rolling thunder

Someone called from Management and read one of our MD11 FO's the riot act for droping a 10 day trip for military leave, wanted his Commanders phone #. Sounds like there is a lot of pressure to keep the planes flying.

TonyC

Sounds like someone needs to call that manager and read him Federal Law.


If that really happened, it should REALLY be reported to ALPA. ASAP.





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rolling thunder

I heard from a good source that 3 aircraft were parked last week due to lack of FO's. I hope the customers were not unhappy.

Several trips in the md11 FO 7/29 being flown by Captains. Trip 450, 61,and 669.

rolling thunder

It really happened and it will be reported.

captain_drew

ESPECIALLY if Corporate wants to keep CRAF status! You DON'T mess with people's Guard and Reserve status or commitment! Of course, this is the same governenment that totally ignores all the laws they have passed about Illegal Immigration and secure borders.

capt_zman

I think it's comical that the company is so desperate for 11 FO's. I've only been waiting over a year to go to class and they keep bumping me back a couple of weeks at a time for reasons unknown to me. Maybe the company should spend more of an effort on figuring out how to get more productivity (more sims, more instructors, etc) out of their md11 training program than trying to save a few bucks on a new contract.

Also, is it true that is costs somewhere between 25-30 million dollars to convert a dc10 to an md10? If so, that seems to be a huge waste of money, especially if the main reason is to save an FE position.

Don't mean to sound negative, but in my short time here, I'm less than impressed.

MD11Fr8Dog

I agree with most of this. However, they are maxed out on training and have been considering send more guys offsite. There is another sim on the way, but it takes a long time to set up and recertify. Also, the situation is fluid and "clogs" in the pipeline occur - ie. "unscheduled" ETs for those having difficulties (heard of some "nuggets" getting ETs and some knucklehead upgrading FOs to CAPT getting some as well - no excuse for not being prepared for these guys!). Also, all the instructors are out flying FO trips at time and a half!


That is just one of the reasons. Others to consider are extending the life of the 10s, parts commonality and availabilty, cutting training costs (common type rating). Much more than just saving on FEs. I guarantee you that the bean counters are calculating this daily, and when a suitable aircraft comes along that is cheaper and more availble than DC-10 to MD-10 conversions, you see it happen!

Well, when you finally get on board, you can work to fix all the problems this company has to make it the company you think it should be!

capt_zman

I'm already on board, slinging coffee in the back of the Boeing. Anyway, couple of points regarding training. 1. They can always increase their training capacity, whether it's new sims, more offsite training, actual airplane training (in lieu of some of the lofts), more instructors, whatever. Shouldn't be that hard, and honestly, should have been accounted for by mgmt.

2. The company is doing a disservice to itself by using instructors for line flying as much as they are the past few months. I understand that trips need to be filled, but when you cut your training pipeline to cover trips (rob peter to pay paul), it never has a happy ending (e.g., trips get missed, employees get abused, mgmt gets tunnel vision, sales start dropping, customers start leaving, etc). It is very difficult to catch up when operations can't match sales (capacity can't keep up with growth), hence my productivity comment.

As for the 10's, they've successfully managed the fleet type for many years. With all the company growth, why not make the transition easier on everybody (mgmt, pilots, ops, mx, training, etc) and phase out/retire the birds when the time comes, just like they are doing with the 727. I'm sure it's more complicated than I know, but square pegs don't fit into round holes, even when Fred says they do.

fdx727pilot

Do you know how much money and time it takes to get a new sim? I know when Taco Bell (DC10 #2) came on the property, it took over a year to get it installed, troubleshot, and certified by the Feds, and that was an existing sim. Ordering a new one is worse. There is a new A300 going in now, and it's been a long time coming. Not to mention, there are very few places doing MD11 (or A300) training worldwide that have excess capacity, so off-site expansion is problematic. Also, they keep opening spots for new instructors, but can't keep them filled. A bunch just bailed after seeing the new Section 11. That is also a 2-3 month process to get checked out.

This is a temporary thing, based on crewmembers not flying extra (makeup, draft, Vac buyback) during negotiations. You should have been here in 98 when they shut down training and sent everyone back to their old seats. A slip or two in your training date is no biggie. You could be at a real airline, and be moving backwards.

We don't have the lift capacity available to just retire them. There are widebody deliveries scheduled out for the next 5 years, and we're still are behind. When the fleet gets down to around 10 jets, rumour, has it, they will shut down the 10s, as any smaller fleet size is not economical.

Fedex999999

It seems crazy that tons of guys are waiting to train- but they truly are maxed out- sim and instructor-wise. Plus, they always have to factor in filling in the seat you would vacate.

I talked to scheduling this morning- he mentioned that he had quite a few trips uncovered for tomorrow and no reserves at all to take them (a few sick calls made it worse than what you see in VIPS.).

Gee, so sorry, too bad I couldn't help. He also said that dropping anything at all this month would be tough for MD-11 f/o seat. They just don't have anyone on reserve. But, golly gee, I could help out and volunteer for draft, they'd really appreciate that. Um... no thanks. (Don't get me wrong, he was really nice- I was just as nice to him. But I just won't do it right now.)