Typical Day/Trip
11-05-2007, 09:54 PM
#1
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: May 2007
Posts: 154
Typical Day/Trip
Hey everyone, I was curious, how does a typical day (or night for that matter) go during your job for you cargo pilots? Do you fly to your hub (memphis, louisville...) early in the night and then fly back to an outstation again later on in the early morning. if so, what do you do in the mean time between flights? Could you give me an idea of how both the domestic and international routes go. Also, whats the usual flight hours you actually get on a day, or total hours for a trip. are your trips like a typical airline with 3-4 days, or longer than that? sorry about all the questions, but i'm very interested and any answers would be very helpful, thanks!
11-06-2007, 05:06 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2006
Position: DC-8 756/767
Posts: 1,143
I can only speak for the some of the 75 domestic trips. Day flying is all but gone, but some of those routes we still have are trans con flights from CAE to I think OAK or SJC. Most 75 flight out of SDF are at night early morning. Some go through SDF others go to RFD, PHL, DFW and a few others. You may start at 7:00 p.m. in LAX, fly to SDF, sit for 3-4 hours, then fly to JAN with an arrival time around 5:00-6:00 a.m. Leave JAN around 10:00 p.m. go to SDF, sit for 3-4 hours then go back to LAX. Do it for a week, then go home.
Every fleet has different trips and layovers. International guys do much different trips as do ONT pilots and MIA pilots.
As far as what to do during the sort. You can sleep in snore city, eat some food, walk around, sit in the ready room and stare at the wall, or get on your computer. All types of fun to be had at 2 in the morning.
Every fleet has different trips and layovers. International guys do much different trips as do ONT pilots and MIA pilots.
As far as what to do during the sort. You can sleep in snore city, eat some food, walk around, sit in the ready room and stare at the wall, or get on your computer. All types of fun to be had at 2 in the morning.
11-06-2007, 05:43 AM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Position: back in the right seat 121
Posts: 145
At ABX you typically cannot hold a day trip unless super senior. The hub turns average to about 4 hours. Some longer some shorter, I have actually had a 6hr 30 minute hub turn in ILN. I was able to drive home 45 minutes one way, sleep in my own bed get 4 hour sleep, wake up shower and drive back and show at the plane an hour before push. That is way to long to be stuck in Wilmington. Agree with the not much to do. Eat, sleep, computer, watch TV or work out at the fitness center. Mostly only two legs a day, one in one out. We do have some multi leg trips. but no more than 2 in 2 out.
It is tough to get above guarantee on a typical flying line. 767 does have some lines over guarantee but fleet wide not the norm.
We have about a week on week off type schedule. We get 15 days off a month if a line holder, 14 days off on reserve. You start your block of 7 or 8 days on (those include days at a hotel for a 36 hr layover and the 3 or 4 day weekend trips.) On your weekend layover you can do what you want. You can jump seat home, hang out in hotel or do whatever, just be at the plane Monday night for the trip back in to ILN. If you call in sick for the inbound trip you had better be sick and not stuck trying to get back to the plane. That is a good way to get 30 days off (without pay).
Sorry cannot answer accurately the international stuff. We have a MIA base and are starting a KIX (Osaka Japan) domicile. Each base is staffed by international pilots. Same scheduling parameters apply. 15/14 days off a month with blocks of time averaging to about week on week off.
It is tough to get above guarantee on a typical flying line. 767 does have some lines over guarantee but fleet wide not the norm.
We have about a week on week off type schedule. We get 15 days off a month if a line holder, 14 days off on reserve. You start your block of 7 or 8 days on (those include days at a hotel for a 36 hr layover and the 3 or 4 day weekend trips.) On your weekend layover you can do what you want. You can jump seat home, hang out in hotel or do whatever, just be at the plane Monday night for the trip back in to ILN. If you call in sick for the inbound trip you had better be sick and not stuck trying to get back to the plane. That is a good way to get 30 days off (without pay).
Sorry cannot answer accurately the international stuff. We have a MIA base and are starting a KIX (Osaka Japan) domicile. Each base is staffed by international pilots. Same scheduling parameters apply. 15/14 days off a month with blocks of time averaging to about week on week off.
11-06-2007, 12:20 PM
#4
Just happy to be here
Joined APC: Sep 2005
Position: 777 FO
Posts: 163
Here is an idea of what schedules can be like at FedEx.
Bid months begin on a Mon and run for 4 or 5 weeks and end on a Sunday and are either 28 or 35 days long. Usually there are eight 4 week bid months and four 5 week bid months per year. Min line guarantee for 4 week month is 68 credit hours and 85 credit hours for a 5 week bid month. Reserve lines pay 96% of the average line guarantee. 15 days on reserve and 13 off for 4 week bid month and 19 reserve days on and 16 days off for 5 week bid month. Typically the average BLG is higher than the guarantee, around 72 hours for a 4 week month and 90 for the 5 week month. This will change depending on the aircraft and the lines each month.
In general, here are some of the typical pairings at FedEx. DH equals deadhead on passenger carrier.
Majority of pairings: Week on, week off hub turn lines. DH MEM to outstation city on Mon morning. Hotel. Depart 9-10 pm. Fly 1 or 2 legs to hub (MEM, IND, OAK, AFW, EWR), arriving between 10 and midnight. Sit for sort. Depart back to outstation from 2-4 am. Get back to hotel between 6-7 am. Sleep. Repeat each night until Sat morning, then either layover and sleep or DH back to MEM (or home). Seniority depends on the number and length of legs and the outstation city. Commuters best friend if you live in the outstation city. Pays 35-40 hours per week.
Out and Backs (O/B):
AM: Depart MEM from 2 – 4 am, fly 1 or 2 legs to outstation. Fairly quick turn around and back to MEM by 7-9 am. 5-8 hours on duty, pays 6 hours per trip. Fly 3 or 4 days per week, mostly week days. Goes fairly junior among line holders, depending on the city pairing and the number of legs.
PM: Depart MEM 2-5 pm. Fly 1 or 2 legs to outstation. Sit in ramp office or hotel if over 4 hours, waiting for the incoming freight. Fly back to MEM at about 9-10 pm, arriving between 11:30 pm and 1 am. Fly it 4 or 5 times per week. 10 to 12 hours on duty, pays 6 hours per trip. Go pretty senior depending on number of legs and destination city.
DAY TURNS:
DH from MEM to outstation city oranother hub city on Sun or Mon. Depart that city and fly to MEM or hub around 7- 8 am the next day. Sit in the hub (MEM or other) for the day sort for 5 or 6 hours. Fly back to hub or outstation city that afternoon and go to the hotel. Fly each day of the week, then DH back to MEM. Week on, week off. These go out of several cities and several hubs, although there are not that many of them. Tend to go VERY senior. Closest thing to pax airline day flying that we have. Great for commuters, no need for a crashpad. Pay about 34-40 hours per week.
Hotel/Airport Standbys: Week on, week off. DH to hub city other than MEM on Sun. Stand hotel standby for 12 hours or airport standby for 5 hours Mon through Fri or Sat, then DH back to MEM. Go VERY, VERY senior. Pay about 35 hours for possibly zero block time.
Various weekend layover, west coast 2 or 3 day trips, and fill in trips usually make up some of the other lines out there. There are also “trash” lines that go fairly junior among line holders that have very little city stability and often flip between day and night flying.
Reserve lines. 3 types. RSV, A and B reserve.
RSV is on call 24/7 but requires 24 hour notice for trip assignment. Same number of days per month as A and B reserve. Goes fairly senior due to commuter-friendly aspect of the 24 hour notice.
B reserve: on call from noon to midnight. 1.5 hour callout (min of 1 hour if given late call parking right next to Ops). Often assigned trips up to a day ahead of time, usually by 10 am that day, sometimes just an hour before. Can also be assigned airport standby at MEM on reserve days. Folks who live in Memphis sometimes prefer B reserve over junky lines.
A reserve: on call from midnight to noon, otherwise the same as B. Pretty much the most junior lines in the bid pack. Sometimes assigned trips a day ahead of time, sometimes just an hour or two notice.
Some reserve lines have all the days bunched together (commuter friendly) and some break them up into 4 to 7 day bunches. There is a little bit of everything.
So far, this mostly describes domestic flying.
The international trips can be anywhere from a 2 day trip to 12 day trips all the way around the world.
So there you have it. It is very difficult to define a standard line at FedEx, there really is no such thing, but these are the types of typical lines.
Bid months begin on a Mon and run for 4 or 5 weeks and end on a Sunday and are either 28 or 35 days long. Usually there are eight 4 week bid months and four 5 week bid months per year. Min line guarantee for 4 week month is 68 credit hours and 85 credit hours for a 5 week bid month. Reserve lines pay 96% of the average line guarantee. 15 days on reserve and 13 off for 4 week bid month and 19 reserve days on and 16 days off for 5 week bid month. Typically the average BLG is higher than the guarantee, around 72 hours for a 4 week month and 90 for the 5 week month. This will change depending on the aircraft and the lines each month.
In general, here are some of the typical pairings at FedEx. DH equals deadhead on passenger carrier.
Majority of pairings: Week on, week off hub turn lines. DH MEM to outstation city on Mon morning. Hotel. Depart 9-10 pm. Fly 1 or 2 legs to hub (MEM, IND, OAK, AFW, EWR), arriving between 10 and midnight. Sit for sort. Depart back to outstation from 2-4 am. Get back to hotel between 6-7 am. Sleep. Repeat each night until Sat morning, then either layover and sleep or DH back to MEM (or home). Seniority depends on the number and length of legs and the outstation city. Commuters best friend if you live in the outstation city. Pays 35-40 hours per week.
Out and Backs (O/B):
AM: Depart MEM from 2 – 4 am, fly 1 or 2 legs to outstation. Fairly quick turn around and back to MEM by 7-9 am. 5-8 hours on duty, pays 6 hours per trip. Fly 3 or 4 days per week, mostly week days. Goes fairly junior among line holders, depending on the city pairing and the number of legs.
PM: Depart MEM 2-5 pm. Fly 1 or 2 legs to outstation. Sit in ramp office or hotel if over 4 hours, waiting for the incoming freight. Fly back to MEM at about 9-10 pm, arriving between 11:30 pm and 1 am. Fly it 4 or 5 times per week. 10 to 12 hours on duty, pays 6 hours per trip. Go pretty senior depending on number of legs and destination city.
DAY TURNS:
DH from MEM to outstation city oranother hub city on Sun or Mon. Depart that city and fly to MEM or hub around 7- 8 am the next day. Sit in the hub (MEM or other) for the day sort for 5 or 6 hours. Fly back to hub or outstation city that afternoon and go to the hotel. Fly each day of the week, then DH back to MEM. Week on, week off. These go out of several cities and several hubs, although there are not that many of them. Tend to go VERY senior. Closest thing to pax airline day flying that we have. Great for commuters, no need for a crashpad. Pay about 34-40 hours per week.
Hotel/Airport Standbys: Week on, week off. DH to hub city other than MEM on Sun. Stand hotel standby for 12 hours or airport standby for 5 hours Mon through Fri or Sat, then DH back to MEM. Go VERY, VERY senior. Pay about 35 hours for possibly zero block time.
Various weekend layover, west coast 2 or 3 day trips, and fill in trips usually make up some of the other lines out there. There are also “trash” lines that go fairly junior among line holders that have very little city stability and often flip between day and night flying.
Reserve lines. 3 types. RSV, A and B reserve.
RSV is on call 24/7 but requires 24 hour notice for trip assignment. Same number of days per month as A and B reserve. Goes fairly senior due to commuter-friendly aspect of the 24 hour notice.
B reserve: on call from noon to midnight. 1.5 hour callout (min of 1 hour if given late call parking right next to Ops). Often assigned trips up to a day ahead of time, usually by 10 am that day, sometimes just an hour before. Can also be assigned airport standby at MEM on reserve days. Folks who live in Memphis sometimes prefer B reserve over junky lines.
A reserve: on call from midnight to noon, otherwise the same as B. Pretty much the most junior lines in the bid pack. Sometimes assigned trips a day ahead of time, sometimes just an hour or two notice.
Some reserve lines have all the days bunched together (commuter friendly) and some break them up into 4 to 7 day bunches. There is a little bit of everything.
So far, this mostly describes domestic flying.
The international trips can be anywhere from a 2 day trip to 12 day trips all the way around the world.
So there you have it. It is very difficult to define a standard line at FedEx, there really is no such thing, but these are the types of typical lines.
11-06-2007, 12:52 PM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,943
That's a great rundown of the domestic stuff there, thanks for digging that up or posting it from scratch, whichever the case may be.
If I can tack on another question to this thread even though I didn't start it -- I'm curious as to what a sample round-the-world style trip looks like, such as those on the MD-11 at FDX/UPS/Gemini/World, B-747 at Kalitta, DC-8 at ATI etc.
I'm wondering how long or short some of the layovers are, how many legs per day are flown if more than one, if it is at all possible to stay +/- 6 hours to one's home time zone on a typical trip, good layover cities, bad layover cities, etc. Thanks if anyone can put a sample schedule up.
If I can tack on another question to this thread even though I didn't start it -- I'm curious as to what a sample round-the-world style trip looks like, such as those on the MD-11 at FDX/UPS/Gemini/World, B-747 at Kalitta, DC-8 at ATI etc.
I'm wondering how long or short some of the layovers are, how many legs per day are flown if more than one, if it is at all possible to stay +/- 6 hours to one's home time zone on a typical trip, good layover cities, bad layover cities, etc. Thanks if anyone can put a sample schedule up.
11-06-2007, 01:41 PM
#7
Just happy to be here
Joined APC: Sep 2005
Position: 777 FO
Posts: 163
I admit, I did not write all that on my own! I dug it up from an old post I think was on FI.com.
Anyway, here is an example of a FedEx MD-11 trip around the world. I just pulled up an old trip and here is what came up. Dates and flight numbers may have changed. The DH legs are on pax carriers.
Flight Date Org-Dst Eq Dprt Arrv Blok Turn Duty
DH 06Nov06 MEM-EWR 1441 1709 228 1552 358
0022 07Nov06 EWR-ANC 11 0901 1625 724 2650 854
0012 08Nov06 ANC-ICN 11 1915 0359 844 2556 1014
0012 10Nov06 ICN-HKG 11 0555 0939 344 1901 514
DH 11Nov06 HKG-KUL 0440 0830 350 210
DH 11Nov06 KUL-DEL 1040 1620 540 4355 1410
0037 13Nov06 DEL-PVG 11 1215 1747 532 2813 702
0026 14Nov06 PVG-ALA 11 2200 0449 649 2829 819
0026 16Nov06 ALA-FRA 11 0918 1625 707 2855 837
0010 17Nov06 FRA-MEM 11 2120 0734 1014 1144
Anyway, here is an example of a FedEx MD-11 trip around the world. I just pulled up an old trip and here is what came up. Dates and flight numbers may have changed. The DH legs are on pax carriers.
Flight Date Org-Dst Eq Dprt Arrv Blok Turn Duty
DH 06Nov06 MEM-EWR 1441 1709 228 1552 358
0022 07Nov06 EWR-ANC 11 0901 1625 724 2650 854
0012 08Nov06 ANC-ICN 11 1915 0359 844 2556 1014
0012 10Nov06 ICN-HKG 11 0555 0939 344 1901 514
DH 11Nov06 HKG-KUL 0440 0830 350 210
DH 11Nov06 KUL-DEL 1040 1620 540 4355 1410
0037 13Nov06 DEL-PVG 11 1215 1747 532 2813 702
0026 14Nov06 PVG-ALA 11 2200 0449 649 2829 819
0026 16Nov06 ALA-FRA 11 0918 1625 707 2855 837
0010 17Nov06 FRA-MEM 11 2120 0734 1014 1144
11-07-2007, 11:03 AM
#10
Old P-3 IFE
Joined APC: Aug 2005
Position: B744 FO
Posts: 290
Originally Posted by contrails
That's a great rundown of the domestic stuff there, thanks for digging that up or posting it from scratch, whichever the case may be.
If I can tack on another question to this thread even though I didn't start it -- I'm curious as to what a sample round-the-world style trip looks like, such as those on the MD-11 at FDX/UPS/Gemini/World, B-747 at Kalitta, DC-8 at ATI etc.
I'm wondering how long or short some of the layovers are, how many legs per day are flown if more than one, if it is at all possible to stay +/- 6 hours to one's home time zone on a typical trip, good layover cities, bad layover cities, etc. Thanks if anyone can put a sample schedule up.
If I can tack on another question to this thread even though I didn't start it -- I'm curious as to what a sample round-the-world style trip looks like, such as those on the MD-11 at FDX/UPS/Gemini/World, B-747 at Kalitta, DC-8 at ATI etc.
I'm wondering how long or short some of the layovers are, how many legs per day are flown if more than one, if it is at all possible to stay +/- 6 hours to one's home time zone on a typical trip, good layover cities, bad layover cities, etc. Thanks if anyone can put a sample schedule up.
Company ticket from resident airport to EWR (layover). EWR-LGG(Blegium) 24 hour layover, LGG-BAH(Bahrain) 24-48 hour layover, BAH-HKG(Pt 91) 2-4 day layover, HKG-UHHH(Russia)-ANC 24-36 hr layover, do either ANC-LAX-ANC turns or ANC-ORD-JFK and then maybe a New York-Europe turns. Out for 17 days then company baught ticket home. Typical around the world line. If on reserve, you could sit at any of these for a few days and pick up trips and AD HOC's/charters as they come.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
