Check PM’s

 

There really isn't such a thing as a typical schedule...and if there were it could change significantly between now and when you get hired. It could also change a lot throughout your career.

Living locally will be great should you stay near Atlanta. QOL will quickly exceed your military quality of life. But remember, you'll be behind thousands of pilots senior to you. If you want what lots of others want, you'll have last dibs.

So, can you bid on shorter trips to be more? Yes, if you can hold a line. But you probably won't get many of them for some time. You also won't necessarily hold a line (you'll initially be on reserves, most likely), and won't have a ton of control over the trips you're assigned.

In a few years, we will have recently hired 7,000 pilots. As you listen to anecdotes from your buddies or acquaintances here, just know their experience on the relative front of the hiring wave may not necessarily match what yours will be. We will have a ton of retirements accelerating soon and that will help, but accurately forecasting quality of life or your schedule control/characteristics several years out (not to mention through the end of your career) is nearly impossible.

 

Yes you can. Although in most narrowbody categories the day lines and two day trips go pretty senior on the initial monthly bid. So it might take a while to get the seniority to hold that type of schedule. Another alternative if your junior is to try and drop or give away your initial schedule and pickup short trips that pop up. In the narrowbody categories there are lot's of short trips that popup due to various reasons. Another option if your looking to be home is to get involved with the training department. Get some time on the jet you want to be on and then apply to become an instructor. They will be in perpetual hiring mode over there for years to come. Then you'll be home every night. Typical rotation is 2 month in the training department and 1 month line flying. You could do that till you have the seniority to hold the shorter trips then go back to flying the line.

 

That is great advice so thank you so much. I've instructed before in the military and it is a great job. 2 questions I can think of.

1. Do you need to be in the left seat to be an instructor or could I do that as a first officer?

2. I've heard the Delta simulator trainers run 24/7. If I instructed is it like midnight shifts or anything like that? I could be wrong on that one since that is something I heard in passing when I did my ATP CTP course in Atlanta with Delta a while back.

Thanks

 

Most jobs are FO. Only requirement is 1000 hours with delta before you can instruct. Had a bud hired with 650, he is flying till he gets there.

Sims run 24/7. Late night sims are fairly rare for a few reasons. But they are there

 

1. No you can be a first officer. In fact that is where most of the hiring in the training department comes from. Normally in order to become a CA instructor you will have instructed a stint as a FO.


2. Simulators do basically run 24/7. With that said that is not where the bulk of the sim periods fall into. You would get a mix of events throughout the month. There are 4 sim periods that are between the hours of 0500 and 2300. The late night events are usually equally distributed since they are usually last on the want list and as of right now are the exception. I would be prepared though to do your fair share of late night sims when the training pipeline gets packed full.

 

I agree Bucking Bar. Unfortunately, it isn't about being reasonable where both sides prosper. It's about getting the most they can, about serving their own interests. The only value held is maximizing the return for the stockholders, right after they maximize their own.

I'm not condoning "militant" behavior, it tends to be all emotion and no thought. However, we are setting ourselves up to be taken advantage of if we engage management constructively with the expectation they do the same. They have shown that they will not be reasonable, and will rob us blind if we give them the opportunity. MHO.

Ize go back to merely lurking now. Please continue your normal more educated discourse.

 

What other new route?

 

No idea, I am sure however the back office deal included something else. Perhaps a moving a route from DTW or JFK.

 

How are you sure?

They don't even know if BOM will be flown from JFK or ATL yet.