OrionFE

[QUOTE=gasnhaul;1883191] we have incompetent engineers at the top of the seniority list... Oops, I was supposed to stop.[]

Hey GSH, you seem to be in the "company know", how many of those incompetent engineers were involved in all of those incidents that you were factually aware of? I assume you are management, as you know so many facts! What is your aviation background before becoming Kalitta Management?

maxjet

[QUOTE=OrionFE;1884302]I too get feel offended when I see or hear statements like this. Where a pilot comes from has little to do with how they perform. If they sat on their butts and did nothing but the panel and then jump into the right seat they will "probably" be lacking the necessary skills to perform at an acceptable level. If on the other hand they have taken the transition seriously, they will be more that prepared. One of the best Captains I fly with used to be a Load Master. The problem with the engineer transfer is the training department, (amazing how they always seem to be in the middle of all our problems). The training department has forced unprepared and inexperienced engineers through the system for some unknown reason. 130-150 hours of IOE to get them through????? Then turn them loose when they barely passed? Horrible. Other engineers came through in the normal amount of IOE hours. Equal standards for all would be the way to go from a safety standpoint.

727C47

I know a few prior FE's and one prior loadmaster who are stellar at K4, I wouldn't use such a broad brush, a lot of good guys.

longhauler

[QUOTE=OrionFE;1884302]Hmm, which former PFE has three of the six hard landings in 2014?

gasnhaul

[QUOTE=OrionFE;1884302]Dude, unfortunately you sound as clueless here as you do on fr8ghtdog. It's ok though...maybe you haven't heard all the scuttlebutt because folks won't say it around you. Most of the recent FE upgrades are incompetent and dangerous...thankfully there are qualified folks watching them like hawks.

As stated by others...why do FEs get 150+ hours of IOE? Why do they consistently have hard landings (which is frankly unbelievable that someone can actually hard land a whale)? Why did one of them get fired from two, yes TWO, separate companies trying to get qualified in a Beech 1900 before being told he is now "qualified" enough to fly a 747-400? How about the crew who almost went off the runway in Chicago about two years ago because the captain (an engineer upgrade) didn't have enough sense or flying background to realize they should have never accepted the runway they were given and smoked a motor in the process? Oh well, I can go on and on but I'll stop here...ya just gotta hate hearing the truth and I know it hurts

And that is not a broad brush statement from me concerning engineers. There are many that are excellent pilots and are extremely competent. I'm mainly referring to the most recent "upgrades" who think they "deserve" to be in the seat they are in. Or those who think they are ready for captain when in fact they are nowhere close (take a look at the most recent upgrade class as one person should really stand out and yes Orion I consider you to be in this group as I know you will bid it as soon as they will let you). Fact is most pilots here have 1000s of hours of heavy, multi engine jet and/or turbine time and have a lot of experience (ACTUAL PILOT EXPERIENCE) to fall back on. You and the rest of the "upgrades" have neither.

Finally, you can obviously tell I'm not management. They are too busy circling the wagons and protecting you guys, which clearly I am not doing.

This thread has wandered too far and I won't be replying to any more of it. I'm just trying to put out some factual information for those who think they might want to come here. Hopefully those that are thinking of coming here have read my previous posts and have now have some good information about this place and can make an educated decision. Good luck to all of you and I hope you get what you are looking for.

Gas

Caveman

Gasnhaul....I hope all keep the posts coming.

To anyone willing/brave enough to share...

What are the current airframe fleet #'s as of today?

What is the immediate future regarding airframe fleet #'s?

What is the "projected" plan regarding airframe fleet #'s?

I did notice too...that Kalitta is no longer accepting pilot applications. That would leave one to assume that the -200 displacement to -400 training requirements/or -400 fleet pilot requirements are more than met for the immediate (12-24 month) future.

HercDriver130

"rumor"... says another -400 in the next 45 days... and likely 2 more late summer or fall.... "rumor" also says parking of 2 classics in august... but until any of it happens.. its just that ... RUMOR

currently there are 9 -400s running around the world
there are also 5 flyable -200s of which on a given day 3 or 4 seems to fly somewhere just not in the non stop fashion of the -400s.....

fleet plan?....surely you jest....

HercDriver130

can't say why they have shut off the application process... doesn't jive with the latest RUMOR of training thru the fall... unless they think they have enough resume's already.... who knows....

FEtoCPT

It's shut off for now, plenty of resumes in the stack... However, as I'm sure you know, doesn't mean ****!!

Motherhen

Do you think this will have an effect on any of us that are in the pool?
Hope the classes will continue through the fall.