I love it when people try and make new guys feel bad for wanting to fly newer equipment. Why fly a 175 or jet, instead of a 145 or prop?

The fact is that newer equipment is more appealing, and generally pays more.

To the new guys, that's not to say that it makes sense to chase an airframe. After around 300 hours, maybe 4-6 months, the novelty and wow factor of the airplane will wear off. Oher things (like upgrade time, pay, time off, job stability) will weigh more heavily on your mind than what type of airplane you fly.

Nobody bids an airplane for the sake of flying that plane. There are always other overriding factors (base, pay, time off).

That being said, go to a regional with growth potential. Don't pick a place that is shrinking. If you want to go to an airline, and find out that many of the pilots are leaving, that should be a huge red flag.

 

On RSV it's a minimum of 3:54 minutes per day. Line holders are either protected to either their line value for the month, minimum line value (72), or what they actually fly, whichever is greater.

Examples: awarded line worth 65 hours. Due to weather you have 2 days cancel (loss of 7 hours flying). You then complete rest of month with about 58 hours of flying. Your pay is for 72 hours.

Same example except now line is worth 85 hours. You will be paid for 85 hours.

More creative pay buffering. You are awarded a CDO line with 32 hours of flying (Guarantee of 72 hours). You drop 4 days (2 CDO's) each worth 2.5 hours each. You then pick up 4 day OT trip worth 15 hours. You now get paid 72-5+15=82 hours with 15 hours paid at 150% or 200%.

Trip/duty rigs would be nice because it would force them create more efficient trips or pay us more.

 

What they said was the kind of flow that could actually cause that, would also cause a line out the door for pilots to get in here.... hence the doors wouldn't close.

The rest of your posting I agree with.

 

Except that CDOs have been eliminated and droves of people are saying that drop requests are now systematically denied despite the alleged 'overstaffed' condition of the company.

DON'T GO TO ENVOY

 

Still the same games? They were doing that stuff back in 2008 when I was there!

 

Yea, except Bowler looks like an Einstein compared to the current "management team".

Seriously, there were more leadership skills in my morning dump today than that rag tag group could ever hope for.

 

You missed the point of my post. It was to answer the trip/duty rig/pay question before. I also wanted to show that with a little creativity you can buffer your check. Lord knows I've done to it enough

As far as the CDOs, yes they've gone away, but they'll come back, they always do.

Drops have been tough over the past 6months, but I suspect they will be improving in the near future.

 

I'm coining a new recruiting slogan for them:

"Envoy Air: Maybe things will get slightly better, but probably not".

That should bring a flood of applicants to the door!

 

Just a little bit of knowledge to drop on you regarding the original question. If by some chance they have 175 slots available during your training then yes you can bid for it. It will go by seniority. For example, if there are 30 new hires in your class (bahahaha) and there are five 175 slots the rest are 145 then the most senior (DOB) in your class will get the choice till they are gone.

Now here is something to think about. If you get the 175 as a new hire know that you will be at the bottom forever and everyone that is on property prior to you will cut you in line once they are displaced over to the 175. This truely sucks.

Speaking from experience you don't want that. I was hired as DFW CRJ FO and it was senior equipment. EVERY fo that chose to come over would be above me on the seniority list. I was sitting standby at the airport for 8 months and logged about 150 hours. Then by the grace of God there was a displacement were I was sent to the ATR and guess what? I had some seniority! I could hold a line with weekends off and could bid decent vacation blocks. It was a completely different and much better job.

I really wish someone had told me not to step in that pile of sh!t back when I was a new hire. Make sure you do your research on the regional of your choice >>>as if you were going to be there the rest of you life<<<. That may not be there case but you never know when the music stops and you're left with your junk in your hand. Reaseach, reaseach, reaseach! Contracts pro/cons, QOL, bases and commuting, future of the airline. It's not all about upgrade time and travel benefits. That's how management stuckers you into coming to the dark side.

 

What happened to the tide?


Good Luck!