if anyone has questions about key lime, could you maybe PM me and not email me, i'd really appreciate it. thanks

 

I didn't fly for Key Lime, but I was a mechanic there briefly. Worst group of human beings I have ever run in to. I felt bad for the pilots.

 

There is a pretty hard push not to divert too far away. When I was there what we filed and what the actual plan was if the weather was too low were very different things. Some of the runs were a bit freight heavy for actual alternate requirements and/or management doesn't really like people adding fuel at DEN.

Another thing I saw a few times is them send you to an abnormal stop for weather or field mx and then have no plans for your off duty time. I figured as long as I was stuck at the airport in the FBO I wasn't off duty.

The good news I hear from TallFlyer is that it's mostly sunshine and puppies now. Maybe they are turning over a new leaf.

 

While most of what Brian has said is factually true, some of it needs some context.
UPS supposedly has "preferred" alternates where they want their freight to go is if can't get to its assigned destination. For MCK that was always LBF and I've had to do that a few times.
Never had that problem in the Navajo, although I've never flown the 404. As for fuel in DEN, two things. First, it's the most expensive place in the system to get 100LL. Second, Signature's response time to callouts is abysmal. If you call them for gas at 5AM it's about an 80% chance that they won't be there 45 min later when you're ready to depart. The best solution if you need gas in DEN (which I've done a few times) is call ahead and pull into their ramp when you taxi out (it's right on the way to any runway except the 35s). I've been in and out in 10 min that way. I've done that three or four times this year and never heard a word from management.

Normal Ops for fuel in the Navajos is to get topped off in the outstation which gives you about 4.5 hours. Once you've flown your evening run back into DEN (or your empty leg in the AM) the airplane still has at least 2.5-3 hours of gas for the following day, and that's been enough for 98% of situations I run into.

If for some reason unusual circumstances bring you back to DEN with a lot less than that you can call Signature and put in a fuel order. Since they now have at least 8 hours until the airplane is flyng again they can do it at their leisure. Leave a note for the pilot the next day so he knows to double check.
Never happened to me. The few times I've been stuck somewhere for wx all day once they make a decision to leave me their they've got me in a hotel pretty quick. I know certain of our pilots say great things about the Cow Palace in Lamar for the very same reason.
Never said that. It's a job, with its pluses and minuses. I certainly have my frustraions with it, but I also tend to be a glass half full pragmatist in general and just figure out how to work the system to keep management happy.

 

The bottom line is that UPS has "commit times" for their overnight freight and they want to meet those as much as possible.

I'll give you a real world example. Friday morning I repositioned an airplane from APA to DEN after mx to fly the next day. Yesterday AM shows up and I'm flying that same airplane DEN-LBF-MCK. It's got about 3.5-4 hours of gas in it and I've got 400 lbs of freight. When I left DEN LBF was at 1/2SM and MCK was less than a quarter. I was filed for LBF with GLD as an alternate which was clear.

Fly to LBF which dropped to 1/4SM when I arrived. Pulled the power to 24" which cuts my fuel flow in half and hold for 15 minutes. No joy. Divert to GLD. Check MCK on the way which was still less that 1/4. It's all just morning fog so I know it's going away eventually it's just a matter of when.

Land GLD, top it off, LBF is now 1SM and improving. Go to LBF, land with 5SM and 040OVC. Depart for MCK which was clear when I arrived, duty off around noon. So yeah, the freight gets their around 2 hours late, it the point is all their Saturday packages got there on Sat.

The caveat to all that is Sat is a half day run so they really don't have to plan for my duty that evening and the following day. Had I had to fly that evening and the following AM the plan might have been a little different.

 

Tallflyer,

Thanks for the kind & detailed reply above!

Cub

 

Are things getting sketchy again? I heard rumors of them going back to some of their old gimmicks.

Just a rumor though I'm sure. ;-)

 

News to me. Nothing has really changed from my perspective although peak is coming up. Ask me after Christmas.

 

They planning on losing a bunch of people right after peak? I see there are job postings for every line pilot, SOP check pilot, and IOE instructor position possibly available. Looks like a early January hiring blitz.

 

I hope so, manpower has always been kinda thin around here from m perspective. They did just hired three new piston guys that have all been online about 2-3 weeks now and working out well.

Also, as of the 11th we'll have a 121 cert so maybe they're anticipating some growth with that.

All I know is I want to upgrade and move out to an outstation so my schedule never changes. The pay bump won't hurt either.