Jaidee

For ClonePilot (and others)

Can you elaborate, please, on the different

- contracts,

- companies & cultures,

- lifestyles, and

- suggested order of preference for one who desires more work than less?

Part 121 're-tread', ex-USN here, soon to send in applications

Many thanks

E2CMaster

I've flown Army contracts (MAISR and MARSS) both for Avenge and for L3 when we were subcontracting on MARSS

Contracts: USAF Like to stick to longer contracts with extension options.. Tends to be more stable, but pay may lag others. Good if it goes down across the board, bad if it goes up significantly.

Army Contracts tend to require a CRC/IRDO at an Army Base. Think a week of fun, every year, followed by mil air transport. If you are lucky, you will fly Atlas/Omni/ATI to the middle east, then C17-c130 to final destination. There tends to be a lot more mil style goat roping.

USAF requires CRC, but we do a short 3 day in NC as a new hire, then a 1 day in Dubai medical each year. The courses/classes are CBTs that you do on non flying days (or at home, on your own time if you choose).

Flying: Army tends to be very restrictive with missions, weather, etc. USAF is pretty much go if it's safe/legal.

Culture.. Granted this is my take on it. And Avenge is gone. I'm not sure how "Avenge like" MAG is. I never worked there. CACI didn't last long enough to get a feel for it.

Avenge: We own you, if you leave, we will sue you, and even if we don't have work, we will still sue you if you leave.

L3 has far less of that, but they are pretty fire-happy over stuff that wouldn't raise an eyebrow at another company. Protecting the contract/company is #1, you may get caught in the frag pattern if a crewmember does something the customer don't like on your flight. They are not afraid to fire people. Sometimes that's good (unsafe pilots, attitude problems, etc) other times it's not (guys get caught in the blast radius when someone else did something dumb).

Overall, L3 is far better, but it is different. Avenge anything short of physical assault or crashing a plane would just get you maybe talked to by the Chief Pilot.

Lifestyles were basically the same. Travel sucked more at Avenge due to the requirement to fly Mil Air once a year, but it paid better (actual hours). L3 pays a flat day rate for travel. Not a huge thing. Maybe a week more at home a year with L3 because it's always commercial travel.

Pay (at the time) is much better at L3.. I think now they all pay within 10% of each other. L3 supposedly has good benefits, but I use Tricare Reserve, so I don't personally have experience with it. I do know if you live OCONUS, the Aetna plan has zero copays outside CONUS, so the expat guys love it.

The working more,

I've been asked to extend on 9 of 10 L3 rotations. The 10th was sent home 4 days early due to overmanning. Overall, the work was there if I wanted it more than not. L3 usually will take the extra days off your next time off, so if you have 60/60s and extend 15 days, you end up working 75/45s.

Avenge, every single rotation was cut short. Usually 2-6 days and then an extra week up to a month off. Again, they are gone, not sure how close to that model MAG runs.

Overall, I'd take L3 over MAG just for contract stability and avoiding the "do I have a job in 2 months" every six months the Army contract seems to do.

But, if L3 hasn't called and MAG does, I wouldn't turn them down.

Imagine if you really wanted to be at Delta, but Southwest called. Same sort of thing. Most guys would take the Southwest job, if Delta never calls you have a job. If Delta calls, you can choose to leave if you want.

It's more of a picking between majors (I'll use that term to include the LCCs that pay big boy wages) than a Major vs Regional choice.

Jaidee

E2CMaster: Thank you for the good advice, sir. PM sent.

To all: Any information to share about Dynamic?

With thanks again and best wishes