American Eagle's current length of Reserve status
 

From current or prior American Eagle pilots, what can I anticipate for the length of Reserve status if I take a job offer. I want DFW, so if you have info on the length of Reserve in DFW that would be helpful. I'm thinking that since their short on pilots and cant hire as many as they want, maybe sitting Reserve status is non-existent or short?? I appreciate your info.

I am not 100% about DFW, but I'll guess 1 year.

At LGA it is under 8 months

On the Embraer in DFW the most senior reserve guy is a 10/06 hire. It would be much shorter for the Saab.

What about for ORD. I heard in the forums here that its 2 months on the EMB in ORD. One visitor said they're so short that they're flying BOS EMB pilots to ORD to fly the routes. Is this accurate? You guys anticipate a lot of movement in seniority with the airline being sold?

Currently no ORD or BOS EMB RESERVE WAIT. Yes BOS is flying coverage. Currently at American 700+ pilots have submitted paperwork to retire. May be a good thing for us.

DFW 6 months to a year on the EMB. 3-6 months on the SAAB. dont even ask about the CRJ in any domicile. long time.

ORD 1-2 months, if that, on the EMB.

LGA 2-6 months on EMB

BOS 2-6 months on EMB

Thats what the training department is telling us right now. we have 27 in the class, 13 are headed to ORD on the EMB. The last class had 38 and 20 were headed to ORD on he EMB. Even with that, they say we are still 60 FO's short in ORD. go to Chicago if you dont want reserve. DFW is Very Senior. we had two spots for the CRJ in our class and that was in DFW and went to the oldest guys. They had four sport for the CRJ in the last class I beleive two at ORD and and two at DFW.

Thanks guys. Right now I am flying 7p to 7a 6 days a week, week in and week out, and anything else is better. My guess is movement will be happening at AE.

I am just coming up on one year at DFW on the EMB and still on reserve. Everyone from my class that went to ORD sat reserve for about 1 month, then got composite lines and then hard lines. I do enjoy working here, but as far as movement, I'll believe it when I see it.

What kind of flight time is the reserves guys getting at DFW?

CRJ reserve time is pretty much like upgrade time at Eagle. Don't try and do the math, just pray something happens and try not to think about it in the mean time. If you REALLY want to get a line ASAP, pick BOS on your first day of training and put in a bid for ORD on your second day. You get an EMJ slot in class (all we got in Boston) and you will be transfered to ORD possibly before IOE and you will get a line rather quickly thereafter.

AVOID the CRJ unless you live in your base and don't really like working. I flew 6 days and credited less than 12 hours for the month of January. I spent more time banging my head against the head in Chicago than anywhere else. If I were on the EMJ (if I had gone to BOS and xfered), I would have a commutable like with desirable flying.

The 700 may be a better airplane than the 145 in my opinion, but Eagle doesn't have enough 700s to know what to do with them or where to fly them.

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Hey ChickenFlight. I am trying to grasp what your describing. If AE is guaranteeing base preference, why should I bid BOS and transfer to ORD? Why dont I just bid ORD? I appreciate your advice, I'm just not understanding the purpose behind it. Please help me understand it.

Okay, I am editing this after rereading what you said. Makes sense, I think...What if I bid BOS and I cant xfer to ORD! Then I am stuck in a base I really didnt want. Is this likely? I like the loophole, thx. I'd just be scared of it not working and they say "SORRY YOU BID BOS, you cant place another bid for XX days".

I just happened to save last month's equipment bids so after some review, I have slightly more up-to-date advice.

Eagle does allow you to pick your base at the time of interview and change that choice up until the first 5 min of class. Apparently they are telling people it will be a wait for LA, but it wasn't an issue when I went through.

If you want to take ORD outright, you can but you do risk getting the CRJ and the QOL is less than desirable for me personally (again, if you live in Chicago and like spending time at home, its perfect). However, there were 9 openings for CRJ FOs in DFW last month which supports rumors that all of the CRJs are going to DFW. It seems like a long-shot to me but at one point they moved them all to ORD only to split them up again soon there after. They really can't decide what to do with only having 25.

As of Feb. there are only 30 lines and 47 FOs on the CRJ in ORD with no openings for internal transfers to that seat so it is unlikely that they will send newhires to the CRJ at ORD. There are currently 99+ openings for EMJ FOs at ORD and that past few classes indicate that the trend is for all ORD newhires to go to the EMJ.

That being said, if you want to be in Chicago on the EMJ, you can go to BOS or LGA and you are assured an EMJ class. Once you're in the door you can xfer to ORD and you will get it. With the 99+ openings its about as certain as anything can be in this industry (99+ means that even if they lifted the 1yr seat-lock on all of the T-prop drivers, you would still have an opening since we aren't allowed to transfer unless it is an advancement in pay (no prop to prop, jet to jet, or jet to prop...say that 3 times fast...you can only go from a prop to a jet)). If you have any specific questions, pm me. Hope this clears some of this mess up

Is it still at 99+ openings, really!! I believe it was also 90-99 last month. Does that mean that the ORD FO slots are not getting filled quickly/ I would have thought that a lot of people would be choosing that particular scenario due to the low reserve time and then transfering to where they wanted. Thats what i am going to do next week when i start training and try to transfer to DFW. On that subject, anyone know how much seniority one must have to hold line on the ERJ FO at DFW??

Keep in mind DFW is VERY senior, but as of right now, 9 months of seniority would not hold a hard line on the Embryo at DFW. I would still be 30 numbers away if I could take the seat.

Eagle simply cannot staff the EMJs at Chicago. There have been some t-prop FOs transfer up but if I were on that airplane, I would only have 50 people below me on the list. Just because there are 99+ openings two months in a row doesn't mean they are getting 99+ a month to take the seat.

PIPE:

Do you live in the DFW metroplex or are you planning on commuting from somewhere? Depending on where you live Chicago might be a good choice. I know of new-hires months behind me getting pretty good lines on the EMJ in Chicago. PM me if you have specific commuting questions.

I live in Louisiana and plan on moving to ORD when the time comes (April). Im in no hurry to leave Chicago if I really enjoy it there, but I fear COL might be too much!

So why are there consistantly around 100 openings. Do ppl just not want to go there? It seems like a pretty sweet deal to me... I want to make the right decision and as of right now I like the idea of starting in ORD and being mobile if necessary

Chicago is affordable if you live in the city near the Blue Line and forgo owning a car. You can find a place for 500-600/mo in the Bucktown area, lots of pilots around there.

Eagle cant make recruiting goals systemwide, Chicago is just the most extreme. Its a good deal if you want to make Chicago home.

Why would you say it is a good idea to "forgo owning a car"? Is it as hard to get around as in say New York? Furthermore, does a train or subway system go through the airport or do most pilots just live close enough to take a cab or what? Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know anyone that lives there and have only visited once.

Where is that movement going to come from? There is no growth here. No expansion and AMR has us on the for-sale market. The airline is top-heavy with senior captains who DO NOT quit. About forty per year were scheduled to retire before age 60 was lifted. Now, 90% of them will stay.

Last month there were a total of 17 upgrades in a company of 3000 pilots. Those were only to replace the flow-backs returning to AA and there are only 113 of them left. Then, upgrades go back to ZERO.

Sorry to pull your last thread, I was being optimistic and positive. Airline industry is actively changing. Buy outs arent always negative, my dad went through 3 company mergers.

getting around in chicago isn't that tough but the train is easy and it runs to ORD for $2. I use it all the time to get to the crashpad or downtown when I'm bored on reserve. You can do reserve from anywhere on the blue line north of downtown. Insurance very expensive and last time I looked at a gas station in my crashpad area (bucktown) it was over $3.30/gal. It takes me about an hour to get to the airport but it would take just as long in a car...might as well let someone else drive.

As to the other thing, growth is pretty stagnant at Eagle. I personally think that the divestment will be enough to get some of the mid sr. captains out the door and on to something else but who knows. Work rules are good and its worth it as a foot in the industry's door. Nothing says you have to stick around till the upgrade

...exactly!

I guess I'm wondering what happened at Eagle to cause such a large shortage of pilots. It seems like 2 years ago (or even a year ago) mins were 1000/100. And how they're 400/50. If they had no problem a year ago, what changed to cause such a great need? Have that many people left Eagle to make a lateral move? In the past, what has been the primary driver of hiring has been growth, with no growth, why the shortage?

what happened it everyone else lowered mins. Eagle wasnt getting enough people to stay with the long upgrade. They needed to be more competitive.

And lowering mins was a better alternative to increasing starting pay.........

Why would they raise the pay when they can get plenty of fresh meat out there from colleges and flight schools with no experience who won't ask questions, guaranteed show for class date and best of all they'll have a service life of multiple years because of the low flight time. I went to the interview because I'm looking to move on from my airline(not AW, tprop ops) and was shocked to find that I was the only guy with actual airline experience and when I talked to the sim instructor he basically said I was the only guy he'd seen in the last couple of interviews with any experience. Made me seem stupid for being there.

Agreed. I had an interview a couple weeks ago. I was the only person with 121 experience. Many others had less than 400/50 and went to ATP.

Yea it also made me think that I wouldn't want to be in a class with a bunch of 300 hour pilots.

It's not just Eagle. As someone else said, Eagle lowered mins to be competitive with other regionals. Staffing had been tight for QUITE some time, but of course management didn't see it that way; and when it's tight for a long time, and then people start leaving...well, of course doesn't get better.

Some people left for the majors, a lot of flowbacks were recalled, etc. But now that growth is stagnant as there are no new aircraft orders, and most flowbacks are gone, upgrade time will not come down much from what it is, so more FO's are now making "lateral" moves, thereby exacerbating the problem with staffing.

What's the blue line?

The Blue Line is an elevated train. It is part of the train system in Chicago known as the "L". The Blue line is the train that will take you to and from O'hare. Its pretty convenient for commuters and those with crashpads near the airport.

It has nothing to do with people not wanting to go there, just that there are not enough FOs systemwide, in any base. With ORD being a huge base, there are proportionally more posted vacancies there.

So is it true what I've heard, not but 1 or 2 months to hold line in ORD? I'm also wondering, what are the best places to live for cheap? I know near now, near the blue line is preferable, but I'd like to start looking for apts early!

All advice appreciated.

-PIPE-

Without any disrespect to "Chickenflight", I would like to get someone elses opinion or experience in making sure I get ERJ ORD base. Just like someone checks with 2 seperate doctors for an opinion I am asking for more advice, Chickenflight youve been helpful.

Is it true that if I bid BOS, that places me in an ERJ class, can I change my base to ORD within the first 5 minutes of class and get ORD no problems? Dont want to go turboprop to turboprop (I want to grow), and dont want to sit reserve in ORD on the CRJ. Thanks for the help.

I can confirm that on the latest system bid there are 99 vacancies on the erj in ord. If you request the embraer in ord i dont see anyway you can end up on the crj (zero openings).

I don't know anything about switching bases during training but I know of a few who have switched soon afterwards. For those guys it has taken usually a month or two to get through the system.

My understanding is an applicant can only be guaranteed a base, I'm almost positive I can't get the aircraft guarantee. So you say CRJ ORD have no openings. Is it possible would be placed into a CRJ class and CRJ ORD reserve status? Thanks for your help MRMak2, all advice is appreciated.

If you want ORD, you have it guaranteed. There are 99 openings there on the jungle jet. If you want it, there's no reason you shouldn't get it.

I've heard rumors from other ERJ ORD FOs that there are actually more than 99 openings on the ERJ in ORD, but the computer won't display three digits. That's just hearsay, I've never touched the computer, so take it for what it's worth.

Talked to Cory about 2 months ago about changing bases, he said the number of openings posted on each bid (at least for FO's) isn't really a hard number but a "guesstimate" of what they need to fulfill staffing needs.

Yes
 

If you choose ORD you have a 98% of gettin the ERJ. I CHOSE ORD for the ERJ and an EASY Commute. I got it. Everyone in the class that chose ORD ot the ERJ. If thats what you want you'll get it. There are very few CRJ spots and reserve is at least 6 months, if not much more.

Does anyone know the lenght on the ATR in SJU?