Meanwhile a newhire at southwest has 15 days off MINIMUM.

again, stop apologizing for the company.

 

If you are 50% and bidding days off in all 7 layers, you are seeing yourself up for disappointment. Also don't forget your bidding percentage includes reserves as well. I figure out my percentage based on guaranteed line holders and add a buffer to that. Also remember opening your bid too 70% of the pairings does not mean 70% of the available credit. There are a high number of locals in my base, so I have to account for that as well.

 

That's is the exact thing that helped me decide to move on. In that range and not only could I not get 75 hours, but I was constantly getting required minimum line value of 87 to 88 hours. So you either bid for high value trips (which have dropped off over the past 6 months) or low value locals which may or not be picked up. The good part about option 2 is that when you have to call in to get a day off, you don't have that much user time taken.

Had I been able to get a good schedule or drop a trip here or there, I may have stuck around just to enjoy my kids as they are growing up. As it stands now, I expect to commute back east and still figure I'll have just as many days off as a junior reserve as I did with SW after 9 years. Plus there will be some hope of it getting better vs the realization that it will never get better.

 

Chief pilot itself is many years, same for assistant chief etc, flight operations supervisors just hired in Chicago are senior and experienced captains (have to act as chief pilot so makes sense). Recruitment last year supposedly had 700 apps and took 30. Best option starting out is being involved in forums and getting Sapa rep in my opinion, that could lead to more company related things. Another option is FO instructor, but that only helps if you don't need flight hours.

 

Best way to those routes is get involved in training. They hire FO's to teach ground school. From there you can do FTD, Matrix, then Upgrade. They will make you a LCA (line check airman). Maybe get a Domicile sup job, then work up to other flight ops postions. Or move over to SCA (sim check airman). Lots of opertunites if you live in SLC or Denver and get involed. Volunteer for acting in videos ect..

 

Don't volunteer. If someone should and could be paid for the job, do not volunteer. This isn't a charity. It's a multi million dollar airline business.

 

OK. They do pay for everything i listed...

 

Then don't end your sentence with the word volunteer

 

I dunno about that. MH (LAX/FAT CP, everyone's favorite pilot) spent what, four months as a CA before being named ACP?

Also for CP/ACP it helps to have:

• No sense of empathy or compassion

• A stick jammed extremely far up your six

• A nice shiny hat, plus the gall to call out other pilots for not wearing the (not required) hat

• A startling lack of actual airmanship (speed limits below 10,000 feet? If you're a CP, they don't exist. 300 KIAS is just fine. Oh, and when your FO gently reminds you that you're about to inadvertently take off unpressurized because you shut down the APU on a 100-degree day in PHX in a fully-loaded CRJ-200 just to save the company money, but forgot to swap the bleeds to the engines...be sure to blame the ground controller for talking too much and distracting you. Do this, and you're perfect ACP/CP material.)

• The ability to use the phrase "for the good of the company" 100 times a day, and still be able to look at yourself in the mirror

There are certainly exceptions (RG being one of them), but do a trip with such wonderful human beings as MH and you will see what I mean...

 

Maybe your description to get the job of CP/ACP applies to some...but not all. HG (the LAX ACP) has NONE of those characteristics you described.