C340

Yeahhh, I noticed they've change their tone with that 4 day thing the further I get into training.

Well jokes on them: If they lure people in using fantasies of shorter tours and then pull the rug out from under them when training is over, some people will bail and there goes $40,000+ in training costs. And that is completely on Flexjet. Why they aren't just up front about that is beyond me.

TexasLonghorn

4 day runs are absolutely possible, you just have to get senior enough to have them awarded. It also helps if you live in a base that is well served by airlines. If you're going to bail because you're not able to get 4 day lines in your first 6-9 months then this place probably isn't a good fit for you long term anyways. At this point DRL captain is sub 18 months and then as long as your airplane is covered you can work as many 4 days as you want.

Artifact

good info. I’m nervous about PBS so considering 8/6. I don’t want to be gone 18 days if I can help it.

C340

I am not planning on bailing - I just mention that because I think Flex does no one any good by stating "crew members bid schedule in 4 day blocks or as many as 8 day blocks with similar times off in-between." in their recruiting material. While technically correct, it is more like a bait and switch if it is not going to be happening for awhile. Particularly if one were to compare Flexjet to Netjets, this apparent option for shorter rotations could make the difference between someone choosing Flexjet over Netjets and their popular 7/7. To a new hire who chose Flexjet, lured in by shorter rotations, now they'll be on longer rotations than most of the Netjets pilots! It would be good to be up front and mention that kind of schedule may only be possible down the road. Heck, Delta could also come out and advertise to new hires that you will "make half a million dollars a year and only fly 5 days a month!" and thats not a technically a lie either - so long as they are referring to their 30+ year senior captains.

As far as DRL goes, I heard from the CP's mouth at orientation that they are wanting DRL pilots flying longer rotations, ie not the 4 day rotations, for obvious reasons. While we are at it, it is also somewhat confusing that DRL staffs 3 captains per aircraft. Split evenly, thats about 10 days a month per captain, right? The CP also said they are expecting pilots to fly 14-16 days a month, which of course makes sense from an efficiency standpoint, but it also brings up questions as to just how the DRL scheduling works. Is it truly up to the three captains, or is there more to it than that? How much flexibility is actually there? It doesn't sound like someone could work, say, 8 days a month (making less $, of course), if that was what they wanted. I know there are floater captains out there, perhaps on reserve, who fill in as needed. I assume these come from DRL teams? But how does that factor into choosing one's own schedule with their team? I know I am putting the cart before the horse here, but I think some transparency with this is useful in terms of helping someone decide if they want to plan to make a career here. Let's be real - one can't be blamed for wanting this transparency with these details when one can go get hired at the majors right now and make way more while working a lot less.

I'm certainly going into this with an open mind and will give it my best - I have been really happy with how they are treating us and I feel really good about the place. It feels "right" so far. I'd happily recommend this place to anyone. All I am saying is that organizations should be very careful with what they advertise so that the company and the hired candidate have the same expectations.

IMaFracGOD

It really is make your own schedule between the three. The flexibility is between you and your other 2 captains, that's it.
The only hard requirements are, 100% coverage of the left seat when the schedule is submitted and no less than 4 day rotations
We have scheduled overlaps of just 1 day up to as much as even 6 days
They don't care how much each of the three captains work. EX: May for us - 1 captain - 16 days, 1 captain - 14 days, 1 captain - 15, June - 1 Captain - 12 days, 1 Captain - 15 days, 1 captain - 14 days
It really is up to you, want to make more, work more, don't care about making more, work less.
We build our schedule, we submit that schedule, they input the schedule. Only time I have ever heard back from them about our schedule was due to a typing error of dates and they saw no overlap, hence no coverage for that day.
Unofficially I have heard that 12 is a minimum in a month, and consistently. So if you only schedule 12 every month and that is your plan to only work 12 every month of the year, and that is because of benefits. Word of mouth is less than wanting to work 12 they then consider you part time.
The floater captains are there only for the purpose of filling in for one of the 3 if 1 is going to be out for an extended period of time - Short term disability

TexasLonghorn

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No one is saying to expect to have to wait 30 years before 4 day rotations are a possibility due to seniority. We're talking maybe 12-18 months *at most* depending on your fleet assignment and if you take upgrades. At this point that's probably a grossly high estimate too, considering DRL CA slots are coming open in that same time frame. I was awarded bids w/ 4 day runs on months 3, 5, and 7 of captain flying (the only months I bid for them). I never bid for them as an FO. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect to have to pay your dues and not get the exact schedule you want immediately after training at any company with a seniority list. If 4 day trips are your goal then you'll get them eventually, you just have to put in the relatively short time to build the seniority to get them.

The majority of the questions you raise here both from a scheduling standpoint and a DRL standpoint are addressed in company documents and manuals. I'd suggest reading the 'How to use PBS Bid System' .pdf, 'Pilot Supplement 2022.08' .pdf and 'Domestic RL Supplement' .pdf as they've all got good and pertinent information to these topics.

Partime4life

Thinking about making the jump to FlexJet, but was wondering how they handled the pandemic. Was anyone furloughed?

TexasLonghorn

No furloughs. The pandemic and how we operated during it is covered ad nauseam in other threads. Some people on the outside didn't like how we did it, but I've yet to fly with someone else who was here during that time who had issues with how we operated.

C340

Fantastic information, this was very helpful and makes the opportunity even more appealing. Thank you very much!

Partime4life

!

Good to go, thanks!