Any word on the 14 CRJ100s that are leaving the fleet? Have any left yet? Are there still rumors floating around that they're not leaving?

They are scheduled to leave the fleet as the lease expires on them. Oddly enough (or not if you know our company), you may have noticed that our oldest planes have gotten the new paint... We are keeping the oldest of the 50 seaters. They are already paid for, and some of our newest are part of the 14 leaving.

Someone told me a month or two ago that the Smithsonian wants our first RJ as it introduced the "RJ Age" but Comair said no, we're still using it. I'm not sure if we are still flying it or not, but according to the union web page fleet listing, it's still on there (not sure how up-to-date that is.) So take it for whats it's worth.

7011? I flew it a couple of weeks ago. It's still here.

7011
 

She's still flying. I was in her not too long as well.

Seems to me I always fly the old ACA/Independence planes with the BR tail and those god-awful new seats. I know alot of people prefer the new style seats over the old, but I like the old ones. Of course, newer thicker seat pads would be nice, but that's not going to happen.

Quite a few of them have been parked over at the hangar awaiting lease inspections, engine realignment, etc. They're not the oldest CRJs on property since Comair/Delta owns those outright. The ones departing are in the 7100 serial number range. I think around 7131 area.

You can spot them quite easily since the Comair/Delta Connection lettering is being taken off.

7011 is supposed to be taken off line by the end of the year, or so they told us in training. The first 10 originally went to Europe flying in Lufthansa colors. Don't know where they are now.

Hey, any new hires out there..... I have a friend who just got an interview but I am totally out of the loop on our hiring process..... any info you can share would be great. I've looked at the gouge but those a little old.

And do they pay for housing during training now??

hotel or apartment
 

Last I heard I believe you have a choice of a hotel (single occupancy) or sharing one of those apartment homes. That's only hearsay.

per diem is 24x7 while in training.

Back when I went through training it was the good 'ole Radisson Downtown (Single occupancy). I guess they let new-hires choose now on where they want to stay. Hotel was paid and training pay was $250/week + 24/7 Per Diem. In other words, you make more money during training than your 1st year. I hear the overall interview process is still the same, except they added a written test.

When I went through training a year ago, you didnt get the per diem check until after training though. We had to fill out a per diem form to get it.

Per Diem
 

We had to fill out the form but you received your check on the 15th of the following month. So in essence CRJdriver is correct, my take home pay was better on training then on reserve.

had a class scheduled with 15 people in it last month and not a single person showed, heard they are having trouble getting people to commit to class at comair

well with everyone else offering bonuses and domiciles out of JFK I can understand why. The salary offerings at all of the regionals are pathetic for pilots that have spent a load of money on college and loans. Pilots are going to go where the money is and the days of free lunch for the airlines are over.

Am I the only one that loves JFK??? I can't stand going to CVG and seeing these rednecks from KY act like their S#!& don't stink. Same company but you can't even get the time of day from a lot of those guys. I'd much rather be in JFK and have a good line, than hang out in a double wide in KY with imbred jed and talk about how much reserve sucks. Just my .02 sorry if your from KY.

Does that come in rye and pumpernickel?

Give me JFK any day and twice on Sunday.

Don't get me wrong I love the people working at JFK. I just hate the cost of living and the commute there.

exactly the commute sucked otherwise I would still be there

I'll deal with JFK for now...still praying for a BOS base though hah

I love JFK only cause I live here... :)

I wouldn't count on BOS anytime soon. It seems like more and more of the BOS flying is going to Big Sky and Chautauqua. I used to do trips in and out of BOS every day, and now I havent been to BOS since August. (But that's just my schedule) Plus, Delta losing some gates to Continental isn't helping things either.

I heard from a check airman that the reason no one showed for that class was because the training department goofed and never notified the people they had booked for the class. Or something along those lines. Apparently everyone from that class was put into the next class.

I just got out of training and everyone keeps saying that they cant hire pilots... as hard as they have been trying. Someone from my class overheard HR saying they cant find people and had to cancel one of the November classes and another class. Not sure what is going to happen. Hopefully they can keep 'em coming, I need seniority!! :D

I just got an interview offer from Comair. Either the 14th or the 27th, havnt heard yet. Comair is really where I want to be and CVG would be great because I have family there. Any words of advice from you all that have been here a while would be great!! By the way my TT is 700/35 not sure if they will want more multi time after the interview or not.

I may not love JFK itself, but NYC is growing on me. I had the weekend off and just stayed in the city cause I really didn't feel like going home. I went into the city the last two days, watched the NYC Marathon in Central Park. I walk everywhere forcing me to exercise. Go to the Kew Club with the guys in my crashpad. I wouldn't have this in CVG. It would actually cost me more to live in CVG then here. I'd have to buy a car, make payments on it, live in "suburbia" where I nothing happens. Here I can have a few and walk or subway it home. And I grew up in Texas too. You'd think I'd hate it.

Well you sound like a New Yorker.

If they are interviewing you, they are probably happy with your ME time. I got awarded CVG on Dec. 1, however, the class after us and the one after them got their choice. If you are forced into a base other than CVG, you probably wont be there long if you want a transfer. Good choice on Comair, they have a great training program and will do a lot to help you get through.

That is exactly what I had when I went in for my interview. They called me 3 hours after the interview ended and said you're hired, but you must go get 25 more multi hours. 2 Weeks later, I had a start date.....

Hey waitaminute... :D

JFK vs. CVG
 

I do enjoy the captains I have been flying with from JFK. But I haven't flown with many from CVG so I couldn't tell you which place is better. My commute is easier to JFK and that is the only reason I'm still there. Everything else is a hassle; from the Q runner to the ramp. If I could commute to CVG I probably would have put in for a transfer. And I would buy an "airport" car, not something to make payments on.

My .02

I just saw that there is another 700 hrs. decrease in block hours in December for CVG. Shouldn't it be picking up for the holidays?!? Gotta love it:(

Driver
 

Since you seem to always be in the know.....any idea when JFK bid packets are coming out?

With A.E. going down to 400/50, I can't help but wonder if Comair is about to do the same.

JFK got an increase of 300 hours or so. Captain bid packets were out in ops last night, posted on epic today. FO packets are nowhere to be found and were supposed to be out at noon today, as per our contract. But then again, why not just let the bid packets come out the 22nd and post bid results on the 30th? Seemed to work last month.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the bid packet I read last night said something along the lines of large upgrades beginning in march due to "recruitment effort improving".

I know they are having a very hard time staffing the training classes. We are still losing a lot of captains every month. I'm not sure when this will really trickle down to the FO level as we are over staffed (at least at JFK) but tough times are ahead for staffing.

Driver
 

---deleted----

Did I read that correctly??? "Large number of upgrades" in march!?!?

CRF bid pack is coming out on Nov 8th,
Something to do with ALPA Scheduling committee. They like to separate the FO CA BID packets. (I guess they get more time off by doing so). I thought by closing MCO and GSO they transfer the flying to CVG and JFK??!!

The word "large" was never used in the bid packet.


Lets hear it for misinformation!

We run reduced schedule on Christmas eve, Christmas, New Years Eve.