Will Comair's 700/900's go Senior or Junior

[PA44Jockey]

Just curious if what your thoughts are on how the group will bid the next few times around.

 

[DDpaysoff]

There are stil displaced captains for the 15 a/c that we gave to skywest and ASA. So they have first rights to any vacancy regardless of seniority. Now keep in mind we took a pretty big paycut and the CVG base was downsized, so there are 7-8 year 50 seat captains on reserve in CVG. Some will probably bid the 70 vacancies for the raise since they will be on reserve either way.

As for FO's, I haven't looked at the new contract that closely, I just voted no and said F it. But, I believe the rates are now the same for both the 50 and 70. If that's the case FO's will go very junior. Especially since a handful of the senior 70 fo's 7-8 year guys and gals bit the bullet and upgraded. That being said, with jfk upgrades dipping into the 4 year seniority area I would imagine a lot of 3 and 4 year FO's will avoid the seat lock.

When the settlement claim is paid out, look for attrition back to the levels it was near the end of bankruptcy for a while. I heard that HR has recieved 250 pilot records requests in the last month.

So all in all I think the lifers will fly the 70 and the FO's will be very junior and new hires. If/when the MCO and GSO bases close that may change the FO list and shake up a few things since displaced fo's would not have a seat lock. It's going to be a rough summer for staffing, that I can promise.

 

[Beergut]

It will probably go junior at first until they get more than a few of them on line. The 700 at ASA is still junior because the schedules suck so bad. However, that is starting to change because the schedules for the 200 suck just as bad now and more people are making the jump because if your schedule is going to suck anyway you might as well get paid more for it.(It actually goes from very senior to junior with the mid-tier guys staying on the 200)

 

[wmuflyguy]

There are stil displaced captains for the 15 a/c that we gave to skywest and ASA. So they have first rights to any vacancy regardless of seniority. Now keep in mind we took a pretty big paycut and the CVG base was downsized, so there are 7-8 year 50 seat captains on reserve in CVG. Some will probably bid the 70 vacancies for the raise since they will be on reserve either way.

As for FO's, I haven't looked at the new contract that closely, I just voted no and said F it. But, I believe the rates are now the same for both the 50 and 70. If that's the case FO's will go very junior. Especially since a handful of the senior 70 fo's 7-8 year guys and gals bit the bullet and upgraded. That being said, with jfk upgrades dipping into the 4 year seniority area I would imagine a lot of 3 and 4 year FO's will avoid the seat lock.

When the settlement claim is paid out, look for attrition back to the levels it was near the end of bankruptcy for a while. I heard that HR has recieved 250 pilot records requests in the last month.

So all in all I think the lifers will fly the 70 and the FO's will be very junior and new hires. If/when the MCO and GSO bases close that may change the FO list and shake up a few things since displaced fo's would not have a seat lock. It's going to be a rough summer for staffing, that I can promise.

The 70/76 seater pays slightly more for FO's. Both FO scales are like 59.7%(or somewhere around there) of CA pay.

 

[Speedtape]

Just curious if what your thoughts are on how the group will bid the next few times around.

That is probably hard to determine in the context of your question, but it will go high within the displaced group. Roughly 130 positions on the 50 will go away and 130 positions on the 70/90 will materialize. It will probably go senior within each position (Captain and F/O) within that group that is displaced. However, some of those midrangers may decide that QOL is better by remaining on the 50 versus switching to the larger airframe.

 

[BenderGonzales]

Shiny jet syndrome will prevail. Those whose ego rests on the size of the tube they fly will flock to this thing.

The passengers, in the meantime, will look down that loooong tiny fuselage, (imagine a jet-powered Metroliner) and pine for the days that a 100 seat airplane meant DC9, 737-200, or F100 (variable wide-bodies by comparison).

 

[Blucher]

Shiny jet syndrome will prevail. Those whose ego rests on the size of the tube they fly will flock to this thing.

The passengers, in the meantime, will look down that loooong tiny fuselage, (imagine a jet-powered Metroliner) and pine for the days that a 100 seat airplane meant DC9, 737-200, or F100 (variable wide-bodies by comparison).

I can only guess you meant "veritable," not "variable." Other than that, I agree 100% with your assessment.

-Blucher

 

[PA44Jockey]

I'm thinking with attrition and upgrades in JFK that many 3 to 4 year FO's will hang out and wait for the upgrade like you said. Possibly this will lighten the blow on the 70 guys that got raped in the last agreement. A bunch of junior FO's will come in below them and increase their QOL.

 

[dal757]

how long is upgrade currently running at Comair? Do ya'll think it will begin to drop?

 

[captainv]

how long is upgrade currently running at Comair? Do ya'll think it will begin to drop?

4.5 years, but they keep delaying the classes. apparently JFK is supposed to be fat with captains this summer, so they might delay classes again. of course, the minute the bankruptcy claims go through, we'll lose a number of guys. this will come as an absolute surprise to planning, and staffing will suffer until they can jam us through the sim.

still no growth at Comair, but with the attrition after the bankruptcy claim, there will be more upgrades.