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Old 02-14-2015, 05:59 AM
  #16  
USMCFLYR
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Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
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Originally Posted by Merica View Post
I'm curious about work schedule, QOL and total compensation. Additional duties when not flying? GS pay with locality... anything else? LEAP or aviation incentive pay? How can they attract and keep pilots from jumping to the airlines?

I have hear from FTC employees that JPATS pilots work 5-6 day per week... Every week!

Thanks!
Work schedule: M-F sometimes - but there are days off in there too because they work a 'First 40' work week.

QOL: Seems pretty good. He mentioned some long days - 10-12 hrs, but home nearly every night. Sometimes they spend the night in Puerto Rico he said.

Additional duties: I asked the same. Very few. He was one of the two guys who updated the Jepps and APG. Certainly NOT like the military where you have a dozen additional duties.

GS-13 pay with locality. Local Asst CP (not the CP in KC) is a GS-14. Some departments heads like the Safety guy are also GS-14s.

LEAP: They are not law enforcement (like CBP) so there is no extra pay there.

I know it is still hard to believe, but not everyone wants to work for the airlines. Some of these guys are retired airlines. He mentioned one early out from Delta who only plans to stay there for 5 years.
They are having some guys leave for the airlines. Two recently left for SWA.

I don't know what FTC is....can you clarify?

They don't work 5-6 days EVERY week. As mentioned above, they are 'First 40'. They are DOJ GS gov't employees with all of the pros and cons that entails. He mentioned working like 12 hrs on Monday, coming in for only 4 on Tuesday to "balance out the week so far", then working another 12 hours for the next 2 days (making your 40 hr work week) then having Friday off. Any time flown on Friday is often OT and there might be some flights *offered* on Saturday with a sign up list for anyone that wants the OT. He is more interested in the time off than the OT so he doesn't volunteer. He didn't say if he had ever been volun-told to fly on a weekend.

This particular guy is a former Army dual-rated, ATA, ASI who said he is looking at airlines again now that they seem a little more stable but is unsure.

It is a job that I was interested in when I first moved to OKC and I would have taken it if offered. After lunch with him though I did realized that they were obviously just a gov't run airline for a certain section of the population (and they are even worse than the WalMart generation If I wasn't interested in being an airline pilot, then I definitely wouldn't be interested in this *type* of flying either, though as mentioned there are certain aspects that are attractive.

Hope this answers some of the questions.
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