now some pay protection for being used late on your last day, but I havent really read it. Someone may be able to explain that rule better.

 

[fob727]

On a different note...I took the online assessment a few weeks ago, can anyone say how long till you hear back?

 

[bri5150]

Dont forget Min. 3 days off between RDPs. I have also heard, its not uncommon to get released early on your last day of reserve. Some as early as 9 am. There is now some pay protection for being used late on your last day, but I havent really read it. Someone may be able to explain that rule better.

While I was quite happy with the reserve work rule changes, the last day protection was a little on the weak side. If they call you on the morning on your last day and put you on reduced rest to do something later that day, then you get premium pay above guarantee. Needless to say, there are lots of ways to use you late on your last day without doing that. All they have to do is give it to you the night before or if a 4 day gets back late, then no extra. Anyone else interperet that differently?

 

[Flyer1015]

Dont forget Min. 3 days off between RDPs. I have also heard, its not uncommon to get released early on your last day of reserve. Some as early as 9 am. There is now some pay protection for being used late on your last day, but I havent really read it. Someone may be able to explain that rule better.

3 days off in between, except last/first 5 days of a month (transition).

I was only on reserve for one month, but at the end of every reserve duty period days (before days off) I called on my last day and was released by 12noon-1pm every time. YMMV.

Pay protection on last day only applies in one way. Report after your original end of reserve duty period. For example, suppose the last day is reserve 6am to 3:30pm. If they call you at 6am and tell you that you are going to rest until 4pm, then report for a LAS turn, leaving at 5pm and back at 8:30pm, then in this case you get the pay overage. If you have been assigned a regular trip from before that ends on your last day of reserve at 8pm, you get nothing, just regular pay.

 

[bri5150]

I was only on reserve for one month, but at the end of every reserve duty period days (before days off) I called on my last day and was released by 12noon-1pm every time. YMMV.

If they don't have anything by the morning of your last day, and they are not extremely short of reservists, they will usually let you go around 9 or 10 am. That said, if there is a turn available, no matter when it ends, they will give it to you if nobody else has just one day left. That seems to be their number one priority. Even if there are five other guys on, they will give it to the guy with one day left and get you done late. I understand the theory, but it is frustrating. That is the reason they tried to address it with the new rules.

Please don't take this post as bitching. Reserve is reserve. That's the way it goes. But this is the number one complaint of everyone on reserve. To end on a happy note, here is one of the best features of reserve at Virgin America. 90% of the time they schedule your reserve period to start late on your first day and end early on your last. For commuters (which everyone is) this is worth 3 or 4 days off a month.

 

[AEROSQUADRON69]

From those who work there...does it sound like many pilots will be when/if the majors start hiring?

Hows the internal vibe with all that is or isn't happening financially?

 

[bri5150]

No questiin we will lose some to majors from what I can tell. Most guys were happy withrecent raise, but it probably won't be enoigh to keep everyone around. A lot of fo's that were here for quick upgrade will bail I'm sure.
As far as financials, I would say more are negative about it than positive. Personally, looking at numbers I would say we are slowly turning the corner to profits and IPO. 4q2012 operational profit for 1st time in history and 1q2013 looking better than their goal (still loss, but nowhere even near last year) both speak to my opinion. From what I can see and hear, there is no question we will make an operational profit for the year unless monster spike in fuel or some unforeseen disaster.

 

[LoveGun]

From those who work there...does it sound like many pilots will be when/if the majors start hiring?

Hows the internal vibe with all that is or isn't happening financially?

I always hear that someone knows someone who wants to leave VA but I have yet to actually meet a pilot that's actively seeking other oportunities. I'm not even a quarter of the way up the captain list and I get 19 days off per month and 84 hours. It's hard to walk away from this cake lifestyle -- the recent raise has helped me make up my mind.

As for the financials... I've always been a skeptic but recently it seems like they really got a handle on things. I agree with the previous poster, we should post a yearly operating profit for 2013 and IPO sometime soon after that.

 

[aa73]

Forget all that QOL and pay stuff. What's important is, have you guys gotten rid of those MIB uniforms yet?

 

[blackbox]

From those who work there...does it sound like many pilots will be when/if the majors start hiring?

Hows the internal vibe with all that is or isn't happening financially?

My guess is the Captains will stay. A good number of FOs will leave. From what I understand we are losing a lot of pilots as is. I think this year will be telling. As bri5150 states this year looks profitable, but I think thats what they expected 2012 to be as well. But until the official numbers come in, I think there will be a lot of uncertainty and people will continue to leave.