Originally Posted by maxjet (Post 3373984)

You have opened Pandora’s box with what you may see as a simple question. YOU have to decide what in aviation appeals to you. Do you like a private jet kind of thing where you have one customer at a time who can sometimes be an ass? Do you want to fly freight ranging from sitting is a hub wet and tired, to working at K4 during the good times (not right now) where you went out for 17 days and only flew 7. The rest of the time you were overnighting in cities like Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, Sydney for 2 or 3 days in a row? Do you want to fly passengers for a legacy? Do you want to fly air medical? Do you want to fly for the federal government? Do you want to fly for the military?

For the first time in my adult life, these paths are all available to you. It appears that they will continue to be available to you for the foreseeable future. There will be dips in the road with pandemics, wars etc. but the shortage of pilots will continue.

My advice is, if you are a young man or woman, go and enjoy all of it. Go to K9 and make a 2 year commitment to yourself. See if you like it. If you don’t, move somewhere else. Never be afraid to start over. One of the worse things you can do is to set your sites on one section of the industry like for example Southwest. You get the necessary time and get a job there at 25. For the next 40 years you fly a 737 to the same 20 destinations? Great money and a great schedule. Doesn’t sound like much fun after a while though.

Due to the lost decade, in 4 years I ended up with 6 type ratings and multiple companies. Went from Mesa, Maxjet, Skybus, Northwest (sent over to Compass to await hiring out of the pool which never happened), USA3000, Carnegie Mellon University, PHI Air Medical, KalittaAir. At the time I wasn’t happy about it. In retrospect, it was a great thing to experience all of those different operations. When I arrived at K4 in 2011 I found that for me, it was the perfect fit and that I had finally found home.

You must find your own path. To do otherwise will result in you probably becoming just another unhappy pilot, who has lost site of the joy of aviation.

Originally Posted by onepoint5thumbs (Post 3374321)

cowboy flying into places that aren't LGA/ORD.

Originally Posted by Locke (Post 3374358)

The days of cowboy flying at Kalitta are long gone.
We do go to interesting places, but they’re still airports large enough to support a heavy aircraft. We also do our fair share of ORD/JFK/LAX/CVG.

Look into operators like Lynden if you’re wanting dirt strips and adventure.

Originally Posted by thaisycat (Post 3374789)

Hey everyone, I've been stalking this forum for years, and for a long time Kalitta was a place I dreamed of working at. I'm at a regional now but I've flown cargo and medevac before with crazy schedules and I think I know what I'm getting into. Now that the majors are in sight for me, I got a call from Kalitta for an interview on March 1st. It's bittersweet because two years ago I would've been over the moon and gone without hesitation. Morale was high.

Originally Posted by Frank717 (Post 3374956)

First of all, congratulations on the interview. Always follow your dreams.
I’ve been here for sometime. It’s a second home for me, and bittersweet. I’m down to a few years and will ride this out, but lots of others are moving elsewhere.

The good, K4 is classic and so are our birds. Getting to fly a 747 is incredible, and a rare thing these days. The pay is alright, though it could always be better. QOL… See below.

The bad, this place goes up and down. Management seems sometimes to be on our (pilots) side, sometimes against every last thing we do. These days, it’s rough. The rumor is we are following the Altas model, keep things bad so guys won’t ride to the end. QOL is poor, I get stuck out often, I have to fight for the extra pay I earn, and I feel that reoccurring issues are never addressed (catering, hotels, etc). I think the lack of 401k matching when compared to industry standard speaks to how much regard they give to the longevity of the pilots.

Side notes; is this better than a regional? Yes! Of course. Great experience to learn to. Good flying, good training and good crews.
Do you have a flow now? I would ride that out.
Do you have a chance for a major? Go. You would be stupid not to.
How do we compare to LLCs or other ACMIs? That’s personal. Do you want to be home- don’t come here. Are you young and single? Come here and see the world.

Originally Posted by B77ER (Post 3375707)

But then why people (including Cpts) leave in droves if they can?
Had breakfast last month with a 76 new captain and he was leaving.

Originally Posted by itsbrokenagain (Post 3385765)

Just curious how much prior to your start date do they send you info to access the CBT's ? or does it currently only happen on day one ??

Originally Posted by itsbrokenagain (Post 3385765)

Just curious how much prior to your start date do they send you info to access the CBT's ? or does it currently only happen on day one ??

Originally Posted by goinaround (Post 3386008)

Do yourself a favor and get them done before you show up. They take forever and you’d rather be working in the FTD that week.

Originally Posted by worstpilotever (Post 3387361)

Plus if you do them at home you can have your kids click thru them while you drink beer or something.

Originally Posted by thepotato232 (Post 3389417)

"Cooperate to graduate" is certainly the name of the game, and getting the CBTs out of the way ASAP to focus more on the test-focused content in YIP would be my recommendation. I've found the old Doc Donaldson YouTube video to be a useful resource to help digest the glut of information in a more pilot-friendly presentation after the fact (less the systems specific to freighters, of course).

Originally Posted by B77ER (Post 3375707)

But then why people (including Cpts) leave in droves if they can?
Had breakfast last month with a 76 new captain and he was leaving.

Originally Posted by newb2 (Post 3392960)

I noticed this message board has been very quiet as of late, could it be because this place has become a dumpster fire with almost 80 people leaving? It's only March look out.

Originally Posted by newb2 (Post 3392960)

I noticed this message board has been very quiet as of late, could it be because this place has become a dumpster fire with almost 80 people leaving? It's only March look out.

Originally Posted by goinaround (Post 3393050)

Oh whatever. It’s the same company it was two years ago when everybody was so grateful and happy to be working here. But when the doors of opportunity at every single carrier are flung wide open with a clean welcome mat with your name embroidered on it are laid before you…..folks are gonna move. Sounds like you should be one of them.

Originally Posted by newb2 (Post 3393709)

Unfortunately it is not the same company. Two years ago, management did not speak to us as though we are the enemy, but the condescending attitude is apparent every day and has become pervasive. Two years ago, our scheduling department did not try and create a maximum duty day every time we go out to fly. For those that do not know, the max duty day is 24 hours, and can be extended to 26 hours with the crewmembers concurrence. Today the goal is to make our duty day as close to 24 hours as possible, this is no longer a maximum duty period it has become a goal. Your opinion is your opinion and you of course are entitled to it, but the reality is this is not the same company, and the way we are treated as professional airline pilots is atrocious. So if you tell me the problem is me, perhaps you are one of the individuals that routinely extend your duty period to the 26 hour limit. I don’t know about most of the pilots that now work here, but I did not become an airline pilot to be used and abused.

Originally Posted by newb2 (Post 3393709)

For those that do not know, the max duty day is 24 hours, and can be extended to 26 hours with the crewmembers concurrence. Today the goal is to make our duty day as close to 24 hours as possible, this is no longer a maximum duty period it has become a goal.

Originally Posted by RyeMex (Post 3393739)

Maybe I’m wrong, but didn’t you guys actively fight to keep a 24 hour duty day a couple of CBAs ago? Back when IBT 1224 was trying to get it reduced to 20?

Originally Posted by dera (Post 3393791)

What kind of premium pay you trigger when you go to 24 hour duty day?

Originally Posted by RyeMex (Post 3393739)

Maybe I’m wrong, but didn’t you guys actively fight to keep a 24 hour duty day a couple of CBAs ago? Back when IBT 1224 was trying to get it reduced to 20?

Originally Posted by zerozero (Post 3393957)

That was the primary reason they left 1224 and went with ALPA.

The original duty day was 30 hours, and seen as "necessary" so they could operate thru Afghanistan without staying in a tent. They could have persuaded the company to take rest in Dubai, for example, but chose instead to reduce to max 24 hours.

It's true, 1224 pushed for 20 hours as a "standard" across their carriers.

Originally Posted by goinaround (Post 3393735)

I certainly won’t argue with your experiences. My longest days have been the incheon - china - anchorage flying which works out to about 18 hrs of duty most of the time and that is PLENTY long for anyone. I haven’t come closer than that to 24 since the days of the Afghanistan runs. I haven’t been outside of the China vortex for God knows how long….so I’m probably unaware of what the other flying even entails these days. I also don’t listen to any conference calls…..but even if I did I wouldn’t let one guys snarky attitude bother me. We all know that Connie and PS have been b@stards to deal with since day 1. People are casting their votes on CBA 2021 right now in a real way. They can reap what they sow for that piece of crap.

Originally Posted by RyeMex (Post 3393739)

Maybe I’m wrong, but didn’t you guys actively fight to keep a 24 hour duty day a couple of CBAs ago? Back when IBT 1224 was trying to get it reduced to 20?

Originally Posted by akfrtdwg 57 (Post 3395603)

Not only that. They were critical of people that insisted they should push for the 20 hr day. Insisting that the only reason that 24hr day existed was to conduct flights into and out of Afghanistan therefore essential to their business model. Not something to be used to undercut the competitions operational tempo.

Originally Posted by maxjet (Post 3396043)

While your statement is completely true it is a bit out of context. It had a lot to do with how 1224 at the time was handling the situation. If someone has an interest they should look at the posts of the time to get the whole picture. Now, why it survived this last contract is something not so clear.

Originally Posted by zerozero (Post 3396193)

The 1224 position was basically, "we have a standard (20 hours max duty day)" and the Kalitta proposition violated that standard.

It's pretty much that simple.

Originally Posted by goinaround (Post 3396217)

Did your recent contract “violate” any of your supposed 1224 “standards”? Jeezus. Well we’re out of your hair now. But I bet the Delta guys are super ****ed that they have to pattern bargain against us ….right?

Originally Posted by maxjet (Post 3394113)

My opinion wasn’t formed from listing to a cranky pilot. My opinion is formed from listening to middle managers in various operational sectors of the company who are quite distraught over what has happened. Unfortunately the pain is real. I am happy to see that some crew members are able to escape the chaos like you have because the money is better than ever. Stay safe.

Originally Posted by ex402dvr (Post 3397773)

I did not have the opportunity to listen to the conference call from our DO yesterday, but I heard he told everyone to quit, says everyone else is hiring. Does someone know if this is accurate?

Originally Posted by goinaround (Post 3397817)

Thats a bit dramatic and out of context. There was one takeaway and that is we have pay protections in place now for any OT you might choose to do. Otherwise business as usual on the line at K4.