Hey I just need a job. It's been 10 years since I left full time flying, and no I wasn't in prison. I'm former Hawkins and Powers, Zantop etc. so abuse is nothing new, in fact this place sounds like a happy homecoming. How about a current interview gouge.

 

Yeah, that was my question to. Interview gouge. Sounds like a bunch of Air Force pilots are there. Their the same as the engines they fly -suck, squeeze, bang, BLOW! Nothing new ;-) I keed, I keed, I joke with you! You wanna 100k job in ****ty conditions with **** poor management come take my current position, 100k isn't worth being happy or what makes an individual happy. Flying a fully automated airplane isn't hard work. But listening to you banter back and forth is. Anyway. ;-) How's the interview process go?

 

Interview gouge hasn't changed in the last 6 months.

777: Don't be a jerk in the interview, know your aircraft's engine fire memory items, fly a PCATD sim. JFK Canarsie climb, vectors to hold, if you slow and brief it, they break you off for an ILS.

737: Show up.

 

Ok, now we are getting somewhere.

Does DHL enjoy a competitive advantage over Purple and Brown in total cost to carry their volume? If not, where did the money go?

 

You are a CONTRACTOR. Ask your management where they "hide" the money DHL pays them.

As for DHL having a competitive advantage. Frankly, it's none of your concern. SAI submitted a bid and DHL accepted it. If you had to hire a contractor to do some work around your house, I guarantee you that you would be upset if the contractor started asking questions what you were going to be doing with the money that they contractor paid you. It's none of your (the contractors) business what DHL does with it's money.

You want DHL to pay SAI more money so you can get paid like a FedEx or UPS pilot? Get your union to get SAI management to pay you more. Either SAI will have to take a hit in lesser profits or they will have to beg DHL to renegotiate the ACMI agreement so SAI's profit margin can stay the same while paying you more.

All the while NAC is in the ear of DHL whispering we can do it cheaper and we can start the process of getting a 777 on our certificate.

 

Hey thanks much, I have a bit of rust removal to do.would love to hear more details.

 

Yes, yes, yes.

And we do that by setting expectations. I am a 777 pilot. 777 pilots get paid $xxx to fly the airplane. I am a member of the 777 community. We are peers. They (FedEx 777 pilots) are better compensated than me. Much. There is no inherent reason they should be. Asserting the expectation that a pilot with a yellow-tailed airplane does the same work as a pilot with a purple-tailed airplane and should be compensated as such is the starting point. You never get to that point if you say they are better than us and deserve more. You never get to that point if you say we are not the same because of historical factors that no longer apply to the job we are dong today. You never get to that point if you give up before you even start.

DLH doesn't need cheaper out of SAI, they need better. And if NAC can convince DHL that they can do it better as well as cheaper, and can scale their performance as they scale their fleet, while Southern can not, then NAC ought to get the contract, and put Southern right out of business. But if they can't treat their crews better than Southern does, which wouldn't be hard, they won't have better performance than SAI. Gordon Bethune once famously quipped, "You can make a pizza so cheaply no one will eat it." SAI is a pizza no one wants to eat, not the crews, and if they can't man the planes, not the customer.

 

Honestly, that's about it. You should expect to talk to the CP, ACP, HR and maybe the DO or a check airman. No technical questions. Its a 'get to know you' interview. Do you understand what you're getting into is a large portion. That's why they will not get you a ticket to CVG or pay for a hotel room. So you understand how difficult it is to commute. Hopefully they tell you not to fly on DL, AA, or WN, because we don't have j/s agreements with them, and don't have any indication we ever will. If you've flown ACMI or night freight before you know the drill, and will coast right though.

There is a persistent, but unsubstantiated, rumor that black marks on your record are preferred, as they know people with problems getting hired elsewhere are less inclined to quit when they get the full taste of the Scheisse sandwich that is SAI.

 

Peers; members of given status or title. A term used often, btw, to exclude those deemed less worthy or noble. Big foot is an awesome machine. So well designed in fact, crews experienced on other equipment types find little trouble making the transition. Guys plumbing @ FedEx made more than you. Why? FedEx conceded the ability to support that during hard fought but realistic negotiations. Did those peers get there by insisting; "I'm in the second officer B727 community?"

 

Again with the , "You're not good enough, so don't try" theme?

Look, either a 777 Freighter crew is worth what FedEx pays, or its worth what Southern pays.

A 727 Freighter crew is worth what FedEx pays, or... well I can't think of another carrier using the 727 to feed a major express freight hub.

Its management's job to tell us we are not worth as much as our peers. And they get to keep the difference.

Its our job to insist that we are. Its our negotiators job to walk in to the meeting and convince management that we all expect to be compensated as well as our peers, or we really don't mind burning the place to the ground.

Who wants S'mores!?