FishSammichNat

They hate us cuz they ain't us. I like my job here at c5. Only giant toolbags log on to internet message boards to more or less tell fellow pilots they hope they lose their jobs. So much class.

ToastAir

If you read through this thread it seems (unlike most others). The people who work here aren't the ones complaining about C5. Just my $.02

Crawl

I left over 2 years ago, and it seems like a lot has changed since then, for the better.

v1valarob

I will say for my short 9 month stay at C5, it was pretty good. The guys in charge are always a phone call away and they aren't overwhelmed like other places. You really could pick up the phone and call your chief pilot and he would answer after the first ring and you would be on first name basis. The HQ is so small that during training you manage to get to know all of these people. It really isnt possible to "keep your head down, and dont let the chief pilot know your name." But I mean that in a good way.

The only issues I ever had were just the reserve rules, or lack thereof.

2ForHooking

They Hate Us Because They Ain't Us.

SilverWraith

They're all peanut butter and jealous.

TallFlyer123

Just wanted to give everyone on here a little update about things at C5 …
- I know they advertise on sites like this “Best Commuter Policy Industry Wide” and skip the crashpad and that was true up to a few weeks ago. We are approaching negotiations soon and management has begun to play hardball and been denying our use of our 4 hotel rooms unless it fits the contractual language. That means only on the front side of a trip, when you have to commute the night before a trip or reserve. Get cancelled in base? Got your overnight taken away? Finish too late because of delays and now you can’t get home? Want to use a hotel room on a random night in the middle of a block of reserve? Well you better buy your own hotel room because the company used to approve the use of one of our 4 hotel rooms for these reasons, but now they are all getting denied. So please do yourself a favor if your thinking of coming here, don’t skip the crashpad or you will be sleeping in hotel Newark/Dulles airport.
- The company is asking for a reduction in lines of flying due to staffing. Most of our maintenance issues seem to be behind us but for June there were only 167 eligible pilots to bid. That’s down from over 220 a year ago and no one seems to think it’s a big deal. The group keeps shrinking and reserve is getting longer and longer. We will likely only be utilizing 13 of 21 airplanes for July and the foreseeable future.
- Captain reserve will last a life time. C5 upgrades captains and then they sit reserve in excess of 2 years. There’s never any open time either so expect about 300 hours a year for 2 years when you upgrade. They do this to artificially keep upgrade times low. Captains who just got off reserve are going to be going back to reserve after this block hour reduction for July happens.
- We also have no last day protections so if you’re on reserve expect to sit until midnight on your last day of a block of reserve days. They will have you do a standup on your “last night” then put you on rest during the day just to bring you back on reserve from 1900 to Midnight. It’s real fun.
- Contract negotiations are right around the corner so expect the company to not do any favors and enforce the contract to a T. Things will get worse here over the next few months.
Just a few things to think about before you come to C5. Things need to get better in this next contract. There are some real issues with reserve and that’s where all of our new hires go first obviously. It is a great group of people to work with, but I’m not sure that makes up for all the nonsense.

dr650

I'm coming up on 3 years here. Sorry that's your experience but that is far from mine. I've enjoyed my time here. Your post paints a picture of a bad day here which does happen but only every now and then. Staffing is an issue but I think they will figure it out.

FirstClass

I thought your commuter policy was a tool to attract talent. But it sounds like you have too much talent on the property? If that's true, there is probably no reason for them to keep on with the commuter policy.

Freebreakfast11

In the last chief pilot conference call they said that our block hours and lines of flying would remain the same over the summer. As far as the commuter rooms go, it seems hit or miss as to whether or not you can use them outside the contract.

Reserve does need to improve though