I fly with these guys everyday. From what they tell me, they are getting an 85 hour guarantee plus an extra day off each month.

 

Flyboy,

First of all, I think you feel “junior” to you means inferior to you. That is not necessarily the case. Just because a Check Airman was hired after you, you can’t necessarily assume they aren’t qualified to do what they do. Many of these check airmen were working for a major airline when you were in college, or not very far removed from it.

I assume when you say they should stick to the FSG, you mean they shouldn’t take trips away from you to conduct IOE. When you responded earlier that all these people had completed IOE, I should have known then you were focused only on you and your buddies. Apparently you forget there are others that need IOE, even after you completed yours. In fact, some of these people are (gasp) First Officers. Now I realize you may find them icky-yucky, but it is vital to the program that they complete IOE. Secondly, it is vital to them individually.

You see, after they complete ground school they go to regular pay. And that’s at 70 hours, not 85 like you. Plus, they seem to all understand that if they are based in JFK, they need to provide their own housing. That's unlike you and your buddies that are getting put up on the company dime. Read that as costing me and every other employee profit sharing.

Now, if these icky-yucky F.O.s don’t complete IOE, they just mill around earning their 70 hours of FO pay (not the Captain bucks you are getting, not to mention 15 hours bonus pay for nothing). Not long after that, we won’t need to hire any more FOs for the program until the training backlog dies down. That means we’ll only hire ½ of the pilots we were expecting to. That means, that the Indy air guy that’s been out of work since January won’t have health insurance for their kids, the NWA guy facing a second furlough won’t be able to make a house payment, and so on. But most importantly, that’s less buffer between you and a furlough, good schedule, or any of the myriad other things that come with adding to a seniority list. All because you don’t want to give up a few trips so Check Airmen can conduct some much needed IOE. Pretty selfish, huh?

Buying trips from pilots is not a new concept. The “system” is designed to just make sure you aren’t punished for it, that’s all. Getting put up in a hotel and being paid 85 hours a month is not punishment by any standard.

The fact that you are a Captain for a national airline and this still needs to be explained to you is appalling.


Respectfully,

JayDub

 

Congrats,

I think there is an old saying "the best airline is the one that hires you." Assuming you succeed in getting hired, just remember to save as much money as you can and keep your resume up to date.

 

Gee, went from a line pilot with a legitimate concern to an "appalling"-ly superior selfish ingrate stealing health insurance from FlyI guys and denying house payments for NWA furloughees, all in one post (you forgot starving the little children in Armenia). Thanks for the "respectfully" professional discussion, pescado.