Originally Posted by captainv

For all those instant-gratification types who would get upset when us thread Nazis would insist you read the entire thread, well, this is why.

- Gateway travel has been dissected ad nauseam at many points among these many pages. 747 new hires have been going to ANC as long as I've been here (2.5 years), but they've been able to bid out eventually as other classes followed. What's new is that with the 767 seat locks about to expire, anyone in ANC come September with less than three years on property will most likely be stuck there until they hit the three-year mark. It seems there is finally a price to be paid for earning 17% more than those senior to you who were arbitrarily assigned to the 767.

- We've also thoroughly discussed the hiring process, including the very difficult online test. (100 obscure technical questions in 60 minutes? We've said to utilize CRM almost every time this comes up.) What's new is that the old points system is gone, replaced by Do Not Recommend, Recommend, and Highly Recommend. I asked the VP of Flight Ops recently about those stuck in the pool for more than a year. He said they're aware of the angst it causes, and they would like to clear the pool over the summer. (YMMV) I would agree it's a good idea to call HR and remind them of who you are if you've been swimming a long time. But the pool has long been competitive here - your scores always mattered much more than how long you were swimming. I was in the pool for 9 months back when we were running classes every three weeks, while friends who interviewed much later went to class much earlier. I scored a 76 on the test, they scored higher. Simple as that. Applicants lately have been highly experienced. With the World/NAA shutdown, we have very experienced ACMI guys on the street, and they've been snapping them up.

Yes, there has been a shift in Quality of Life here lately. In part, it takes a while for the glamor to wear off - OMG, I'm flying big iron all over the world! I'm in a first class lounge at the airport! (I'm as guilty as anyone on this, but eventually you start to wake up.) But the company is definitely tightening the screws as well. Our pilot group could put a stop to a lot of it by getting to know the CBA: you don't need a backup flight, ever; hold the company to CBA-compliant hotels or travel, and use the relief granted in the CBA when they don't; and WRITE IT UP when they try something funny. The union can't fight what it doesn't know about.

On a recent DH back from Asia, another FO told me he'd been woken up by Scheduling 5 hours into his 24/7. They wanted to retroactively start his rest 4 hours earlier so he'd be legal for an assignment they'd given him. To his credit, he said no, and insisted the 24/7 be reset. But he never wrote it up or notified the union, until he casually told me about it a week later. On the same trip, Scheduling had notified him of a trip change properly, but they wanted a three-man crew to operate a flight that went 5 minutes past their max duty day. They asked him to take the trip and then they'd "fix it" en route. Again, to his credit, he said no, and - after asking every other FO at the hotel the same thing - they eventually put a 4th pilot on the trip, which finally made it legal. Everybody said no, which is great, but nobody wrote it up, which means Scheduling will just try it again next time. At least nobody accepted an illegal trip for a free $50 meal...

Those of you in the pool might think twice if offered a 747 class in the next few months. If you accept, be fully aware of what you face getting to/from ANC. (Thanks to Trout for the heads-up, I didn't realize the trips were so much shorter up there.) Personally, I would love it if you guys all told HR you'd like to wait for the next 767 class. Yes, it pays less, but you'll see continual seniority advancement and the commute to CVG is much less of a hardship, depending on where you live.

Lots of guys leaving, or trying to leave, right now. Management is basically unconcerned because we have a stack of resumes a mile high and long lines at the job fairs. Come if you want to, but do your homework and know what you're in for.