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DTW Base
Going to class next month and I’m hoping to get DTW based! Anyone have any insight on to how long reserve is, QOL in base as well as the type of flying / layovers?
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I was based there for my first 11 months. Being relatively senior in my new hire group allowed me to hold DTW out of training.
Schedule - I held a line after seven or eight months. Hiring ground almost to a stop shortly after I was hired so it's possible that I could have held a line sooner if I were on the start of a big hiring wave like it seems you are. QOL - are you planning to commute to DTW or live there? The crashpads there are standard fare from what I hear. The outer north and western sides of Detroit are nice places to live. Downtown is reviving strongly from its bankruptcy woes and there are good amenities popping up down there like large parks, restaurant districts, etc. Flying - there is very little international flying out of either DTW or ORD. I got out of the country about once a month. It doesn't make much difference considering we have very few international overnights. Plan for a lot of trips with long legs to the west coast at the start and back at the end. Good layovers and easy flying. |
Originally Posted by Flightcap
(Post 2896590)
I was based there for my first 11 months. Being relatively senior in my new hire group allowed me to hold DTW out of training.
Schedule - I held a line after seven or eight months. Hiring ground almost to a stop shortly after I was hired so it's possible that I could have held a line sooner if I were on the start of a big hiring wave like it seems you are. QOL - are you planning to commute to DTW or live there? The crashpads there are standard fare from what I hear. The outer north and western sides of Detroit are nice places to live. Downtown is reviving strongly from its bankruptcy woes and there are good amenities popping up down there like large parks, restaurant districts, etc. Flying - there is very little international flying out of either DTW or ORD. I got out of the country about once a month. It doesn't make much difference considering we have very few international overnights. Plan for a lot of trips with long legs to the west coast at the start and back at the end. Good layovers and easy flying. |
Oh and I forgot to say that if you bid early reserve you have quite a few opportunities to do repo flights for move up pay. Having a hangar in DTW means that's where they keep spare airplanes. I did three repo flights in one week when based there.
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How do you bid early RAP?
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Originally Posted by FLYBOYMATTHEW
(Post 2897471)
How do you bid early RAP?
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The problem is that RAP is allotted according to coverage on the working days you are awarded, not necessarily by seniority.
So for example say everyone wants R03. If there are 10 R03 lines for November, and the ten most senior reserve bidders have too many overlapping days working, a much more junior pilot would get it instead. |
You can pref R03 or you can go in the backyard and yell, “I want R03!!”
The two methods seem equally effective. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Originally Posted by dutchroller
(Post 2897894)
You can pref R03 or you can go in the backyard and yell, “I want R03!!”
The two methods seem equally effective. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk filler |
Originally Posted by RemoveB4flght
(Post 2897648)
The problem is that RAP is allotted according to coverage on the working days you are awarded, not necessarily by seniority.
So for example say everyone wants R03. If there are 10 R03 lines for November, and the ten most senior reserve bidders have too many overlapping days working, a much more junior pilot would get it instead. |
I wouldn't say R03 is a competitive RAP to get. There seem to be more R03 lines offered than other reserve lines. An advantage is getting done earlier in the day on the last day of reserve. A disadvantage for commuters is having to commute in the day before the RAP begins.
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Originally Posted by Flightcap
(Post 2898925)
I wouldn't say R03 is a competitive RAP to get. There seem to be more R03 lines offered than other reserve lines. An advantage is getting done earlier in the day on the last day of reserve. A disadvantage for commuters is having to commute in the day before the RAP begins.
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Originally Posted by Rocinante
(Post 2898903)
R03 seems popular, do people just want to be done earlier in the day? Any benefits/drawbacks to the different reserve shifts?
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Originally Posted by Rocinante
(Post 2898903)
R03 seems popular, do people just want to be done earlier in the day? Any benefits/drawbacks to the different reserve shifts?
Pro- wake up at 10am and think “ah, just slept through 7 hours of my RAP” Con-phone rings at 3am for an assignment and you curse the heavens while your sleeping wife tells you to shut up and that “you hardly ever work, stop crying” |
Originally Posted by Omniscient
(Post 2899154)
R3
Pro- wake up at 10am and think “ah, just slept through 7 hours of my RAP” Con-phone rings at 3am for an assignment and you curse the heavens while your sleeping wife tells you to shut up and that “you hardly ever work, stop crying” |
Originally Posted by wornTiller
(Post 2899163)
Even with a 3am call, you don't have to be ready to push until 6am worst-case-scenario, right?
I primarily had R3 and found that they had a trip for me to start almost every RAP. Twice I had unexpected MX flights, but usually I could look ahead and see what was coming. Is there a 6 am launch for a 4 day trip sitting in open time starting on day one of my Rap? Probably my trip of the week. |
Originally Posted by dutchroller
(Post 2897894)
You can pref R03 or you can go in the backyard and yell, “I want R03!!”
The two methods seem equally effective. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Declare Bankruptcy! |
Speaking of assignments, can you call scheduling and "proffer" or request trips from open time that match your RAP and days of availability? Like if there's two 4 day trips in open time on day one of my reserve block and start within my call out window, can I ask scheduling for one over the other?
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Originally Posted by Arliss
(Post 2899708)
Speaking of assignments, can you call scheduling and "proffer" or request trips from open time that match your RAP and days of availability? Like if there's two 4 day trips in open time on day one of my reserve block and start within my call out window, can I ask scheduling for one over the other?
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In my experience, the next day reserve preferencing is more of an annoyance to crew scheduling than anything else. Every time I tried it, they said they would have to check with some “planner”, you’d hear some murmuring in the background, and then get a polite no. They were short staffed when I was on reserve and were trying to always optimize open time usage, so your results may vary. My open time selections probably conflicted with their optimization goals.
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DTW
Can anyone recommend a good crash-pad around the DTW airport?
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I can definitely recommend this one. It’s run by a lovely older lady who is very friendly and wants to make sure you’re happy. She lives there too, but you get a nice and bright living room to yourself.
On crashpd411 it’s this one “B&B-like' includes Shuttle and Breakfast $175” |
Originally Posted by IceFlash
(Post 2900480)
I can definitely recommend this one. It’s run by a lovely older lady who is very friendly and wants to make sure you’re happy. She lives there too, but you get a nice and bright living room to yourself.
On crashpd411 it’s this one “B&B-like' includes Shuttle and Breakfast $175” |
Originally Posted by doublebed
(Post 2900515)
All I read was older lady who wants to make me happy.
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Originally Posted by GrumpyCaptain
(Post 2899707)
I
Declare Bankruptcy! Yes! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Best suburb?
My wife will be working on a PhD at U of M, my 10 year old kid plays hockey and goes to Catholic school.
Best suburb west/northwest of airport? Best AAA youth hockey program? |
Originally Posted by Speed Select
(Post 2915565)
My wife will be working on a PhD at U of M, my 10 year old kid plays hockey and goes to Catholic school.
Best suburb west/northwest of airport? Best AAA youth hockey program? |
Originally Posted by Speed Select
(Post 2915565)
My wife will be working on a PhD at U of M, my 10 year old kid plays hockey and goes to Catholic school.
Best suburb west/northwest of airport? Best AAA youth hockey program? Our Lady of Victory (Northville) and Our Lady of Good Council (Plymouth) are the Catholic Schools in the area. Compuware AAA at The USA Hockey Arena, Victory Honda AAA at The Victory Ice Center, and the Plymouth Cultural Center also has teams but I’m not sure if the skill level. |
Was going to create a thread to ask this. Glad I found this one.
In DTW: What percentage of assigned reserve days can you expect to get called out? Depends on season? Once you get a line, how easy is it to drop trips? What about the whole month? What are the chances of someone picking up a trip you posted? And finally, what is the breakdown of trip length? Mostly 4 days? Even mix? any locals at all? I like working as much as the next guy but sometimes I just need some extended family time. Thanks for the replies. |
Originally Posted by HaleHortler
(Post 2920977)
Was going to create a thread to ask this. Glad I found this one.
In DTW: What percentage of assigned reserve days can you expect to get called out? Depends on season? Once you get a line, how easy is it to drop trips? What about the whole month? What are the chances of someone picking up a trip you posted? And finally, what is the breakdown of trip length? Mostly 4 days? Even mix? any locals at all? I like working as much as the next guy but sometimes I just need some extended family time. Thanks for the replies. Reserve Summer = fly a lot Fall = fly little Also depends on the reserve period and type (short/long call) I’ll let the DTW give you more detailed information. In simple terms, our system is designed to have a 75% reserve coverage on Initial Open Time. Dropping a trip thru 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmass, as you would expect, it’s extremely hard, but not unheard of. We are a very seasonal airline, so summer time it’s harder to drop trips, specially weekends. Nonetheless, this is an extremely flexible airline, and you could have a lot of time off, almost as much as you want expect during popular holidays (while jr). This applies to lineholders only. Reserve, almost no flexibility. In theory, you could be part-timer as a line holder We like lazy around here, and regardless of what you might read on these forums, we have good pilots that could leave to a legacy but decided to stay and enjoy a laidback life. |
Thank you, that helps out a lot.
Can anybody give some insight on trip length? My family hates 4 days, but I get the feeling thats most of the trips at spirit. Appreciate all the replies. The next airline I go to will be my last so I want to get it right. |
Originally Posted by HaleHortler
(Post 2921935)
Thank you, that helps out a lot.
Can anybody give some insight on trip length? My family hates 4 days, but I get the feeling thats most of the trips at spirit. Appreciate all the replies. The next airline I go to will be my last so I want to get it right. With PBS it is certainly a possibility to bid for trips less than 4 days, but having 4 days off between shorter pairings would be a challenge. You can also drop or swap with open time, which would probably be your go to move until you get enough seniority to bid for exactly what you want. |
Originally Posted by HaleHortler
(Post 2921935)
Thank you, that helps out a lot.
Can anybody give some insight on trip length? My family hates 4 days, but I get the feeling thats most of the trips at spirit. Appreciate all the replies. The next airline I go to will be my last so I want to get it right. |
Originally Posted by HaleHortler
(Post 2921935)
Thank you, that helps out a lot.
Can anybody give some insight on trip length? My family hates 4 days, but I get the feeling thats most of the trips at spirit. Appreciate all the replies. The next airline I go to will be my last so I want to get it right. As far as Spirit goes, in theory once you’re a line holder you could bid for 3 day trips but they’re usually less efficient. You could do one 3 day trip a week, and have 4 days off but it’s going to be reflected on your pay. 3 day trips pay between 13-17 hrs on average. Living close to the airport would be your best shot. Otherwise consider adding the time, $$, and effort of having to do multiple trips to the airport for inefficient trips. Bottom line: Spirit it’s a very flexible airline. If you can live happily with min. guarantee or less, you could have plenty of time off at home. Unfortunately I run into people that complain about not getting the trips and the time off they want, but are secretly trying to credit 100hrs a month. Catch my drift? Best of luck |
Originally Posted by HaleHortler
(Post 2921935)
Thank you, that helps out a lot.
Can anybody give some insight on trip length? My family hates 4 days, but I get the feeling thats most of the trips at spirit. Appreciate all the replies. The next airline I go to will be my last so I want to get it right. PBS is going to build your schedule to a credit window. 4 day trips, although not fun, are going to usually be the best bang for the buck on credit/day average with the 3.5 rig either forcing block higher or soft time. Higher credit 4 days mean you hit the credit window sooner which means you stand a better chance at more days off. I’ve done the 3 day trip route and what I found was I got many 3 day trips worth 16 hours. And I think “one more day on the road I could get a much higher credit value for the extra day. Many trips over 23 hours, so that 7+ extra hours for 1 more day of work, that’s how you hit the 16-17 day off lines vs the 14 day off lines with the 3 day trips. So although the family doesn’t like Dad being gone for 4 day trips, he is home more days of the month. In the end, this the airlines and you have zero seniority here. You will feed on scraps for a while. If you can’t accept that, as others suggested, Allegiant would be better and you can do day turns. But this is the job, pack a bag, kiss the family goodbye and see them in 3 days. |
Originally Posted by omniscient
(Post 2922366)
no family likes dad to be gone for 4 days. Have to look at it from a different angle.
Pbs is going to build your schedule to a credit window. 4 day trips, although not fun, are going to usually be the best bang for the buck on credit/day average with the 3.5 rig either forcing block higher or soft time. Higher credit 4 days mean you hit the credit window sooner which means you stand a better chance at more days off. I’ve done the 3 day trip route and what i found was i got many 3 day trips worth 16 hours. And i think “one more day on the road i could get a much higher credit value for the extra day. Many trips over 23 hours, so that 7+ extra hours for 1 more day of work, that’s how you hit the 16-17 day off lines vs the 14 day off lines with the 3 day trips. So although the family doesn’t like dad being gone for 4 day trips, he is home more days of the month. In the end, this the airlines and you have zero seniority here. You will feed on scraps for a while. If you can’t accept that, as others suggested, allegiant would be better and you can do day turns. But this is the job, pack and bag and kiss the family goodbye and see them in 3 days. |
Originally Posted by HaleHortler
(Post 2921935)
Thank you, that helps out a lot.
Can anybody give some insight on trip length? My family hates 4 days, but I get the feeling thats most of the trips at spirit. Appreciate all the replies. The next airline I go to will be my last so I want to get it right. That's a nice benefit of PBS (if you have seniority of course). |
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