You'll find the same thing on the -400. Two days early if you're on the east coast and you're ANC based. YMMV with the non DHL flying though.

 

No doubt. That ANC gateway has got to be brutal.

 

CVG commute then DH...that's why I like JFK.

 

That's why I changed my standing bid a few days back. Now to wait for the senior guys to unlock in a couple months so I can actually hold it.

 

TimmyR and NightIP,
Can you give an insight regarding your remarks... CVG vs JFK commute... if someone was to get hired into 767, what are the pros and cons of the two bases?
Thx!

 

Watch for Lindsay to shrink JFK to put the squeeze on us.

@ BDG011 767 trips don't start out of JFK so JFK based pilots travel on day 1 not day 0 which is on the pilot's dime. There is also no taxable travel to CVG for JFK based crew.

 

JFK has the perception of "better" flying, as it usually gets the AMC lines. In the past few months, we've gotten lots of super-fun Europe AMC flying. But prior to that, it was month after month of nothing but CVG hotel reserve lines or SEA-Japan turns if you were super-senior.

CVG has the perception of being all DHL flying, but the nastiness of the commute depends heavily on where you live, i.e. one leg vs. two legs. Most of the CVG lines tend to begin with DHs to Asia, either TPE/NRT-SYD flying or TPE/NRT reserve. You don't need to come in early to rest prior to a DH to Asia, nor do you need a backup flight (although the company likes to push back on this one), so I usually leave home on a 10 pm flight on my last day off. You would have to come in earlier to be rested if beginning a DHL domestic night cargo line.

I was hit with imputed income every time I touched JFK, which wasn't often. Maybe 5 occurrences in 2 years. Never been hit in CVG in 9 months. Go figure.

 

Appreciate your input.
So if you were to begin trip with DH to Asia, does DH starts in CVG on company aircraft or you get DH on commercial flight out of your gateway/home?
Also, how does DHL domestic night cargo line look like? Same flying the whole month or mixed in with Asia and some other flying?
Imputed income, how much did those 5 occurrences in 2 years "cost you"? Additional 1%, 5%... of your yearly income?

 

All 767 Asia trips begin with a DH on a 747 out of CVG. You'd never begin one of those with a commercial flight, and unless something goes wrong, you'll never ride commercial back, either. But, your DH gets back to base at 3 am on your last day, so that's not too bad.

Domestic varies - sometimes it's a 17-day line. Sometimes it's all one destination (BOS), some times it's mixed. Maybe ATL one week, BOS the next. Sometimes you'll do a 12-day Asia trip, then a week of DHL domestic later in the month.

My imputed income was insignificant, and mostly those occurrences were because of a charter contract that flew into JFK. My airfares were $250/each, hotel was maybe $125/night. Didn't even notice. Compare that to a new-hire ANC 747 FO. They give up two off days on the front and one day on the back of each trip, just to get into position. Airfares to ANC ain't cheap - check a fare three days out from your local airport, prob. $900-1,000 on average. In June, out of 43 FO lines, there were 4 17-day patterns. Half were 60-day lines, with anywhere from 3 to 5 pairings. The rest of the 30-day lines had either two or three pairings in a single month. That blows! I'm all for some short trips to keep the guys who live in ANC happy, but that's clearly out of whack. I would be screaming long and hard if I were up there (but only to the union, during my first year). On the plus side, a guy hired in February is already halfway up the list in ANC, but that doesn't help the commute much. And the seniority will stagnate as more 767 FOs get released in September.

 

I was actually commercialed on JAL to NRT (nonstop from home!) recently due to management bigwigs riding the CVG-NRT jet. I was just as surprised as anyone. Will never happen again.

It's great to see that we picked up the Med flying, too. I hadn't done it for about 3 years, and I forgot how much fun it is. AMC flying can be a bit trying at times, but it's a nice change of pace from TPE rice runs. But CVG 767 FOs senior to me should not, under any circumstances, bid JFK!

As far as CVG gateway... I live on the west coast, so 1) CVG is always a 2-legger, and 2) I have to leave early on my day off. The latest I can get out and still make it for showtime is around 10am, and that still requires me to be out of bed at ~7am on a day off. No fun. The other option is jumpseating on ABX, but if that breaks, naturally the missed trip is on me.