Why does dfw matter for a base if you are a commuter?

 

If you think 8 hours of airport standby 5 times a month is soul sucking, then I don't know what to say. Everyone can make up their own mind about that.

And yes, bad times do happen but hey, they happen everywhere. Skywest, Republic etc sucked during 2008 too. Endeavor didn't even exist yet. I'm sure a lot pilots went to Comair too thinking they will be fine if they "got stuck" there.
If 2008 or 9/11 happens again, the well paying contracts are flushed down the toilet faster than you can say "concessions" after a C11.

 

I wish I could love sitting around doing nothing while making 16 dollars of taxable per diem. That just sounds like a great use of my time! I think that's part of the reason people don't see you as credible because any normal human being with a life and family would understand how terrible that is.

 

This doesn't make much sense. You don't make any money flying off reserve either. Breaking guarantee is borderline impossible.

So with your logic, any reserve flying is "terrible".

 

There's a difference in doing something and sitting around

 

So to summarize the negatives, we have:

Low pay
Lack of duty rig
145 schedules are inefficient and suck, which makes it difficult to break guarantee because see above
145 reserve times suck
Airport standby

And I’ll add: flow not guaranteed for new hires, to appease those waiting in the wings with their tinfoil hats and FUPM foam fingers.

What else do you want people to know?

Also, I’d be 145. Not a cadet, no prior 121, and I’m not that old. So no 175 for me.

 

Here is an actual example on why standby at Envoy is draining:

You have one day left on reserve, and as you are on the 'bubble' for being either awarded a RAP or Standby, you proffer for S1, in the hopes of getting done early and catching your commute home. Envoy is unique where even if you request RAP above a standby in your proffer, when CS gets to your proffer - if you requested any STBY, and its available, you get it. There have been many times where you could have held RAP (barely) but because you proffered for any standby, you are awarded that. Nothing is worse than not proffering for a standby - and getting the one you absolutely didn't want, while junior guys get the standby you would have been 'okay' with, but thats just the way of the game.

Continuing on, you confirm your S1, and you are the 'senior' S1. While sitting at the airport - the junior S1 gets called for a quick turn that will finish at ~1400. Because Envoy reserve is nearly all seniority / reverse seniority based, you can't tell CS that you want that trip that was assigned to the junior S1.

At 12:40, you get called for a 14:40 turn (completely legal) that gets done at 1800. At that point, you stand a very good chance that you are not making your commute home, and if you do it will be very late.

This seems extreme, but this exact scenario has happened nearly once a month since I have been on reserve. I don't commute anymore, but it still is frustrating to start your reserve block at 4a, and not finish your last day till 6p.

Alas, standby does not contribute to your monthly pay credit. You could absolutely sit standby all month (160 hours), and still credit the MMG of 75 hours.

 

So where is that? One of the “better” regionals, where things are already stagnant, it takes 6-12 months to get a class, etc.? Even those pilots are saying it’s not a good deal for new hires.

Or one of the “bottom feeders” that can’t even staff right now, has similar or lower pay, etc.?

Envoy is one of the (seemingly) better options out there where you can get a class relatively quickly. While times are good, there’s built in attrition. Unfortunately, I do need a new job within the next 2 months or so, so I need to make some decisions.

I’m not on the east coast, so that limits options more. Unless my logic is somehow flawed, I’d rather be stuck somewhere like Envoy than somewhere like Mesa, so that’s why I’m trying to get a real sense of why it’s a bad deal.

 

If you come here hope it works out. I'd try to get offers from those companies that have the wait. Don't spend the bonus money and when they come calling for a class date leave here pay back the bonus and don't look back. Unless you get lucky 175 DFW or ORD and life is good for you you can make the decision to stay or leave.

 

What you described is legal but like you said, very rare. If it happens "nearly" once a month, I don't think that's a major complaint. For that to happen, a few things need to be in place: You need to be the senior S1, and the S2's that have started their shift must be senior to you. Doesn't happen often, and your time in that "window" on the reserve list won't last long.

I doubt anyone has ever sat airport standby all month, unless they bid for a standby line (you cannot be assigned a standby line).

All of these sound like minor complaints to me. Yes, there's work to be done, but if you want to see really bad work rules, you need to look at CommutAir. Most reserve is airport reserve, and if a lineholder gets displaced for IOE? Hey, you're now on reserve!