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Old 04-24-2005, 06:51 AM
  #4  
737AV8R
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Originally Posted by Low Renzo
OK, so newhires are going directly to all those seats and bases?
Yes, a few new hires will go directly into the right seat of the B-777, B-767, and B-757 in Newark. A far cry from what it used to be like when someone had to sit on the panel for 2 years before you could play FO on a 737.

Although these vacancies are available for new hires right now, the seniority within these positions vary drastically. A new hire on the 737-EWR will almost be getting hired into a line holding position. He will probably spend a month or two on reserve, then get conversion lines, then regular hard lines... assuming the expansion continues as planned. However, the new hires into the B777-EWR will be on reserve for years. Not a huge thing if you live withing a couple hours of EWR, but commuting to reserve is not recommended for sanity.

So the choices come down to this...

1) B737; great relative seniority (quality of life), short haul mostly domestic trips, multiple leg days, line holder quickly.

2) B756; about 13% better pay than B737, some domestic mostly international flying, a lot of backside clock flying, reserve for a year or so (a guess, maybe less) before line holder, fewer legs per day.

3) B777; about 15% better pay that B756 28% better than B737, mostly long haul (16 hr legs!) international flying, reserve forever.

Good to see such movement at CAL!
Yeah, but at great expense. The limpdicks that voted for our concessionary contract succumbed to the threats and bullying of mangement. The 8.9% paycut mentioned on this board is only a very small tip of the gutting of our contract. No snapbacks, A fund frozen, worthless upside options, and safety compromises with financial justifications. The expansion at CAL probably would have happened without pilot concessions. Unfortunately, we will never know if there was a better deal on the table or not since it passed the first time.

I'm glad for the expansion, and I am glad for a job. I think CAL is one of the better positioned legacy carriers out there. I think we have a potentially bright future and I don't think I would rather be anywhere else right now. I just disagree with so many aspects of this concessionary contract that I get riled up just thinking about it.

For the new hires.... if you can put up with the mentality of the CAL pilot group, (we've got a strikebreaker as MEC Chairman), and accept how that may affect your career, then you might have a decent career here. As long as you know what you're getting into first.

Last edited by 737AV8R; 04-24-2005 at 06:56 AM.