I did too.

I received the same yesterday. I applied as soon as I met the minimums about a month ago, so I'm betting this email isn't anything special. Still, one can hope!

Interesting that so many got the same email in a "blast" type fashion.

I wonder if the IT/Email fiasco just became even more interesting...?

DOH!

STK

Still waiting. Meh.

Those of you getting the email, what are your stats? 121/military?

OR, maybe there has become a desperate need for more pilots...;)

Could we start a seperate "hiring" thread so there isn't a constant flood of people diluting the content of this thread with questions on experience?

Schedule
 

Assuming I start the 16 days duty on the 1st of the month and ending on the 16th with 14 days off after (17th-30th). Is it possible that one bid for an off days from the 1st to the 14th for the following month linking 2 blocks of 14 days together?

Yes, if you can hold it and stand the 32 days in a row that might result from this bidding strategy you can essentially have a vacation of a month several times a year and never touch your vacation bank.

What’s the parking situation? Does the company pay for you to park at the airport of your home airport while on the road?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's awesome! Thank you for the reply.

Crewmembers are responsible for getting to and from their resident airport - no parking fees paid

Last week, I got the email notifying me that my application has moved on to the second phase of review. I'm starting to prep for the interview, should I be looking at 121 regs or 135 regs or both?

Also, a question for current K4 pilots, do you guys change your sleep schedule when you are on days off to a normal, awake during daylight hours sort of schedule? Or do you remain on a night time schedule? Or does all of the time zone hopping make this a completely moot point?

121 sup
Sleep cycle depends on the person. I personally land and either hit the bar/breakfast with the crew or pass out. Wake up around 8 hours later and if something is open go get food.

There really isn’t much of a point in adjusting to where you are because the next day you’ll just change it by another 8-12 hours. Constantly adjusting will drive you mad. Sleep when you’re tired and eat when you’re hungry.

Why study the regs? The interview itself is a get to know you. Minus the computer test. Sleep schedule is all over the place. Just depends where you are.

Regs.... what regs....

Sleep... everybody figures out what works for them... those that dont... wont last.... as someone said above.... sleep when you are tired.. eat when you are hungry.. fly when they tell you too.. and go home ON time ALL the time....

Global freight vs. shift work
 

For some perspective on the sleep schedules:
A few years ago I did shift work. With a family and obligations, it was miserable. I was actually concerned about my health. The World Health Organization has named shift work among known carcinogens. It sucked royally, straight up.

Take this with a grain of salt given that I just started here: this is not shift work. Not even close. While I will echo the above comment that “getting on a sleep schedule” is next to pointless, I’ll add that by about day 8 you can’t actually define what if any circadian rhythm you might be on...I also found that I was sleeping way more than I have just about any other time in recent memory. Felt ready to go when it was my turn, slept good when I had the opportunity, either in the bunk or at the hotel. As one instructor put it:
Sleep when you’re tired
Eat when you’re hungry
Work out when you can
No joke, if you show up and you’re out of schlitz, say so; there’s two or three other pilots that probably are cool taking the first watch.
Now, night hub turns on the other hand don’t sound fun (see shift work above).

Like our A-10 friend above, I've also done shift work (probably doing the same thing). I've also had the lovely experience of doing night hub turns. Long haul is much more gentle on one's sensibilities. I actually wrote a research paper on "shift-work disorder". Your body can never actually adapt to back side of the clock. It's just not chemically possible. However, there is a lot more room to mitigate fatigue when doing longer flights with an augmented crew. Wouldn't worry about it too much.

It varies across the board on the 747, your clock can get scrambled, and sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes you come home and can only sleep four hours at a time. Sometimes you go to sleep at 7pm and wake up at 3am for a week. Day/night schedule is as meaningful as knowing what day of the week it is, because of all the time zone changes.
It basically comes down to sleeping when tired, eating when hungry, with disregard to what the sun is doing. Sometimes you need to force yourself to go to bed when not tired because you need six hours of sleep before starting your 10 hour long flight during the time you'd normally want to go to bed.
Not trying to scare anyone off, we do not have part 117(thankfully), it's a different world than a regional that primarily flies during the day, and it is completely different from UPS and Fed Ex as well.
It is truly a mixed bag(on the 747)

Is the IT fiasco still in full swing? Got invited for the September 5th interview and haven't received the follow up email from HR yet.

Two questions and please excuse me if it has been asked already. What is the maximum age for getting hired, if any, and would it be a negative when I apply if I want to commute from South Africa for the first few years until I am able to move to the USA permanently?

there is no maximum age
a guy 62 was just hired
hopefully my friend -59 -will get hired

Living in SA shouldn't be a problem - just understand your 16 days at work will be 20 for you
you have to be able to be at your resident airport in the US to start and end your days on

Thanks. My airline is offering early retirement packages and that would include unlimited ID90's which I could use to get to JFK or IAD. I'm turning 52 next month, have 17000 hours including around 4000 as FO on the B744. I have 2000 hours command time on the A320 and currently flying as FO on the A330/A340 fleet. My long range command is around 3 years away if I stay at my current airline but I don't see a future for my kids in South Africa so I'm hoping to move to the USA with them within the next 3 years.

Has anyone gotten an email from HR for the September 5th interviews? I believe they've been having IT problems lately...

Jumpseat
 

Does K4 have reciprocal jumpseat agreements with other carriers?

Ja

Filler

What does that mean???

K4 does have jumpseat agreements with just about everyone.

Thank you very much for that.

What about si or oui?

kkkkkkkkkk!

Is IOE backed up?

About a month wait for OE.

How about KCM?
 

Do you guys have KCM?

How about ID90's? I figured, probably not, but it is worth asking..


Thanks.

Yes, however not all carriers allow international jump seating so if you are asking about living overseas you need to factor that into your decision.

KCM yes. ID90 no

How junior are back to back rotations going?

I have been at K4 since 2011. I have always been on the bottom 50% of either the FO or CA list. I have worked back to back December and January every year. Pilots hired 8 months before me have never worked it. You would very seldom see a back to back during the rest of the year unless you chose to do it to get 30days off in between.

Thanks Max, appreciate the quick reply.

Do you guys have reciprocal international jumpseat (cabin backfilled) agreement with American? They seem to be pretty picky about that but seeing as they can do international on you guys it would only be fair.

We have a current pilot here who is from South Africa, but lives in the states now. He might have some insight for you.

As well, we had an FE who lived in Cape Town the last few years before we furloughed them all. He mitigated some of the commuting issue by bidding back to backs so he essentially under todays contract would work 32 on... 28/30 off.. and thus only commuted to the states 6 times a year.