Jetjock65

As I am a Corp. Pilot and have been for all of my Pro.Flying Caeer, I would like for you guys/gals to tell me the diff. in QOL at the Majors compared to the Regionals(I am not talking about hourly pay as that is obvious).
I know this may be a hard question to answer being that most of you have not been at a major only a regional, but figure you guys hear enough around the airport to give a pretty fair assesment.

JJ65

jaded

I think there was a thread about it a couple of weeks ago...

ExperimentalAB

For the most part, the Majors are going to be better, QOL wise, any day of the week and twice on Tuesday. That said there are always exceptions. Unless you're just dying to fly an RJ, I think anybody would recommend you find yourself at Mainline if you've got the time.

Jetjock65

yea-but what are those diferrences

ExperimentalAB

I can't talk about something that is above my pay-grade LoL...But for the most part it has to do with trip/duty rigs, pay (obviously), and work-rules. Most mainline Pilots can't be abused (quite as much) like their Regional counterparts...

BoilerUP

Better work rules.

Stability of domiciles.

Economy of scale when it comes to schedule flexibility.

rickair7777

Historically, the majors have had significantly better work rules, as well as higher hourly rates. Post 9/11 and Chapter 11, a number of majors have lost work rules as well as payscale. United is probably in about the worst shape in that regard, accordingly to everybody I know who works there.

Majors do have an QOL advantage in many cases...longer stage lengths make it harder to jerk your schedule around. On the international side, I doubt much has changed post 9/11.

FDX, SWA, and UPS still have it pretty good of course.

dojetdriver

The question is a little open ended and rather large to try and get a solid answer.

But as far as the above goes; If you were to compare a good regional (like XJT) to going to CAL, almost EVERY guy I know that has gone wishes CAL had XJT's work rules. You can't even compare XJT's line bidding to CAL's PBS and the impact it has on QOL, especialy for a junior guy. Line bidding is rather cut and dried, and when the ILIW opens up you can turn your trash into treasure with a few clicks of the mouse. PBS, well, some guys got it mastered, some guys get screwed on a monthly basis.

Jetjock65

What is ILIW & PBS ?

dojetdriver

Oh boy, a lot to explain here.

With line bidding (like at XJT), as opposed to PBS (preferential bid system) all the schedules are published. Days working, days off, pay credit, time away from base. Pilots pick the schedules they want, and they are awarded in seniority order. Guy number 1 gets his first pick. Now bear in mind, not EVERY pilot wants the same thing. Just because the number 1 line of flying has a lot days off, it may be working weekends, not much pay, crappy trips, etc. With line bidding, EVEN if you are the bottom guy, you will know before the schedules are awarded what the worst case scenario will be, as you had the chance to look at EVERY schedule that was available. Now, maybe some guy has vacation, so the 1,2,3 trips he had fall into open time. Maybe another guy has to do recurrent training, his trips fall into open time. A guys has a conflict from month to month. In other words, he was working the last 4 days of the month, and is supposed to work the first 4 days of the next month. Can't happen, for one, can't do 7 days in a row (per contract), also run into 30/7 issues. So some of that flying will fall into open time. Open time meaning the flying is now uncovered. Imagine if you have 500 pilots a month in one domicile how many open trips this creates.

Now, ILIW, or just LIW stands for Line Improvement Window. If you look at your schedule, and your flying/trips are not what you wanted, this is the chance to trade them out for the stuff that fell into open time. Now, again, imagine if you have 500+ pilots, there is a lot of open time generated. Again, one mans trash can be another mans treasure. All the open time is compiled and put into a pool to see. The LIW (at XJT) is a 24 hour window where we are able to trade our trips for open time for something that is more to our liking. You can also pick up flying for additional money as well. Even being number 350-400 out of 500 in IAH, I could ALWAYS trade my non commutable 4 day trips for 4 day commutable trips just by clicking the mouse. Also, that 24 hour window is VERY fluid. Also, if certain criteria is met and you are savvy enough, you can drop flying as well as move you days off around. If you look at the pool and there is nothing in there to your liking, just come back later. Guys are trading in the window for the entire 24 hour period. Don't like what you see, come back a while later. A guy may have dumped his stuff in there that is no good to him, but is good for you.

Now, PBS, WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL OF WAX. PBS is a system where you basically tell the computer what you want. Weekends off, max flying, XYZ overnights, 4 day trips that show before whatever time and end before whatever time. The problem being, it has more to do with the flexibility of the system as well as the parameters that are set by the company and the pilot group. If for some reason the computer can't match your criteria, you might get a complete dog do do schedule. Also, PBS prevents conflicts. It won't let you bid a month to month conflict, nor does it help out trip touch to score time off for vacation. Also, since the system does whatever it can to eliminate conflicts, there is less open time to trade with during a LIW. If you got a crappy schedule, you might just be stuck with. Again, it depends on the how the software is programmed and the parameters set by the pilots/company. Some airlines did a relatively good job, and the pilots say they would never want to go back to the line bid system. Others, like CAL, can't stand how their PBS system was implemented and long for the days when they might be able to go back to line bidding. Also, CAL's system bypasses seniority to meet certain criteria.Like balancing out the flying from top to bottom. Giving a junior guy some trips that senior guy wanted just to make it even top to bottom. Line bidding strictly honors seniority.

PBS is a HUGE money saver for the company. It allows for lower staffing levels. In other words, less pilots required to cover the flying.