Advice on how to Bid in August
 

Purple Bros:

I need some opinions on what to bid for this upcoming equipment bid, supposedly in August. Everyone I talk to has a different opinion, so I figured I'm accumulate them all in one place.

I'm a new hire (Dec), I commute from the East Coast and I'm in the AF reserves.

I doubt I will be able to hold MD11 MEM or A300 MEM, so that leaves 757 MEM, 727 MEM, or MD11 ANC. I live 3 hours from EWR, so a commute from my home to ANC could be painful, unless I can minimize my commutes north. I really want to get off the panel, though, so I'm willing to endure some pain to accomplish that. Before anyone rails on me for not paying my dues, I spent a lot of time on the panel at another outfit.

Please give me your inputs, both good and bad.

Fred

No Brainer
 

Guys on the MEC say you'll bid Hong Kong for the upgrade at current book CBA so I should at least give you $2700 a month extra.......sounds like your decision has already been made for you....see how easy it is.

How bad do you want to get off the panel?

I hear there are going to be some openings in CDG and HKG. That would only be a "one departure" commute.

Seriously though, too many variables at this time to make an intelligent recommendation. I do believe however...If the LOA passes and you are a junior puke in the right seat of either the 757 or A300, you stand a good chance of getting junior manned, for 90 days, to the FDA for your aircraft.

I am a firm believer in QOL, over seat progression/money. I waited until I was better than 60% to upgrade. But, everyone has their priorities.

The good times of holding a widebody in the first year are gone for now. You'd better bid the right seat of the Boeing if you hope to get off the panel. If you don't, be prepared to go backwards in the sideways seat for the next 2 years.

Bid what you want, but don't forget to include every right seat if you want to get out of the back.

FJ

If you're junior ANC is the best place to be, even tail end Charlie. You may even find that you cannot hold reserve. Very little domestic, very little MD10, small crew base, flight management actually answer the phone, good flying. Long, but easy commute from the east coast.

My thoughts exactly.

But for you senior guys: It's cold, it's dark, the lines suck. :D

We senior guys know every thing because we all were junior at one time. I was even tail end Charlie in ANC a long, long time ago.;)

Was Alaska a state?

More like a state of mind. An altered one.

Was that when you were on the Tri-motor?? (Ford not MD)

Not quite that senior, but almost started on this in FRA. :D


http://www.seaboardairlines.org/aircraft/c46.htm

decide whether you want QOL or Money.

If you stay on the panel, will have better control over your destiny than being at the bottom of the FO list.

FO wise, seems like MD is more Junior than the Bus if you want to go for the widebody pay.

Hi Fred, ANC is the place you want to be, IMHO.
fbh

Bid Anchorage.

At least get off the panel. That list is going to look like the lifeboat scene in Titanic as the -10 guys get excessed and can't bear the thought of spending time at home.

By the way boys, I jumpseated on FH's plane a few weeks ago.

He was a .....

really nice guy.

Not being a pessimist, BUT:

Guys at 2 1/2 years seniority are holding MD-11 and the Bus at 90% percentile (those that have already bid it).

I also doubt that this is the MOAB.

After the excess bid, there will be even less seats available.

Hey gramps, I bet I was tail end charlie for longer! :rolleyes:

First of all always bid what you want, you might get lucky...

You should be able to hold ANC but your low seniority will probably have you sitting a lot of reserve plus having to deal with the pain of commuting (ANC doesn't have many DH's in the bidpack). Your QOL will suffer for the extra $22/hr.

75 FO MEM wouldn't be bad (if you can hold it) as long as they get rid of the STV language in the LOA.

72 FO is probably your best bet. You'll gain seniority quicker, the commute isn't bad and the upgrade is easy.

Lastly, you have the FDA's...a very, very bad deal in almost everyone's opinion except our MEC's.

And remember, there will always be another bid. Good luck and welcome to Club Purple!

My .02
SG

Kronan: Have you looked at the training letter for the 72 lately? If you are junior on the panel you are going BACKWARDS every month. You have no control over anything. In the right seat you might languish at the bottom for a while, but at least any movement will be upward and at least you have a view out the window.

Before the crush of over 60 guys going to the back I would have agreed with your thoughts, but now those in the back are facing diminishing control of their destiny every month.

This from a 5 year and counting Boeing FE.

FJ

It's always better to jerk the gear on ANY airplane than to protect essential...........IMHO. And yes I have been one up from tail end charlie on several aircraft, several positions. GET OFF THE PANEL.....:cool:

haven't looked at the training letter in any way, shape, or form. just know that historically most new hires go through the school of pain.

my best guess....is that at some point in time FedEx is going to be short of people and hiring almost everyone off the street....whether or not all of those folks travel through the slaveship, who knows.

taking a cursory look at the 10 excess bid seems to indicate that the 10 will wind up with only age 60+ folks as SO's, what that will mean for the 27 FOs/SOs, is anybodys' guess.

for a relative new hire to bid widebody, and get it, most likely will be treading the status quo at the bottom of the list....the money's nice, but, is that what you want?

757 will likely go very junior until everything shakes out. LAX MD went junior initially until the learning curve was done, personally, I think the same will hold true for the 75, and most likely the eventual 777 bid.

in either case, tail end charlie will likely stay tail end for awhile.

so, take your best guess, bid accordingly, and don't look back. seemed like a good idea at the time

one last thought, if your'e on the panel and flying in the reserves, barring the need to get the bucks, upgrading not that critical. If your'e only flying a panel, upgrading sooner is better than later.

If you bid the 757, expect delays in training and/or delivery. You may end up pouring coffee longer than if you had bid the 727 or even a widebody. Good luck.

Anc
 

Take a look at how many 3 and 4 departure lines there are in the bidpack.
If you are senior to the nuggets you should be ok. If you are junior and commute your life will suck....Standard.

I keep hearing about the senior guys in ANC bidding reserve, but look at the bid awards for 11FO ANC in July; bottom 12 guys are on reserve.

I'll figure something out; at least I'm on the property, maybe we'll hire some bros next year.

Fred

Fredex,
that may just be a function of the 5 week bid month in july. Look back a few months at the bottom guys for a broader picture of what's going on.






"JT is a loser"