ATL 717A
 

Hi all. Considering ATL 717A and trying to determine what the average monthly paycheck potential is if I’m local with a fully flexible home schedule and focused on maximizing pay vs days off for now.

I’ll be very junior in category to begin, so how much monthly pay / credit can one anticipate as a junior 717A in ATL? Am I looking at min guarantee as a norm, or is it fairly easy to pick up to the limit or go above with swap board, soft time, etc? I don’t want to rely on GS for basic pay / budget calculations, especially while junior in category, but are they historically available for 717A even on the junior end?

Anyone with expeirence or insight about junior 717A in ATL care to share?

Thanks in advance.

im not on the 717…but you can go to Daily Trip Coverage in icrew, and see what you could get on a daily basis. I can’t remember how far back it goes.
aside from that. You can check wide reports for the last few months.

and further back, the 717 guys/gals on here will have to chime in.

how junior we talking?

Thank you for the response and suggestions. I have looked at the Wides as well as daily trip coverage. Although they give some insight, it doesn’t paint the picture like getting real world results from someone who’s actually doing it. Anything helps though.

And I’ll be very junior. Assuming bottom or not much above.

I'm not actually doing it, but one thing to think of when looking at the DTC page is that anything awarded as a GS, you could have had as a WS if you are a regular line holder, assuming you were off and legal. The problem is as a very, very junior CA you are looking at reserve for a while, on call most every weekend and holiday. So you first need to go back over the last couple of months and look as the schedules of junior reserves to see how much they were actually used each month. Simply looking at the wide report really won't give you any insights as to how things turned out at the end of a bid period. If you are on reserve you can probably YS as much as you want to fill up and then go over the reserve guarantee to earn extra. That seems like a lot of work to me but if it's what you want then knock yourself out. Also, ATL 717A has been very streaky with GS. Most of last year it was very, very dry. Then towards the end of the year all heck broke loose and so far they've been going out like crazy this year too.

One thing to remember is that you wlll always have more opportunities to earn extra since you live in base. Snagging those super-last-minute WS or GS that lots of senior pilots can't do will add up quickly.

I don’t know why anyone would go to the bottom of any fleet yet alone 717.

The 717 trips all average 5:15 per day. You can get the same credit on 320/737 in 2-3 less days per month. If GS’s are flowing and you do a 2-3 GS on 737/320, you’re pretty close to even as 717 captain for same amount of work.

I played with math on my last bid and I'm pretty sure 330/764/350FO will make just as much, if not more on a "straight up" basis to 717A. "Straight up" being just an ALV line. Played in the math of WB B vs 717A or 320A and went for the money at my seniority without a need of a GS to adjust. Now, if you live in base and plan to be available all the time and strategize your schedule, 717A can be a moneymaker. But the big disclaimer is the fact that you are hoping for irops, moving trips/RSV days accordingly, and essentially attached to work all the time in a hunt for a few extra bucks. You do you. Some want that, some don't.

DTW 717A here. I am converting to ATL in April. Since upgrading, I have built my budget on 63 hrs per month. I upgraded so that I could work fewer days. I average 12 days per month. I will occasionally accept a very easy GS, but that's it. As a very junior person, it will be difficult for you to drop trips or reserve days, but if you budget for 63, all of that is extra bling.

Just my opinion.

A lot of the trips on the 717 are 5:15 per day credit but low block, especially the 4 and 5 days. This leaves room for WS and GS opportunities that other fleets with hard time trips don't offer.

You don’t have to budget for 63. 65 is the minimum.

As a junior Captain you aren't going to see many green slips. Your schedule will be working on the weekends which is when most of the green slips go out. Silver slips are new but haven't seen any in open time yet. Best case, you are looking at working single pay to your max pickup. That will give you about 85-90 hours. The only way to go above that is to pick up off the swap board.