Twiceskunkeddog

Just trying to get a feel for how many of the nuggets are going to bid either LAX or Mempho in the upcoming Grandmother (or Granddaughter) Of All Bids? Trying to factor this into my plans for world domination...

Unless the 60 thing passes...

Dagnabit!!

Wildmanny

Just looking at the number of guys transferring out of there from the MOAB of last year, I'd be surprised if any nuggets get out of ANC on this bid. If they do, it'll be waaaaayy at the end of the cycle, because Big Purple will need them up there until they train more nuggets.

I figure that guys staying up there will move up a bit on the list and a few stragglers from the other bases might come up. End game: A small bump up the list for most.

WM Out

PurpleTail

I am not sure but I'm going to go out on a limb here...I am sure most, not all, took the move package and decided to suck it up for a couple of years. It did not effect me so I can not recall the terms and conditions off the top of my head but don't you have to be in ANC for 3 yrs or something to qualify for the move package back to the lower 48???

I think a lot of them are going to stay for a while. But again, I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again

KAFTKTA

It seems to me most of the Purple Nuggets I've talked to are looking to move ASAP. Very few actually wanted ANC but were smart enought to get the seniority number when offered.

RedeyeAV8r

Most of the PN's I have flown with (are happy to be here) but are not digging their quality of life in ANC. Most of them are commuting up there and have resigned themselves to knowing they will be Junior for a very long time. Only a few have taken the move package. Two guys I have talked with are planning to bid MEM on anything they can hold on the next bid.....including S/O on the 727.
QOL seems to be the key.

2005 Blues

Only one guy in my class of 10 took the move package, and I haven't heard of many others taking it. I commute from SEA, which hasn't been too bad yet (wait until summer, right?), but I'd bet commuting from the midwest or east is a pain. Haven't personally heard from any Nuggets planning to bid back to MEM.

Jetjok

Are you kidding? They hired these guys, in a lot of cases, out of sequence from the "pool", for them to fill the MD-11 right seat, and you're telling us that they have no lock-in time before they can bid out of that seat. Boy, what a waste of time and money, to say nothing of simulator time, instructor time, etc, etc, if these guys just bail on that jet.

Talk about guys being screwed. We have great guys in the pool, and the company cherry-picked these heavy types with glass cockpit time for a specific reason. So the guys in the pool simply swam there, while these jonny-come-latelys got on board first, to remain there for the rest of their careers. Hopefully they have to remain in seat and domicile for a longer period of time than until the next bid. I'd bet that the vast majority of them, when told that they were being hired to fill seats in Ancorage, had no problem with that then. Of course, I hold them no malice, because it wasn't their doing, just their good fortune. But for the other poolies, I feel badly.

SNAFU

Wow, next thing you know they are going to want to fly past 60 too.

Come on JJ, you can't even try to bark up that tree. You've been telling us all about how you have every right to sit sideways and keep the "young" guys in the pool from getting hired.

Those nuggets have every right to bid that seat, same as you.

Jetjok

What I was saying is that the company must have really screwed up to allow these guys to barely become operational and then to allow them to bid off the jet. They were hired for a specific purpose: to fill the MD-11 right seat, mostly in Anchorage. If they all leave, we have the exact same issue. What a waste of time and money, from the company perspective. Do you not see that?

As far as the over 60 issue, this post was not at all about that. And yes, by virtue of the FAR's and the company policy, and the fact that I put in 16 & 1/2 years flying freight for FedEx, I do have the right to sit sideways.

Purple Nugget

I'll agree they screwed up a little too. I'm one of the few engineers hired after the nugget phase who want to go to ANC on the next bid. As far as if there is a lock that would prevent the nuggets from going from ANC MD11 FO to MEM 727 FO or SO, yes, there is one. It would technically be defined as a down bid which is covered in the contract. (MD11 FO year one pay, ever so slightly higher than narrow FO or SO.) But no limit on them coming down to LAX or MEM though.


"b. Down/Lateral Bid Restriction
Unless waived by the Vice President, Flight Operations, or his designee, a
pilot may not receive a permanent vacancy award based on a down/lateral bid unless he has been in his current crew status for at least 18 months.

c. Down/Lateral Bid Freeze
A pilot who is activated in a crew status that requires ITU training based on a down/lateral bid shall be frozen in that crew status for 24 months,
commencing on his actual activation date. "