Originally Posted by
pitchattitude
Timing really is everything. Some of it is predictable and some is not. There are more lines in the summer. The month of December also has a slight uptick for the winter. If you finish IOE in mid April or more likely mid May, you might hit things just as the lines are increasing and that wave and the seniority you gain over the summer will keep you with a line. By contrast if you finish in late November, too late to bid for December, you get reserve for December, then the lines go down in January through April. So even though you gain seniority it’s not enough to outpace the drop in lines until May. Something much less predictable is the movement of flying between bases and the bid cycle and where the company parks people. That can have a big impact on staffing and how many are on reserve somewhere.
The next rub comes with the forced upgrade. You fly a lot as a FO, so you upgrade before your peers and if you were an FO on the 175, that likely means getting bumped to the 145 involuntarily. If you choose to not accept the lock so you can bid back to the 175, that probably happens about the time you COULD have started holding a line in the 145. But if you want back on the SNJ, it means back to reserve for a while.
All of this comes down to one thing. If you commute, it all sucks. If you don't, it can be good.
You can fly like a mofo' on your year 1 if you get the 175, and if you get lucky with timing. That way you will get displaced to the 145. It's not bad as long as you don't commute (and don't live in MIA). Even as a CA, as of now every base(sans MIA) is attainable within the first 15-16 months from DOH. You might commute for a bit after displacement, but not for too long, before you get back to your domicile (as long as it's not MIA).
If you get the 145 initially, things flip around. You will start with hardly flying at all. And you will spend 8+ months, if you are lucky, on reserve. After you get a line, you will fly a lot more, but likely will need around 2.5 years post DOH before you hit your upgrade hours.
Now, here's the switch. The 145 guys can very likely hold 175 by the time they hit their hours. Or you can stay in NY or MIA if that's where you live.
Bottom line. It's not a bad gig if you don't commute. But if you don't live in DFW/ORD/NYC, why are you considering Envoy?
I excluded MIA from this, because who the heck knows what they are doing with that base. A new hire got awarded MIA FO last summer, and he is STILL the bottom on the list.