UPS ANC schedules
 

UPSers

Can someone give a sample of what the new hire schedules for UPS ANC based pilots look like? Previously I saw some speculation but I was wondering if there was anyone (NH) on this board actually flying up there or familiar with the schedules.

I heard that reserve goes senior up there. Is that correct?
Also if you get a line fairly soon what does it look like? I previously heard one long trip (10-12 days) and then a second shorter trip (5-6 days). Does that sound right to anyone? Anyone commuting up there and if so how is working out??

Thanks

In short the lines suck if you try to commute. Long block (15 day) reserve goes senior as commuters can minimize the number of commutes. There are some long block trips of 12-14 days, but the majority of the lines are week on week off and or short block 2-3 day followed by another 5-7 day trip.

A newhire would either hold 15 day blocks of "A" reserve, which runs from 0600-1800 or regular lines with as many as four (4) separate reports per month, some of which would have you just staying in ANC in between trips if you're commuting. In theory according to the contract, beginning in 2008 the company is supposed to build 60% of the lines in "long block" fashion. Before you ask what this is, I'll say I don't know :D

The largely un-commutable lines are being built largely out of spite, with the thinking that they will force everyone to move to ANC, and because subordinates are demonstrating how "productive" the ANC domicile is to reduce soft time and hotel costs to their "superiors". While a long sad story, it is yet another example of how UPS is composed of little fiefdoms concerned only with their little goals, regardless of the impact to the entire operation. Case in point the ANC lines, which have minimized "soft" time and hotel costs, while the SDF MD11 trips have more soft time than Nancy Pelosi's husband :D, and more than make up for the ANC gains. Add to that, the MD11 simulator debacle which is bottlenecking training is reaching critical mass while the management buffoon "in charge" of training continues his Kevin Bacon imitation in "Animal House" ("all is well, all is well") and will likely be promoted to president of the airline next month.

Other than that, ANC is so far a laid back domicile with less of the Mickey Mouse crap than is found in SDF, and hopefully if the training bottleneck opens up we will get some better flying.

Can someone give a sample of what the new hire schedules for UPS ANC based pilots look like? Previously I saw some speculation but I was wondering if there was anyone (NH) on this board actually flying up there or familiar with the schedules.

I heard that reserve goes senior up there. Is that correct?
Also if you get a line fairly soon what does it look like? I previously heard one long trip (10-12 days) and then a second shorter trip (5-6 days). Does that sound right to anyone? Anyone commuting up there and if so how is working out??

Thanks[/QUOTE]

I understand that there is LOTS of money to be made in the ANC domicile :rolleyes:
LOTS, like 250% of your regular pay. I heard that at least one ANC captain has made OVER $260,000 through the first SIX MONTHS of the year!:eek:

Possible if he cut personal, non-contractual side deals with the skeds, which is fine for this person, but its at the cost of screwing your fellow pilot that might have been contractually entitled to the flying at the 150% JA rate. When one cuts personal deals like this, it just screws everyone else. Unfortunately we do have folks like that within our ranks.

I'm not defending the practice of cutting you own deal. I agree with what you said. It just goes to show you how much UPS is willing to pay to move boxes, $557/hr and how understaffed we are.

I talked to one really senior guy that bid reserve and flew on his off days JA and JA2. I think his figure was $43,000 for the month. I don't know how many months he did that for, but it was all within the contract and with no special deals. Amazing!

A captain senior to that one did even better one month. He sat D and never got called, then took a JA where he got held in Asia, arriving 3 days late...250% land on top of JA. Something like $840/hour for everything after when he was supposed to get home.

I think that is the same guy!

Its not. PM me if you need more info.
TH1

Really amazing! What is the most junior Captain longevity in ANC?

At the moment the junior captain in ANC is on Year 8 pay. The MD-11 and -400 junior captains are only a few months apart longevity-wise. Right now.

This is about to change this year, however, as junior captains south of ANC get bumped with the looming displacements, and some of them decide to keep their cushy left seat and come up here. A lot of the UPS captains hanging out in ANC right now won't be captains much longer, unfortunately, based on what's coming out of the rumor mill.

Safe from me <g>, my default bid is to the right seat of the MD in SDF!

I'm a NH. Currently, I'm on reserve growing a beard. My first bid period I got a line--if you get a NH line, it's going to be rather non-commutable: 3-4 day trips followed by 3-4 days off, for the entire period. Second bid period was the same. My third, I'm on reserve--I think I could have been on reserve sooner, as folks who are in their first bid period right now are on reserve. So, reserve is not so senior any more.

There's about a snowballs chance in ONT that you're going to get a 12 day trip being junior. If lucky, you can trade some of your 3 day trips to make them more back-to-back to almost become commutable. I live here now, so I'm not so much into the trip-trading thing anymore.

My W2 says i made $36,000 for ten months of employment with UPS as a NH.

Not bad for having to commute 4,500 miles to work from Tampa.

Sorry, my medication has worn off, but the liquor store is only a few blocks away.:D:D

Should have taken the W-2 boost from the MD LOA ! :mad:

Or do you think you will be able to hold the lower 48 in the next 2 years ?

I don't ... :(

I talked to one really senior guy that bid reserve and flew on his off days JA and JA2. I think his figure was $43,000 for the month.

This paycheck posting sure makes a guy earning $971 per pay period feel like a team player (the guy on the bench with his underwear pulled over his head). I am sure in any group a couple of guys are at the top of the bell curve. Unfortunately in every group others are at the bottom and will stay there for many years based on recent law changes.

Fish

So the Capt is never getting used on days on, only gets JA's instead of picking up OT and pays about 20,000 in taxes for the month (assuming no state tax) on the 43K. I guess it is bragging rights to pay more taxes than anyone else in the pilot group.<g>
Reality it is not sustainable though. Short term 'opportunity' because UPS screwed the pooch on manning airplanes. Past practice: 1. they hire more supervisors to fill in the holes and 2. reduce the number of folks sitting reserve (they will when they get ANC full strength and force enough folks to move there because they intentionally build non commutable schedules) and 3. keep using this behavior against the rest of us and publish this persons income as typical of the greedy union pilots when it suits UPS needs. Oh well. IRS likes it. Not many of the rest of us.

Post of the month contender!

Can anybody tell me the name of the bars in ANC that you guys go to. Humpys and F Street? I've got a sister in law and some friends making a trip up there in a month or so and I was telling her there were a couple of bars where the pilots hang out at. Don't want to send her to the wrong place, you know like the ABC!

Thanks.

FJ

Check out this thread, Falcon: http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/showthread.php?t=833

Great thread.

Thanks Captain.

FJ