For anyone still there, has there been any plane cleaning parties offered this summer?

 

I was a 5 year FO and I wasn't about to commute to JFK for short call so I left. I hear ya. If I can offer you any advice, it is that if you have a gut feeling of how your life will end up at Comair and you don't like how it feels, your gut is not lying to you. Tons of people say that they are making other plans, but really they are just talking. Very few actually make a backup plan. Not only do I suggest making a back up plan, but the time to execute it is now.

 

I would agree. In this environment, a back up would be a very good thing. Delta has shown hostility toward Comair, I don't think this company is going to be in existence much longer at least how we used to know it.

Anyone doing the C.F.I. thing? How goes?

 

I don't think Comair has cleaned a plane in 2-3 years. Fly it until the rivets show and try to go through lots of rain showers...that's our Comair.

 

Following my CMR furlough I was able to find a full-time CFI gig that pays twice as much as I was making a CMR. The school also pays me for doing administrative work when I'm inbetween students or crummy wx days. Don't really plan on leaving the school unless a very oppurtunity presents itself, I've been making enough to put a big dent into those student loans.

 

I'm sure if the airport would drop it's $1,000,000 deposit retainer, Comair would jump on it. That's the only thing that's been holding us back from moving over there. Looks like the KCAB is getting tired of absorbing the up keep fees and utilities. They rape us on rental fees when we need to go over there to run up aircraft or use the hangar. It's pretty swank over there. I took a tour when they had the Big Sky 1900's over there. It has soooo much more room than our hangar and has a bigger parts room. It makes more sense to close the wherehouse and move everything to the heavy mx hangar and current hangar, and get the Mesaba hangar to do daily mx.

 

FredEx instituted a plane cleaning program back in 2005. But I don't think the three newguys after him have made it a big priority (or at least have not made any announcements to the contrary).

Besides, why wash a plane that's going to ASA, Mesaba, SkyWest, or Tucson in a month?

 

Actually I have noticed that most of the rims on the main gear seem cleaner. You can actually see the gray paint instead of the caked on black grease and grime they usually had.

Other than that...no more carpet in the cockpits...just bare metal and friction surface

 

Take someone that's been here 5-7 years, on reserve for 3 of them, got real close to upgrading in 2007 and 2008, but is still in the right seat and is now looking at commuting to JFnK to sit reserve.

Now imagine this person has real doubts about his future at Comair (I know, it's a stretch ). They know they can't feed their family any longer at Comair, but on the other hand they know any growth will put them in the left seat and the last 5-7 years will not go to waste.

This guy can take a voluntary furlough (assuming ALPA gives him the option), do something else to pay the bills and watch his kids grow up instead of sitting at JFnK, and if Delta has a momentary lapse of judgment and awards aircraft to Comair, he will be one of the first to go back.

Worst case - Comair continues to shrink at 25% a year until it's gone - at least he hasn't wasted another two years here.

Given the circumstances, that might be the best he can make out of a crappy career decision in 2002/2003.

That guy would be in his right mind to take the voluntary.

 

been trying to find one in South Florida got laid off from a flight academy in Daytona Beach in Feb. Since then been calling every flight school in South Florida and they said they aren't hiring or might be next month e.t.c. These flight schools are surviving really off of international contracts.