furloughfodder said:
The 2 planes that are in Marana .... what does it mean that they "are ready"? Have they flown trips yet? Evergreen is notorious for having "bought" planes and then you never actually see them on the line.
Also, I thought they had 11 planes, and that the 2 more would bring them up to 13 planes total. Did they park one recently? Or is one being used as the firebomber?
Thanks!
One of them is fully operational, already got an Evergreen N number, and was actually scheduled to fly MZJ-JFK today. However, that departure has been pushed back to tomorrow. Flights are already listed in CrewTrac for this aircraft, so this one is online now.
The second one is still in MZJ, and I'm not sure when it's going to JFK. But rest assured, this aircraft will come out very shortly (less than two weeks).
About your fleet number question, there are 10 planes, including one firefighter, and then the 2 more planes coming in make it a total of 12.
Right now, the firefighter aircraft, aircraft #470, is used for cargo flights just like the other airplanes. So, it's like a 'part-time' firefighter aircraft.
According to that same HR guy I mentioned above, he said that aircraft 470 will be devoted full time to firefighting activities, and the two planes coming online will be normal cargo airplanes. So, to sum it up, it means there are 11 cargo planes, and 1 full time firefighter.
On a side note, I just wanna add that the MZJ to JFk flight tomorrow will be operated as a ferry flight under part 91 rules, and apparently, the captain on that flight is 61 years old. I guess that as long as you have a valid medical, you are fine under part 91 (no age 60 rule thing)...
But, captains here are required to retire at age 60, like at any other 121 carrier. Some captains who have a A/P certificate, and a flight engineer turbojet rating have put in requests for a FE position (which they get priority over any new hire PFEs coming in).