Casualinterest

I'm not usually one to begrudge people's choices in life, but I feel like this needs to be said out loud.

If you are an FO that could hold captain, or know someone who does, this is a serious question.

Are you ok with being stuck in the right seat for the foreseeable future? If so, stop reading and enjoy. best wishes.

If not, please think real hard about whether or not commuting to hold captain on the 200 or 900 is as bad as sitting right seat for another X months/years because you "refuse to commute to _____".

I fly​ with a LOT of FO's in ATL who "refuse to commute to NY" and they say it with this Aire of superiority like those of us that did it for YEARS are somehow just dumb for having done it. It's not great, but it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. And if commuting to reserve in NYC as a captain making 100k is really your idea of hell on Earth, then prepare to sit in that right seat for an uncomfortable amount of time if the unthinkable happens.

I tell every single FO I fly with to put in for upgrade regardless and just suck it up. It's for the greater good of your career.

If you're cool not upgrading then more power to you, enjoy your schedule and I hope to Fly with you.

But I fly with a lot of FO's furious they can't upgrade to the 900 in the base of their choice. That's the brakes. <Insert story here from senior captain about how they sat in the right seat for 15 years>

Please think about it, because there are whispers this may be the last upgrade vacancy for a while. Maybe false, but do you want to take that chance?

Flogger

I think there's a real possibility some junior Captains will soon wonder which base they will be commuting to as an FO.

Casualinterest

And that's a possibility too. But I believe force downgraded captains are at least pay protected

KelvinHelmholtz

Was that the case just during the merger or is that in our contract for all downgrades?

Swakid8

My goodness, I work for a different carrier that has been forcing upgrades and I’ve seen a number of people who did all that they could to hold out as long as they can to hold on to their FO seniority and QOL.

I decided to the first available upgrade ok, ok, I slowed down for maybe a month or two to not lose a vacation week for my wedding anniversary, but I decided to take first upgrade available. It sucked because I missed both major holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas). But my wife and I both agreed, they the first available after our anniversary.

I would rather be in the left seat when the music stops with a higher pay vs getting stuck in the right seat until the music starts to play again.

We had it good for the last few years before this virus made everything come a all-stop. Get the good while it was there for the getting.

gojo

I thought that was a temporary LOA. I hope that they don’t do that again. At least not in the same context. Those downgraded Ex Colgan guys were making more than 2/3 of the captains. Plus a much better QOL. It caused some frustration among the ranks

Casualinterest

If you were one of the ones displaced you probably would not say that.

gojo

Not probably. I’d capitalize on it the same way they did. I’m not faulting them.

Auburngrad2007

If you are military or prior military and interested in getting questions answered, let me know.

Green Needles

Now they're delaying the monthly bid for April. How fast things change....