Originally Posted by
Airbrake
As the title says I’m a 717B living in DTW. I’m considering a change and a Captain I flew with recently said I’d be crazy to not bid NYC330B. I’d be 80% BES. His advice was to either bid/pickup trips that start with a DH, or drop my sched in NYC and rebuild it with OOBWS in DTW. Worst case scenario I commute (told myself I never would) which wouldn’t be terrible since the vast majority of NYC trips are commutable on both ends.
1) How bad is the DTW-NYC commute?
2) Should I expect to sit RES with several SC’s a month?
3) Wide report seems to show I could hold a line easily in Jan, what about the rest of the year?
3) I know OOBWS is somewhat frowned upon, is that strategy even feasible and if so will it upset people?
4) I assume trips that start with a DH will go Sr to me correct?
5) SWAG on when I could hold DTW outright?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Originally Posted by
crewdawg
3 (number 2 lol). Who cares what people think of OOBWS, it's allowed and your right.
2. As already said, 80% should be able to get a line most months. the 330 is a 4-99-4 Category, so you will have 4 days of reserve minimum. It's a lot harder to manage reserve bocks in an international category (you can drop a PB in the middle
if you have them, but
generally you can't PD down to 1 or 2 days of reserve). So if on Reserve, generally expect to get either a 4- day trip or SC on Day 1. International SC's are used far less often than domestic, but as a commuter it doesn't really matter much since you have to commute anyway.
3. I know I'm spitting in the wind here, but I'll advocate the opposite viewpoint on what I'll call elective OOBWS. Just like you CAN use all your sick leave annually, but if you are not actually sick it's cheating and wrong.
I know OOBWS is in the contract, so it's not 'illegal', but I personally have a distaste for the practice of intentionally bidding a category you do
not intent to fly in, so you can (try to) fly entirely in a category
you cannot hold. It's one thing for a new hire, or someone displaced, to OOBWS when the company has involuntarily put you in a tough situation, and you are just trying to lessen the suck until you can get out of it. It's something else to
choose to game the system, and yes it's at the expense of fellow pilots. Especially when you don't even have the seniority to hold what you are otherwise trying to do in the first place. And FWIW, I'm not going to begrudge a commuter getting an occasional good deal. That's fine. Again, it's in the contract and
legal, I just don't like making it your 'default' - and I wish ALPA would change the contract to limit OOBWS to 2 a month (or similar) to prevent the practice of entirely flying in a different category than your own. That will probably never happen, but still...
4. Low 70's% overall seniority sems to be where WB B is (pretty) consitently being awarded lately. There have been one or two flashes of something a little junior to that, but until we have more actual growth deliveries, that's probably as good a guess as anyone can make. Probably...
All that said, do what you want - no-one can
actually do or say anything to you if you make that choice. As already stated, the wisest move would be to wait until you can hold 717A in DTW, to give you an 'out' if you find the circadian disruption or the commute unlivable. But if you do go for the 330, you'll almost certainly love it. It's like working for a differnt company. Best of luck.