What to Expect with Envoy - For an RTP Dummy
01-22-2018, 05:46 PM
#1
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 3
What to Expect with Envoy - For an RTP Dummy
Hello all,
I'm an RTP guy that has recently completed an interview with Envoy. I have done tons of research on several threads, but I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread to answer some questions for myself and for future guys wanting to go through this program.
Background: Army Aviation. Before my research, I knew nothing about airlines, specifically regionals such as Envoy.
Goal: Get answers to basic questions such as QOL, schedules, domiciles, etc... I would love everyone's opinions that have been with the company for more than a minute.
I understand that things are "hard" right now and there are plenty of topics of conversations to get things fixed. This is not a "DON'T COME TO ENVOY THREAD", but is more about "Now I am at Envoy. What can I expect?" I say this mostly because, whether you like it or not, Envoy has the most financial support of fixed wing training.
1) Seniority Number. When will I get this. Will I get this upon conditional offer, or when flight training at Coast is completed(which could take MANY months)? Based on future numbers, this could be a huge difference.
2) Domiciles. I live near a home domicile that is not Chicago or NY. How long can I realistically expect to get back to where I want to be? I know about the forced upgrades, so please discuss both FO's and Captain instances.
3) Reserves. I know that reserves will suck. How can I make the best out of it until I wait to get back to my home domicile? What are my options for staying places overnight, etc....? Is a 4 day reserve schedule what we are looking at on a regular basis?
4) QOL. Give me everything you got...everything that you wished you knew when you started. Family time is super important to me, so I'm very curious about this aspect. How much seniority will I need to even get 1 or 2 weekends a month off? Holidays? How much time can I expect to spend with my family (which leads to the next point)?
5) Scheduling. What do typical lines look like once I get them? 4 on, 2 off? Any other comments, gripes, complaints.
Thanks so much in advance. I, and probably many others to come, greatly appreciate the invaluable advice.
I'm an RTP guy that has recently completed an interview with Envoy. I have done tons of research on several threads, but I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread to answer some questions for myself and for future guys wanting to go through this program.
Background: Army Aviation. Before my research, I knew nothing about airlines, specifically regionals such as Envoy.
Goal: Get answers to basic questions such as QOL, schedules, domiciles, etc... I would love everyone's opinions that have been with the company for more than a minute.
I understand that things are "hard" right now and there are plenty of topics of conversations to get things fixed. This is not a "DON'T COME TO ENVOY THREAD", but is more about "Now I am at Envoy. What can I expect?" I say this mostly because, whether you like it or not, Envoy has the most financial support of fixed wing training.
1) Seniority Number. When will I get this. Will I get this upon conditional offer, or when flight training at Coast is completed(which could take MANY months)? Based on future numbers, this could be a huge difference.
2) Domiciles. I live near a home domicile that is not Chicago or NY. How long can I realistically expect to get back to where I want to be? I know about the forced upgrades, so please discuss both FO's and Captain instances.
3) Reserves. I know that reserves will suck. How can I make the best out of it until I wait to get back to my home domicile? What are my options for staying places overnight, etc....? Is a 4 day reserve schedule what we are looking at on a regular basis?
4) QOL. Give me everything you got...everything that you wished you knew when you started. Family time is super important to me, so I'm very curious about this aspect. How much seniority will I need to even get 1 or 2 weekends a month off? Holidays? How much time can I expect to spend with my family (which leads to the next point)?
5) Scheduling. What do typical lines look like once I get them? 4 on, 2 off? Any other comments, gripes, complaints.
Thanks so much in advance. I, and probably many others to come, greatly appreciate the invaluable advice.
01-22-2018, 06:42 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,523
Originally Posted by JustLookin
Hello all,
I'm an RTP guy that has recently completed an interview with Envoy. I have done tons of research on several threads, but I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread to answer some questions for myself and for future guys wanting to go through this program.
Background: Army Aviation. Before my research, I knew nothing about airlines, specifically regionals such as Envoy.
Goal: Get answers to basic questions such as QOL, schedules, domiciles, etc... I would love everyone's opinions that have been with the company for more than a minute.
I understand that things are "hard" right now and there are plenty of topics of conversations to get things fixed. This is not a "DON'T COME TO ENVOY THREAD", but is more about "Now I am at Envoy. What can I expect?" I say this mostly because, whether you like it or not, Envoy has the most financial support of fixed wing training.
1) Seniority Number. When will I get this. Will I get this upon conditional offer, or when flight training at Coast is completed(which could take MANY months)? Based on future numbers, this could be a huge difference. When you show up for day one of training at Envoy. Not during interview, not while you're at Coast, when you show up to class at Envoy.
2) Domiciles. I live near a home domicile that is not Chicago or NY. How long can I realistically expect to get back to where I want to be? I know about the forced upgrades, so please discuss both FO's and Captain instances. Assuming you want MIA or DFW, there is honestly no telling. There is so much craziness and movement right now things are changing all the time. I'd venture a guess and say 6-12 months. Probably closer to the 12 mark, but it's a crap shoot.
3) Reserves. I know that reserves will suck. How can I make the best out of it until I wait to get back to my home domicile? What are my options for staying places overnight, etc....? Is a 4 day reserve schedule what we are looking at on a regular basis? Commuting to RSV is awful. It's really what makes this job miserable. 5 day RSV stretches are the norm, with an occasional 4 or 3 day stretch thrown in the mix. I wish I had some great answer about how to make the best of it, but there really isn't a way to do that unless you have some sort of place to live while you're on RSV at whatever base you're at- i.e. friends or family to crash with, cheap apartment, etc...You get 4 nights at a hotel per month paid by the company. The rest is for you to figure out
4) QOL. Give me everything you got...everything that you wished you knew when you started. Family time is super important to me, so I'm very curious about this aspect. How much seniority will I need to even get 1 or 2 weekends a month off? Holidays? How much time can I expect to spend with my family (which leads to the next point)? If MIA or DFW is where you wanna be, you're looking at a long time to hold consistent weekends off and holidays. You might get a few here and there, but it'll be tough. You'll be able to hold them quicker as an FO, but once you get forced to upgrade, you're probably looking at the very least a year or two. As far as what makes or breaks your QOL more than anything, it's commuting. I used to do it and then moved into base. It makes it a whole different job driving to work. A huge QOL hit also to think about is time off, especially on RSV. On RSV you can only get 3 days in a row off. There are options to trade RSV days around with your schedule, but the company consistently denies those requests. So if you need more than 3 days off as a RSV pilot, you have to rely on your vacation. And the real kicker...you don't get more than 14 days of vacation per year until you're on 8 year pay. Holding a line you at least have some options with trip trading to line up some days off. But don't count on taking many great trips or doing anything fun for more than a couple of days here and there outside of your vacation while you're on RSV.
5) Scheduling. What do typical lines look like once I get them? 4 on, 2 off? Any other comments, gripes, complaints. Depends on the base. Junior lines are as few as 11 and 12 off a month. Those 11 and 12 off you'll see a lot of 4 on 2 off with some 4 on 3 off. And the occasional stretch of days off more than that. Average days off is 13-14.
Thanks so much in advance. I, and probably many others to come, greatly appreciate the invaluable advice.
I'm an RTP guy that has recently completed an interview with Envoy. I have done tons of research on several threads, but I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread to answer some questions for myself and for future guys wanting to go through this program.
Background: Army Aviation. Before my research, I knew nothing about airlines, specifically regionals such as Envoy.
Goal: Get answers to basic questions such as QOL, schedules, domiciles, etc... I would love everyone's opinions that have been with the company for more than a minute.
I understand that things are "hard" right now and there are plenty of topics of conversations to get things fixed. This is not a "DON'T COME TO ENVOY THREAD", but is more about "Now I am at Envoy. What can I expect?" I say this mostly because, whether you like it or not, Envoy has the most financial support of fixed wing training.
1) Seniority Number. When will I get this. Will I get this upon conditional offer, or when flight training at Coast is completed(which could take MANY months)? Based on future numbers, this could be a huge difference. When you show up for day one of training at Envoy. Not during interview, not while you're at Coast, when you show up to class at Envoy.
2) Domiciles. I live near a home domicile that is not Chicago or NY. How long can I realistically expect to get back to where I want to be? I know about the forced upgrades, so please discuss both FO's and Captain instances. Assuming you want MIA or DFW, there is honestly no telling. There is so much craziness and movement right now things are changing all the time. I'd venture a guess and say 6-12 months. Probably closer to the 12 mark, but it's a crap shoot.
3) Reserves. I know that reserves will suck. How can I make the best out of it until I wait to get back to my home domicile? What are my options for staying places overnight, etc....? Is a 4 day reserve schedule what we are looking at on a regular basis? Commuting to RSV is awful. It's really what makes this job miserable. 5 day RSV stretches are the norm, with an occasional 4 or 3 day stretch thrown in the mix. I wish I had some great answer about how to make the best of it, but there really isn't a way to do that unless you have some sort of place to live while you're on RSV at whatever base you're at- i.e. friends or family to crash with, cheap apartment, etc...You get 4 nights at a hotel per month paid by the company. The rest is for you to figure out
4) QOL. Give me everything you got...everything that you wished you knew when you started. Family time is super important to me, so I'm very curious about this aspect. How much seniority will I need to even get 1 or 2 weekends a month off? Holidays? How much time can I expect to spend with my family (which leads to the next point)? If MIA or DFW is where you wanna be, you're looking at a long time to hold consistent weekends off and holidays. You might get a few here and there, but it'll be tough. You'll be able to hold them quicker as an FO, but once you get forced to upgrade, you're probably looking at the very least a year or two. As far as what makes or breaks your QOL more than anything, it's commuting. I used to do it and then moved into base. It makes it a whole different job driving to work. A huge QOL hit also to think about is time off, especially on RSV. On RSV you can only get 3 days in a row off. There are options to trade RSV days around with your schedule, but the company consistently denies those requests. So if you need more than 3 days off as a RSV pilot, you have to rely on your vacation. And the real kicker...you don't get more than 14 days of vacation per year until you're on 8 year pay. Holding a line you at least have some options with trip trading to line up some days off. But don't count on taking many great trips or doing anything fun for more than a couple of days here and there outside of your vacation while you're on RSV.
5) Scheduling. What do typical lines look like once I get them? 4 on, 2 off? Any other comments, gripes, complaints. Depends on the base. Junior lines are as few as 11 and 12 off a month. Those 11 and 12 off you'll see a lot of 4 on 2 off with some 4 on 3 off. And the occasional stretch of days off more than that. Average days off is 13-14.
Thanks so much in advance. I, and probably many others to come, greatly appreciate the invaluable advice.
01-23-2018, 04:26 AM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2016
Posts: 1,609
Welcome. I flew with a couple RTP guys recently and both said the training out at coast just took too long and had way too much down time. Im sure there is an RTP tread out there that has more information than I can give you.
Getting out of ORD or NY isn't going to be that bad. We just had a vacancy for 65 FO spots in DFW that will get transferee about 15-20 per month for the next few months. With that happening it looks like guys that are about to hold a line will be on property just under a year in DFW. When talking about base transfers and everything it really depends on how many people above you wants DFW. There are massive amounts of movement right now but I'd say you would likely be up north for 2-5 months before you get to go south.
Forced upgrades- I don't see that happening to you. You have 900 pilots hired in 2017 so by the time they get 1000 hours plus the other high time FOs upgrading off the bat I don't expect this to continue. (Very little confidence in this statement. It's too far out and I'm just guessing.)
QOL. Live in base. Live in base. Live in base. If you live in base and being at home is what you prefer then I'd say keep an eye on the reserve list. Reserve is one of the best ways for a junior line holder to have more time at home. Reserve needs to be staffed appropriately for this to happen.
Getting out of ORD or NY isn't going to be that bad. We just had a vacancy for 65 FO spots in DFW that will get transferee about 15-20 per month for the next few months. With that happening it looks like guys that are about to hold a line will be on property just under a year in DFW. When talking about base transfers and everything it really depends on how many people above you wants DFW. There are massive amounts of movement right now but I'd say you would likely be up north for 2-5 months before you get to go south.
Forced upgrades- I don't see that happening to you. You have 900 pilots hired in 2017 so by the time they get 1000 hours plus the other high time FOs upgrading off the bat I don't expect this to continue. (Very little confidence in this statement. It's too far out and I'm just guessing.)
QOL. Live in base. Live in base. Live in base. If you live in base and being at home is what you prefer then I'd say keep an eye on the reserve list. Reserve is one of the best ways for a junior line holder to have more time at home. Reserve needs to be staffed appropriately for this to happen.
01-24-2018, 01:29 PM
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2016
Posts: 524
Originally Posted by Pedro4President
Welcome. I flew with a couple RTP guys recently and both said the training out at coast just took too long and had way too much down time. Im sure there is an RTP tread out there that has more information than I can give you.
Getting out of ORD or NY isn't going to be that bad. We just had a vacancy for 65 FO spots in DFW that will get transferee about 15-20 per month for the next few months. With that happening it looks like guys that are about to hold a line will be on property just under a year in DFW. When talking about base transfers and everything it really depends on how many people above you wants DFW. There are massive amounts of movement right now but I'd say you would likely be up north for 2-5 months before you get to go south.
Forced upgrades- I don't see that happening to you. You have 900 pilots hired in 2017 so by the time they get 1000 hours plus the other high time FOs upgrading off the bat I don't expect this to continue. (Very little confidence in this statement. It's too far out and I'm just guessing.)
QOL. Live in base. Live in base. Live in base. If you live in base and being at home is what you prefer then I'd say keep an eye on the reserve list. Reserve is one of the best ways for a junior line holder to have more time at home. Reserve needs to be staffed appropriately for this to happen.
Getting out of ORD or NY isn't going to be that bad. We just had a vacancy for 65 FO spots in DFW that will get transferee about 15-20 per month for the next few months. With that happening it looks like guys that are about to hold a line will be on property just under a year in DFW. When talking about base transfers and everything it really depends on how many people above you wants DFW. There are massive amounts of movement right now but I'd say you would likely be up north for 2-5 months before you get to go south.
Forced upgrades- I don't see that happening to you. You have 900 pilots hired in 2017 so by the time they get 1000 hours plus the other high time FOs upgrading off the bat I don't expect this to continue. (Very little confidence in this statement. It's too far out and I'm just guessing.)
QOL. Live in base. Live in base. Live in base. If you live in base and being at home is what you prefer then I'd say keep an eye on the reserve list. Reserve is one of the best ways for a junior line holder to have more time at home. Reserve needs to be staffed appropriately for this to happen.
01-24-2018, 03:40 PM
#6
Line Holder
Joined APC: Oct 2016
Posts: 60
Originally Posted by RabidW0mbat
So what you're saying is if I'm a new hire and live in Chicago, I should have a good chance of staying in ORD? I guess that would make Reserve not terrible...and probably able to hold a line faster?
RSV isn't so bad if you live in-domicile... at ORD, last month on RSV I only worked three times... all were CDO flights I had to beg for. If I hadn't wanted to fly at all... it would've been a month of just sitting around not drinking. I was on RSV for 5 days over Christmas... I asked for a flight each day, and got nothing. During Christmas. When I was pretty sure some family-man would want off, or when it would be busy... it wasnt.
Sitting in your own house, hanging with your own family while on RSV is not bad at all.
01-25-2018, 09:27 AM
#7
Line Holder
Joined APC: May 2015
Posts: 92
Originally Posted by RabidW0mbat
So what you're saying is if I'm a new hire and live in Chicago, I should have a good chance of staying in ORD? I guess that would make Reserve not terrible...and probably able to hold a line faster?
Depending on staffing levels and your seniority living in base on reserve can be some of the best quality of life out there. Pick up time on your days off, don't fly on your days on. Credit for 95 hours while getting 20 days off a month. Even when the staffing levels aren't great RSV in base is much MUCH less painful that commuting.
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