Comair updates?
01-30-2010, 09:25 PM
Line Holder
Joined APC: Jun 2009
Position: FO4ever...
Posts: 34
Thanks for your insightful input. It is nice to have honest/thought out answers.
I know it could never happen, given the upper 20% with their "job security", and others with their insecurity, but I wonder what delta (yes, little d...you don't deserve a big D) would do if everyone at Comair just walked. First of all, they would be in shock. Second, I don't think they could replace to lift easily. And Comair would never be able to weather the event. Sure, you can say you could replace pilots, but not quickly enough, especially captains.
I held a line most of the time at Comair, except the last 2 weeks before furough. My last flight at OH was 1/12/09. I still showed up for RR the last few weeks ( a 3 hour commute). As I sat in the crew lounge those last few days, I looked around and my honest thought was "What is wrong with us, with this profession? We sleep on couches, with little blue blankets, missing our family life, missing the important things in our family's life...for what? 50 year old captains, making XX a year, sacrificing so much in life to work here. Why?"
I still don't have an answer. There are many jobs that pay more, don't need so much education and recurrent training, and are more stable. I love to fly, but really, is it worth it?
I know it could never happen, given the upper 20% with their "job security", and others with their insecurity, but I wonder what delta (yes, little d...you don't deserve a big D) would do if everyone at Comair just walked. First of all, they would be in shock. Second, I don't think they could replace to lift easily. And Comair would never be able to weather the event. Sure, you can say you could replace pilots, but not quickly enough, especially captains.
I held a line most of the time at Comair, except the last 2 weeks before furough. My last flight at OH was 1/12/09. I still showed up for RR the last few weeks ( a 3 hour commute). As I sat in the crew lounge those last few days, I looked around and my honest thought was "What is wrong with us, with this profession? We sleep on couches, with little blue blankets, missing our family life, missing the important things in our family's life...for what? 50 year old captains, making XX a year, sacrificing so much in life to work here. Why?"
I still don't have an answer. There are many jobs that pay more, don't need so much education and recurrent training, and are more stable. I love to fly, but really, is it worth it?
01-31-2010, 08:57 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: CRJ FO
Posts: 229
I can't agree more. I had the same feeling and quetsion about our profession so much and so often. With all the schooling, training, and the never ending checkrides that we have to go thru, and this is how we get treated and how much we get paid. Yep, I've done the commute thing, the sleeping on the couch (1 or twice) and missing the wife and kids. Well, after 3+ years at Eagle and 6 1/2 yrs at Comair, I finally call it quit about a month ago. I should have quit a little sooner, but just like a lot of you I kept thinking it would get better. For those that are staying, good luck, and I hope it will turn around soon. For those that are looking to get on with other regionals, good luck as well. But just one thing, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. Oviously I left Eagle for Comair because I thought I had no future there. Oh well. Goodnight.
01-31-2010, 09:42 AM
Line Holder
Joined APC: May 2007
Position: B76ER
Posts: 64
That all be said, we are really going to be in a tough spot. Not sure if them pulling planes would violate the status quo, but then again it would take so long to battle it in the court 50% us would be unemployed.
Our CA rates are pretty much on par with the other carriers, but unfortunately for us it seems the company has the FO's in the cross hairs. They can afford it, I refuse to go down to where some other carriers are in terms of FO rates, they need to come up industry wide (I'm not expecting much of a pay rate increase though), but even more so we need better reserve rules (I'm not currently on reserve, but it is always just a breath away here)...I'm willing to walk for that alone,.
Our CA rates are pretty much on par with the other carriers, but unfortunately for us it seems the company has the FO's in the cross hairs. They can afford it, I refuse to go down to where some other carriers are in terms of FO rates, they need to come up industry wide (I'm not expecting much of a pay rate increase though), but even more so we need better reserve rules (I'm not currently on reserve, but it is always just a breath away here)...I'm willing to walk for that alone,.
Comair HATES long-call reserve and I guarantee that's going to be a sticking point during negotiations. If past behavior is a good predicter of future performance the union will NOT be putting reserve rules or anything else that forces the company to make more lines on the front burner during negotiations. Our "association" has much bigger fish to fry right now with the downgraded captain uniform policy [tic].
01-31-2010, 09:49 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Position: FO4LIFE
Posts: 1,531
Let's see...
-We have saved Comair $42.5 million since 2005 by taking various concessions.
-Our QOL has gone to crap.
-They have furloughed 300+ Pilots.
-They moved several hundreds of crews to JFK.
-We got screwed with travel benefits.
I really hope we can get a decent contract and that management recognizes all the crap we have been through. We have one of the most senior, but also most experienced pilots in the regional airline industry, and I do hope management see this and that we are the most valuable asset to the company. One things I personally like to see is an increase in pay overall, but mostly on the FO side. We should follow Southwest and establish a "Senior FO" payscale. With upgrades at a standstill, senior FOs (who are most likley downgrades Captains too) should be compensated properly. Reserve workrules need to be addressed as well. None of this 6 on, 1 off crap anymore.
-We have saved Comair $42.5 million since 2005 by taking various concessions.
-Our QOL has gone to crap.
-They have furloughed 300+ Pilots.
-They moved several hundreds of crews to JFK.
-We got screwed with travel benefits.
I really hope we can get a decent contract and that management recognizes all the crap we have been through. We have one of the most senior, but also most experienced pilots in the regional airline industry, and I do hope management see this and that we are the most valuable asset to the company. One things I personally like to see is an increase in pay overall, but mostly on the FO side. We should follow Southwest and establish a "Senior FO" payscale. With upgrades at a standstill, senior FOs (who are most likley downgrades Captains too) should be compensated properly. Reserve workrules need to be addressed as well. None of this 6 on, 1 off crap anymore.
01-31-2010, 10:39 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,519
When I was kicked out the door and moved on to compass one of the biggest QOL improvements was that we are required to have 2 days off between reserve periods. We are also required to have 3 on for a minimum set of reserve days. I never thought it would be a big deal but it is huge.
You will have to get rid of the 3 hard days and 4 days and settle for 1 set of 4. I have been able to move my schedule around after the bids close and make my group of 4 days a group of 3 days and get 3 3 day off periods and 1 2 day off period. Huge improvement.
I think another big improvement would be to rework the way reserve windows are assigned. They should be more assigned like this.
A5 first day
A4 second
A3 third
A2 fourth
A1 fifth
Also anything 1 day that reports after say 1400 should also be considered a 2 day trip.
You will have to get rid of the 3 hard days and 4 days and settle for 1 set of 4. I have been able to move my schedule around after the bids close and make my group of 4 days a group of 3 days and get 3 3 day off periods and 1 2 day off period. Huge improvement.
I think another big improvement would be to rework the way reserve windows are assigned. They should be more assigned like this.
A5 first day
A4 second
A3 third
A2 fourth
A1 fifth
Also anything 1 day that reports after say 1400 should also be considered a 2 day trip.
01-31-2010, 10:55 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2007
Posts: 500
When I was kicked out the door and moved on to compass one of the biggest QOL improvements was that we are required to have 2 days off between reserve periods. We are also required to have 3 on for a minimum set of reserve days. I never thought it would be a big deal but it is huge.
You will have to get rid of the 3 hard days and 4 days and settle for 1 set of 4. I have been able to move my schedule around after the bids close and make my group of 4 days a group of 3 days and get 3 3 day off periods and 1 2 day off period. Huge improvement.
I think another big improvement would be to rework the way reserve windows are assigned. They should be more assigned like this.
A5 first day
A4 second
A3 third
A2 fourth
A1 fifth
Also anything 1 day that reports after say 1400 should also be considered a 2 day trip.
You will have to get rid of the 3 hard days and 4 days and settle for 1 set of 4. I have been able to move my schedule around after the bids close and make my group of 4 days a group of 3 days and get 3 3 day off periods and 1 2 day off period. Huge improvement.
I think another big improvement would be to rework the way reserve windows are assigned. They should be more assigned like this.
A5 first day
A4 second
A3 third
A2 fourth
A1 fifth
Also anything 1 day that reports after say 1400 should also be considered a 2 day trip.
I couldn't agree more. Having reserve start later on the first day and end early on the last day is the way Jetblue does things. But then again, they get 12 days off per month.
As far as contract negotiations, all the Captains who are negotiating are on reserve. I'm not saying they will be able to get us our dream contract, but I think there will be a big push to help increase QOL
01-31-2010, 05:37 PM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Position: blueJet
Posts: 4,520
When we get our year of seniority back in March 2011, roughly half our FOs wll be topped out on the pay scale. And that's not counting the 150 downgraded captains back on FO pay either.
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