Originally Posted by
Sunvox
With no proof on hand, my gut tells me, that speaks to how bad CAL reserve must have been that no one wanted to bid bottom 777 FO or possibly no one wanted to move to EWR or IAH from where they were living currently.
Suffice to say UAL has NEVER had new hires go directly to a 777 position. That tells you something about the cultural and contractual differences.
Actually, to be clear, it wasn't reserve rules that made the 777 go so junior on the FO side. Being reserve on the 777 was far different than the 756 or 737 as has been mentioned.
What drove the junior FO staffing on the 777 and the 756 allowing new hires into those seats was that was during the time of DH pay concessions. DH pay was cut in 2005 to 50% which eventually worked up to 75% then snapped back to 100%. That is why the last new hire FO in the 777 was back in January 2007. The snap back to full DH pay occurred soon after.