I recently posted a question about this in another thread, but was looking for more information. (Thanks, Ottopilot, for your help.) A few questions:

Are new hires at CAL being placed in Guam?
If so, how long MUST you stay there?
If you are put there, how often do the schedules let you get back to the states?
More specifically, what is life like for a married couple when you get there? I'm trying to talk the roommate-for-life into a little "adventure" for a year or so, but I all I can tell her is it's summer year round, the occasional typhoon, and there's lots of snakes. And bugs, apparently. (Thank you, Encarta.)

I've heard it's great flying, but that doesn't appeal to the woman. "Hey babe, it's great flying." "Fantastic honey, while you're doing that, I'll be making homemade bug nets."

Do pilots actually live in Guam, or do they live in Honolulu or Tokyo or something and commute?

Currently applying to CAL, but wondering if hesitation about Guam will hurt the process.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm not with CAL but I do have a little experience with Guam from the military. It's not as 3rd world as you might think. The wx is basically constant year round. Think Hawaii and then add 5-10 degrees.

Japanese who can't afford to vacation in Hawaii go to Guam. There's plenty of resort areas and nice restaurants. Lots of Japanese tourist paying premium prices.

Beaches not so great as much of the shoreline is rocky cliff. The resort areas have nice beaches but I don't remember much in the way of surf. I don't claim to have made a huge survey of the beaches though.

No birds, the snakes killed them all...no joke. Don't venture off into the jungle areas or you end up like the birds.

Some of the best scuba in the Pacific is right off the beaches.

Supposedly it's one of the most hurricane prone places on the planet, but since they build everything there like pill-boxes it's just "one of those things".

People I know who were stationed at Anderson loved it. Not sure how it would be without the military social safety net.

 

Presently, no new hires are being SENT to Guam. It has become a little more senior and nobody is forced to go there unlike years past. Climate much like Hawaii but is prone to BIG storms. Flying is fantastic but the island life if not for everyone. Health care sucks and you would likely want to catch a plane for the mainland with anything serious health wise. Island population is not overly friendly to us mainland types - they tolerate us but not much more. Some beach areas but limited. A great place for WWII historians as this is where much of it happened. Saipan is just 20 minutes away by plane and is a great resort place to get away from Guam. The number one tourist attraction when I was there was the super K mart just recently constructed. Bus loads of Japanese tourists were dropped off on a regular basis. Diving is fabulous as well as through the Marshall islands. Mariannas Trench, which is the deepest known ocean depth at about 30,000 feet is right off Guam. Diet is alot of rice and fish dishes and SPAM. Guam is the number one consumer of SPAM in the world. Public schools are unacceptable and private school is the only option. I think Guam would make a great stay for a year or two but anymore than that would be a stretch. There is a cost override to be based there which used to be $1000 or so but I am not sure how much it is now. Golf is great and housing prices are on the high side. With the 737-800 being the only AC flown there, commuting is difficult with the two man cockpit. In years past with the 727 and DC-10 it was possible to fly 10 on and 20 off but no more. I think some still commute but realize that Guam is a 7 hour flight from HNL. Some go through NRT (Tokyo) but it is a 3 hour flight even from Tokyo. My advice is NOT to commute if you go there. Hope this answered some of your questions. By the way, in the two years I was based there I never saw a snake. They are there, but you have to look for them which I was never interested in.

 

From what I understand, GUM pilots start at 2nd year pay. If still true, thats a signifigant incentive to put all your stuff in storage for a year.

 

Yeah, I heard that too. Anyone know if that's still true? How does that jive with the $1000 override? I assume that's monthly?

 

Top Guam FO's have 19 plus years of seniority. Best flying in the system by far. If you want to learn how to fly a B737-800 at its limits, you won't find a better place.

You can't call yourself a real Continental Pilot until you have done a tour of duty in Guam.

Tell them you would be more than happy to go there.

 

The 767-400 also flies into Guam (for commuting purposes). I believe the stipend is $1200/month and you do start at second year pay. A lot of the lines are built with a commute in mind.

 

No birds, the snakes killed them all...no joke. Don't venture off into the jungle areas or you end up like the birds.

The stipend is $1200/month and you do start at 2nd year pay. I hear that the biggest detractor is the education system if you have school aged children. I've been here since last spring and no one that I know of has been forced to go there, in fact I know of a few guys who left because the couldn't get there, went to Cathay. Never flown there at CAL but have done a lot of time there in the C-141/C17A. The snakes were a gift from the US and not indigenous. They came over on B-17/B-36's from the PI during WWII. They are Brown Snakes that you'll see sunning themselves on the airport fences and pose no real harm to people. Caveat, one guy cracked his skull when he found one on the main gear of a B-52 during the walk-around. I always let the Co-Pilot do the walkarounds there.

 

Does the agriculture department not inspect the planes at Agana? All military birds are checked prior to departing Anderson.

On the weather there - in 2002 (or '01, but post 9/11 for sure) there was a super typhoon that parked over the island for 3 days with winds around 170 knots. Many people were without power and water for 3 months. What was left standing was cleaned up by a nice size earthquake a few months later. Several of the hotels closed due to structure damage. Those storms and 9/11 but a serious hurt in tourism there. Then there was a matter of funds from the US getting lost in pockets, instead of helping the re-build. In '04, life began to return to the island. The Thai buffet in Tumon Bay re-opened and the Jamacian Jerk Chicken place in the next town up was opening a new place in Tumon Bay.

Scuba is fantastic there. 80 pound skip jacks that will take your head off if you are not paying attention, 6 foot long eel that you could play with (I heard some diver killed it), the blue hole that is certain to test your advanced skills. There is also a wreck dive with a WWI and WWII ship that are touching. There are some sections around the island that will kill you if caught in the currents.

Having been there many times over, I can say I like the island. Most people however, I think would get island fever quickly.

 

The deal with Guam at CAL is that there is a 1200 a month Cost of Living allowance out on the island, you get that regardless...

The 2nd year pay and instant health insurance come into play only if you agree to stay out there for 18 months. Since I was hired in April no one has gone out there.

Be advised they will ask you in the interview if you are willing to go out to Guam... A "NO" answer is most likely a deal breaker. Things could change and they could send people out there so be prepared, but right now 70% of the people have been getting EWR and the rest have been going down to IAH.