Originally Posted by
airgoose
Hi everyone, Delete this if not suitable for this thread.
I am a second-year ACMI FO flying 777, home-based, and have never been on reserve or commuted. ($133/hr is current pay)
I got a class date in march for UA and prefer to bid for 756/787/777 and commute out
I was so excited for the past few days until I started making plans/started getting ready on how to commute and amount of days off I will be getting as a new hire at UA.
I would like to know from all those who have been in such situations,
1) How many days off do you get at UA with a line on average?
2) Will I get to see the money during the first or second year? I am currently at 133/hr and averaging 14 days off with 10k take home.
3) How soon can anyone get a line on IAH 756? or suggestions for any fleet to get a quick line?
I don't know many people who can help me, these questions may sound stupid but it would be nice if someone can shed some light on this.
From the sounds of it, you are coming from 5y (my previous shop). I made the jump last year (was on the 747)
1) I have seen line holders get 14 to 15 days off per month on the NB fleet. I've seen guys get 15 to 19 days off per month for line holders on the WB fleet. Reserve is 12 days (30 day bid period) 13 days (31 day bid period) off.
2) You are taking a pay cut coming to year 1 pay, but you will start seeing it again in year 2 and onwards.
3) If you want IAH, bid NB that way you can get IAH and hold a line quicker. It doesn't hasn't taken long to hold IAH 756 but I do not know how long that will hold. I was able to hold it after 6 months on property, but I pulled my bid due to not having great commute options.
If I was you, make the jump now. I was a year 2 when I made the jump. The reason why I made was that in the long run, 5y wasn't going to catch up to the current contract cycle. Especially now that we are entering into a new cycle when we get a new contract. I was going to see better QOL in the long run at a place where seniority means something (more days off bidding, easier to trip trade), better retirement, the flying lends to better health long term (5y was running me pretty hard).