Originally Posted by
klondike
Is there is anyone reading this thread that is currently flying for Transtates that can PM me with some basic details of what flying for Transtates is like currently?
I know it’s a Regional so I’m sure it’s not all roses and lilies but Im looking for details such as are they still junior assigning folks into days off?, What is the training like?, Time to get off Reserve in Denver?, is there Long-call reserve?, is there Airport standby and how do they employ it?
In other words, what I’m looking for is answers on quality of life issues.
I read back into thread almost a year and a half and it sucked pretty bad in the middle of last year.
Has it improved at all?
Thank you in advance for any responses.
Not sure if you're still looking for answers...
Not saying it hasn't happened, but no JA as for the last few months that I'm aware of (been back since springtime). It certainly isn't as prevalent as it was last year or back in Feb 19. We're short CAs and they're buying back CA DEC vacation at 300%, though, so if you plan to go the street captain route be prepared to have little control over your schedule for a couple years.
Training is traditional (Part N and O) for initial and upgrade, and AQP for recurrent at the moment. Working on getting AQP approved for all training. Plenty of time and assistance 'to figure it out' during training, including investing a little extra time in people. They aren't arbitrarily cutting guys loose if they don't perform 100% to standard on sim 2 or 3 as is sometimes rumored on APC. Single occupancy hotel during training, but it ain't the greatest place I've ever stayed. Be prepared to be there for 3-4 months (5 weeks ground school, 7 or 8 GFS sessions (2 weeks), 10 sim sessions (2.5 weeks), then IOE, and anywhere between a 1-3 week pause in between each event. CA's are being prioritized currently in the training footprint since we're short.
Denver has gone senior for FOs (very recent change). Junior base last couple months has been ORD. Guys from the springtime class I was in are still sitting reserve in Denver. Guys that went to Chicago have had lines for the last few months (at least as far as I recall), but that's a moving target and the longer history is the other way around. Denver's also a lot bigger base. Probably a decent chance of holding DEN before you're done with IOE, as things sit today.
TSA does have airport standby...big benefit here is that it pays 5 hrs/day. Been a long time since I sat it but there's typically AM and PM, and the sit is something like 8 or 10 hours. You'll be the last to be used by design (so you can cover last minute IROPs), and most of our reserves are flying from what I see in the coverage memos.
QoL hasn't been bad since I've been here. Sure you can always find something to complain about and it's a regional airline that runs like one, but I was here about a decade prior and things (QoL, Pay, Benefits, soft pay, management-labor relations) have massively improved since then. The pay rates aren't top of the heap but the rest of the contract is pretty good. In arbitration now, so we'll see where that goes.
PM me if you want more details.