As the largest E-Jet operator you guys should probably have one of the best contracts in the business.


Especially on the work rules side.

 

I believe it will drop to 4 after the next bid. There are only a handful 2010 hires junior to the most junior 145 CA now. We will be into Jan 2011 hires after that. I expect it will stay at 3.5 to 4 years for the foreseeable future.

 

Probably, but this was BBs plan all along. It's a great recruiting tool for prospective first officers. We still have to staff the right seat though. Let's see what the TA looks like, but my guess is first year FO payrates will be at least 30. Or maybe they just split up the company and sell off the pieces....

 

I've done both training programs, and am about to go back to the 145 for the left seat.

170 is very straight forward with the study guide.

145 requires some thought though near the end they did a massive clean up on the book.


170 Lga - you won't get the high time DFW or IAH turns out of the gate. Likely you'll be doing a lot of DCA hops. Also,any TA that's going to pass here is going to allow FO's to bid off the Q and 145. Right now they are seat locked and only get to move in "special situations". You may not be getting day trips like you want. The Delta 170 trips are a point of emphasis to actually lower the percentage of day trips to be more in line with the spirit of the contract. Some cannot go away but with the 9 170's being shifted over hopefully those go to bed somewhere other than CMH,IND, ORD or LGA.


145 - you can probably get JFK out of class. Trips are going to get better, they can't really get worse. 5:20 would be nice. 5 would be realistic. I doubt you see any 170 FO's transfer here. So you will just move up.

If I had my choice once I saw the TA, I'd go 145. Get off reserve and build your time. Easier airplane to fly when you are getting started.

 

That's my prediction, assuming no fleet growth.

We have about 2300 pilots and lose about 30 guys per month on average. Most junior CA is about 1100 from the bottom. That's about 3 years to get to that number on the list. Now if you assume that 1 in 4 guys leaving is an FO, that number gets longer to about 4 years. And keep in mind this is with a stagnant fleet size. There are approximately 19 Q400s on their way out the door, which will be offset by 64 deliveries in the next two years (57 UAL and 7 DL). Plus it it reasonable to assume that attrition will pickup with majors hiring so many.

While it's just my personal opinion, assuming they can get new hires in the door (new TA?), upgrade times should drop to no more than 2-3 years in the future.

Full disclosure: I'm an 8-year FO that is struggling to hold the 170 for upgrade.....

 

Since I don't know what the new RAH TA will be or if it will even pass I can't say you are wrong....... In order for the 145 to have any appeal things would have to change from the current situation. (Again, maybe they will in your new contract)

Just keep in mind that as of last I heard the 145 is mostly 17 hour 4 days with no rigs or min day to make up for that. Non commutable on at least 1 end if not both (mostly due to outstations) and pilots have been on property almost 2 years and still on RSV on 145 versus 2 months on 170.

When I see $12500 bonus to take one plane over the other, I would look into why that is the case. Also, a complete side note on another topic: I've seen many posts on here with guys complaining about the aforementioned outstation basing. It's senior, just about every single one. If you want a 'hub' base you can hold it out of training I'm sure. Pilots CHOSE to live at outstations, and bypass upgrades.....

 

I agree with everything you have said except for the fleet numbers. Last I've read we are only getting 55 United birds (50 in the original announcement plus 5 more that were recently signed). The announcement for the Delta planes said the we're going to be sourced internally which I took to mean we were taking them off of other flying we have. So by my count we have 55 new planes over the next 2 years while we are parking 28 Q400s (9 of which are already gone). This means 27 airframes worth of growth. If you could point me towards an announcement I may have missed that states otherwise I would greatly appreciate it.

 

If i were just starting off at Republic I would choose the $7500 on the EJET vs the 12500 on the 145 simply because the trips on the EJET are much more productive. This means you can fly 85 hours and still get 13 to 15 days off vs 79 hours with 12 days off on the 145. The better productivity gets you $2000 a year more at $23 an hour plus you will have the ability to pick up open flying that could get you an additional $2000 to $4000 a year all while having a better QOL.

Just my 2 cents.

 

On the 145
Keep in mind though(newbies) that there are a couple of pricks(at least one) in the training dept that would rather fail a student than sleep with his own wife(meaning he gets off on it). And no, it's not SH.

 

Theres one or two of those at Shuttle as well!!