Originally Posted by
Gone Flying
1) it depends, but is DTW FO is pretty junior, especially the 717
2) 2:30 every calendar day from day 1 of indoc until completion of OE.
3) I think indoc is 5-7 days, systems is home study, minimum 7 days, then sims are about a month. You get PS travel to and from all training for any break longer than 48 hours (you book this yourself), and I believe contractually you cannot have more than 5 days in a row of sims and must have 2 days off between blocks. I always have.
4) yes, medical benefits start day 1
5) lineholders can pick up on their days off at both straight pay (white slip) or 2X pay (green slip/silver slip) reserves can pick up on their off days for premium (green slip only) or pick up extra, but it pays towards guarantee, not above. The good news is lots of contractual add pay items pay on top of guarantee for both reserve and lineholders.
6) very long time. The current plug WB FO in DTW is 4,500 numbers senior to the bottom of the list. Thats about 10 years worth of retirements. You will almost certainly hold NB CA long before WB FO. WB growth could help, but it is definitely a ways out for a new hire.
This is all good info. I'd like to expand on a couple of things.
1) It shouldn't be hard to hold DTW. Just bid any NB aircraft that's based in DTW at any base for INDOC, and transfer there ASAP. 717 is most junior there.
2) Think of the 2:30 as a daily guarantee. For a 30 day month, it will pay 75 hours. Which is higher than minimum monthly guarantee for lineholders and reserve most of the time (REG is 65, RES is 72.)
3) Indoc is(was) 7 days in 2 short weeks, Tues-Fri and Mon-Wed, followed by minimum of 7 days off (for the home study) before classroom and sims begin. In a condensed footprint (i.e. no training delays), you're looking at about 6 weeks from the start of INDOC to the final Sim checkride, then 2-3 weeks of IOE. So, about 2 months on training pay until completion of IOE. Probably not less than that, but can be longer than that depending how things go. Sims are usually 4-5 day blocks with 2-3 days in between.