World Airways

[psysicx]

How are schedules going to change with the new contract?And are you hoping for an increase in pay?

 

[AdlerDriver]

How are schedules going to change with the new contract?And are you hoping for an increase in pay?

I think the main change that will probably be in the new contract is 12 known days off each month for open flyers. There will probably be an option for the "whores" to volunteer to sell back some of their days off if they want to work overtime. That will give company all the flexibility they want, in my opinion. There's always a few who want $$ over QOL. It looked like we might have the option to pick up an open trip as an open flyer as well. That would be a nice improvement too.
If pay doesn't go up I'll be very surprised. We've had 8 profitable quarters in a row and upper management got some huge bonuses. I would bet good money we'll get a taste too. The contract is almost 2 years passed it's due date - so it's getting a little old.

 

[Heavy Set]

How do you like flying the MD-11? Fun to fly - any positives/negatives? Also, how is the quality of hotels in places like Hawaii, Korea and Europe?

Lastly, are people still being hired into the DC-10?

 

[psysicx]

Do most people plan to stay till retirement.

 

[AdlerDriver]

How do you like flying the MD-11? Fun to fly - any positives/negatives? Also, how is the quality of hotels in places like Hawaii, Korea and Europe?

Lastly, are people still being hired into the DC-10?

The MD-11 is a good airplane. I enjoy flying it. With average flight times of probably 10 hours per leg, I don’t fly it as much as mind the store. I try to hand fly it as often as I can during departure and approach ops. I probably get 3 landings per month on average. If I get stuck with a check airman giving OE, we have to have a full qualified crew if we go over 8 hours. That means we have 2 qualified FOs and the new guy plus the Captain. This avoids the doomsday scenario of the Captain taking a rest and the OE pilot having to fly the jet with a FO. That’s the FAAs interpretation of how it’s supposed to be done. I’ve had a couple of trips like that where the best you get is being the RO and doing all the paperwork. The other FO just sits and drools while the OE pilot gets all the landings. So, no landings that month. But I digress.

The -11 is the most automated aircraft I’ve flown (with the A320/319 a close second). It is very easy to operate. Its FMS operations are very similar to the A320. Boeing’s VNAV is better, I miss the “green arc”, and I don’t care for the -11s auto throttles. I’ve never flown the 747-400 but I know the bunk in the -11 can’t hold a candle to it. Ours does the job and we have some Delta lease -11s that have nicer bunks but they still could be better. Overall, I have minor complaints. It’s a nice jet with lots of power, good systems and is very reliable.



Hotel quality overseas tends to be very good. I call it the binary hotel system… They are either a 1 or a 0. Since we won’t accept a 0, we get the good ones. We stay at the Intercontinental in Frankfurt which is very nice. Our Kuwait layover has been in a brand new high-rise Marriot and a Hilton. In Taipei, I’ve stayed at “The Sherwood” which is in a book of the 100 best hotels in the world (they have the book on your suite’s living room table open to the page when you walk in your room). Normally we stay at the Holiday Inn Asiaworld which is very nice and right in downtown Taipei. Our hotel at Osan, Korea is right outside the gate of the airbase and is the best the area can offer. It’s not a “chain hotel” and is family owned. The owners have a long relationship with World and take good care of us. First meal and beer is free each time you show up. They have put new desktop computers and high speed internet in each room. Japan, near Kadena AB, is a similar set up. Local hotel with clean rooms, free breakfast and easy access to the base. Stateside they are generally pretty good but there tends to be more variation in quality. I’ve stated at a Ritz Carlton in Atlanta that was so nice it was embarrassing. Other times I’ve been at a Holiday Inn in Bangor that’s….a Holiday Inn in Bangor. Overall, no complaints about the hotels we use.



Right now they are not hiring into the DC-10. They actually furloughed some PFEs because their plan to get another DC-10 (or maybe keep one we were supposed to return) fell through. They are still looking for a replacement, but they’ve had to re-shuffle some of the pilots for now. They are hiring and all will be into the right seat of the MD-11. I don’t think they are turning their nose up at anyone in particular. I don’t think a furloughed heavy driver is going to have an edge on a commuter pilot based on just that alone. I’ve run into furloughed guys from all airlines, commuter pilots, corporate, straight out of the military. There seems to be a pretty good mix.



They don’t kid around when it comes to training and check rides. We had 14 guys in my new hire class and 10 went to the DC-10 panel. 2 of the 10 were fired trying to upgrade from the backseat to the MD-11 within their first year. I’ve heard similar stories from other classes. That shouldn’t be a deterrent to anyone considering getting hired. Just a heads up – they won’t train to proficiency.



Career prospects…..Overall, it’s a very unique, fun and interesting job and if I had a crystal ball and knew they would be around for my career, I’d stay for sure. They have lots of eggs in the military passenger basket which may not always be there. They are attempting to diversify with more freighters and more cargo contracts which is good. They’ve been around since the 1940’s and we just had 43 and 40 year pilots retire (they were over 60 sim instructors/check airmen). Most Captains are planning on staying for a career as well as older FOs (retired military, furloughed, etc). I think younger pilots are keeping their options opened. It is definitely somewhere many pilots have and will stay for a career. It’s still an airline job, so I wouldn’t bet too much on it.



Sorry for the lengthy answer to a short question.

 

[CCDiscoB]

If World is hiring something is up. The most recent position bid didn't show any new requirements. Time to crank up the rumor mill. Bring on the 747s.

 

[UM#1]

770-632-8305 World Chief pilot's hiring hotline. It's a recorded message on whats going on with hiring, aircraft, etc. usually updated every month. I haven't listened to it in awhile so you can tell us what it says....

 

[AdlerDriver]

If World is hiring something is up. The most recent position bid didn't show any new requirements. Time to crank up the rumor mill. Bring on the 747s.

I heard they had a couple of April classes. Maybe my info is old. I know we need more folks. I got 3 days bought back in Feb and worked my butt off in Mar.

Your last trip was a marathon - was that poor bidding or HDOs in an inconvenient spot? Did you wife recognize you?

 

[CCDiscoB]

Yes it was, I knew it was coming too. I had to move my hard days to the end of this month from the beginning of last month (for a phase II). I wasn't busy the last couple of months.

 

[psysicx]

So what does a junior line look like?

 

[AdlerDriver]

So what does a junior line look like?

I’m not sure there is such a thing as a “junior line”. The only truly senior lines are the 9 day/month lines to Africa. Everything else is very much personal preference. I think most pilots tend to bid for days off. A freighter line might work one month and a military pax run to Asia the next.

Maybe the only “junior lines” might be LAX lines that fly live out of/return to LAX. All lines are built to start and finish at the pilots base, but only some actually have a World aircraft scheduled for you to operate on your first leg. If your flying will start somewhere else, the commercial positioning travel is part of your line. Right now, the only lines that routinely fly live in/out of LAX are some of the freighter lines and mil pax stuff. Most pilots who don’t live in LAX probably bid these last (unless they’ve got some overriding reason). Pilots based in LAX (who don’t live there) would have to commute on days off to get in position for such a trip and commute home on days off after it’s over. The company will still buy the tickets to get you there and back but it’s on your time (since it’s leaving from your base). A line that started and ended in ANC would include the travel days in the actual line schedule and you would be paid for those days you were traveling. So a 15 day trip out of LAX will actually cost you 17 days gone – the same trip out of ANC would really be 15 days out. Typical Freighter line would be 18 days with 24-72 hour layover at each stop. LAX-ANC, 4-6 ANC-TPE round trips, maybe a LAX turn, or a ANC-ATL leg - layover and back to ANC for more TPE runs, final leg ANC-LAX. Probably 60-70 hard hours with 80-85 credit.

We have roughly 70 FOs at both bases (IAD & LAX). There are usually 20ish lines each month per base. So, 40 or so FOs get lines each month (2 per line). They are trying some 2-man ops scheduled into some of the lines but it still works out to be about 40 guys getting lines. Most people hate being an “open flyer” enough that they’ll take any line instead of that.

 

[On Your Six]

I’m not sure there is such a thing as a “junior line”. The only truly senior lines are the 9 day/month lines to Africa. Everything else is very much personal preference. I think most pilots tend to bid for days off. A freighter line might work one month and a military pax run to Asia the next.

Maybe the only “junior lines” might be LAX lines that fly live out of/return to LAX. All lines are built to start and finish at the pilots base, but only some actually have a World aircraft scheduled for you to operate on your first leg. If your flying will start somewhere else, the commercial positioning travel is part of your line. Right now, the only lines that routinely fly live in/out of LAX are some of the freighter lines and mil pax stuff. Most pilots who don’t live in LAX probably bid these last (unless they’ve got some overriding reason). Pilots based in LAX (who don’t live there) would have to commute on days off to get in position for such a trip and commute home on days off after it’s over. The company will still buy the tickets to get you there and back but it’s on your time (since it’s leaving from your base). A line that started and ended in ANC would include the travel days in the actual line schedule and you would be paid for those days you were traveling. So a 15 day trip out of LAX will actually cost you 17 days gone – the same trip out of ANC would really be 15 days out. Typical Freighter line would be 18 days with 24-72 hour layover at each stop. LAX-ANC, 4-6 ANC-TPE round trips, maybe a LAX turn, or a ANC-ATL leg - layover and back to ANC for more TPE runs, final leg ANC-LAX. Probably 60-70 hard hours with 80-85 credit.

We have roughly 70 FOs at both bases (IAD & LAX). There are usually 20ish lines each month per base. So, 40 or so FOs get lines each month (2 per line). They are trying some 2-man ops scheduled into some of the lines but it still works out to be about 40 guys getting lines. Most people hate being an “open flyer” enough that they’ll take any line instead of that.

Great post! Thanks for all of the useful information.

 

[psysicx]

So it sounds like 2 weeks on the road is pretty typical?And the more senior you are the less days you get picked up to fly?Thanks for the great post.

 

[Fit59]

So it sounds like 2 weeks on the road is pretty typical?And the more senior you are the less days you get picked up to fly?Thanks for the great post.

You are correct, two weeks or more is typical, in fact, the majority of the pilot group seems to prefer the one long trip rather than the multiple trip Pac rim (kimchi express/freedom bird) trips. At least that's the impression I get. I don't mind the open flying, I've been in a routine the past few months where I begin my trip the last 3 days of the month and fly until the 15th (strategic hard day planning!) giving me 18 days of work a month with at least 12 straight days off (most of the time). I fully expect when I get the first call for a trip to be gone for a long period of time. I made the mistake once that I was going out on a 3 day trip... I even parked in a regular airport lot (big mistake), so $150.00 and 17 days later I picked my car up. Rookie mistake (but tax deductable)! I prefer this because I don't have a family and don't mind the long period, plus 18 days a month yields 85 hours of pay. Open flying tends to make you more money.

As far as leaving World for something else, I definately see World as a career airline. I am one of those junior guys and of course I like to keep my options available but I really believe World is one of the better flying jobs out there. I would think long and hard before giving this job up. I hope this info helps, and I'm glad to see more WOA guys on here!

 

[psysicx]

Fit how do you see that affecting you when you have a family?Do you hope to bid a line?And being more senior does that affect how long your on the road.It sounds fun.