IAH base
 

I got an offer from United but am considering another airline as well. I’m really excited about United but the only base I’m interested in is Houston, but I don’t know anything about it. If anyone can give any insight on it I would appreciate it. I’m just trying to get a feel for the Houston base: Slow movement? How long to be based there? Will Houston see a good amount of retirements in the near future or does it have a mostly younger pilot group? What are the trip mixes for narrow bodies? Thank you for helping me out.

On the most recent vacancy the junior 737 FO in IAH is 12,121. The most junior pilot system wide is 12,508.

You **should** be able to get IAH fairly quickly but be prepared for a base in SFO or EWR initially.

The 737 is a huge fleet at UAL, IAH is a large base, and the plane goes virtually everywhere so the “trip mix” is quite varied. The senior guys will get the “good” trips and the junior guys not so much.

IAH was a huge hub for CAL before the merger. After the merger, UAL moved a lot of the flying to other hubs, causing a lot of stagnation. It seems that things are slowly moving in the right direction again, and there should be some growth there. It is one of the more senior (older) pilot bases.

being "interested" in only one hub at a major airline is a recipe for disaster over the course of a career.

Just to expand on that....

Prior to the meger CAL artificially grew IAH while downsizing EWR while playing a game of internal politics with ALPA.

After the merger, IAH continued to “expand” to cover flying systemwide for 737 deliveries.

Later, and as 737 bases were established in previous LUAL hubs the flying has returned to a more rational equilibrium across the system. Low oil prices did not help yields (not the same as loads) in IAH.

On the macro scale the “stagnation” is really just things returning to normal. Back when things were going the other way, pilots in other domiciles were complaining about stagnation while IAH guys were partying inside the bubble.

Hopefully now that the situation has stabilized any movement will occur across all bases. The recent increase in oil can only help IAH.

IAH Base....
 

Fairly senior at the moment but that will change over time. Never thought I would move out of Florida but Houston has turned out to be a pretty nice place to live. Have not de-iced in 3 years!

Derek

I was hired in 2013. Every class was 737 and 6 went to IAH 6 went to EWR. That really messed up the base and made it stagnant as others have pointed out. That said it took 20 months to get to iah but on the 756. It can be frustrating. The big gamble for you is which airplane to bid. 6 weeks after I was hired new hires held 320 in IAH ( I had an equipment freeze so I could not bid across to the 320 only up to 756,77,787,747). It seems that the 737 is the best way to get to IAH today but things change quickly. My guess is the other option is southwest. I will say if you have more than 20 years while you might have to commute at first. It will be short lived and then you get options. 737,320,756,787,777. If all you care about is flying out of Houston and fast as possible then the other option is probably a good one because you will get there quicker ( as it stands today instead of this time next year). Good luck. Pm if you have more questions

PM and I can get you more details. ‘16 new hire - activated via vacancy bid for IAH in early ‘17. 737FO. Can get your numbers on what the progression has been.

Being on property at UA will make you 10 times more hire-able at SW, DL, AA. Man, it really sucks to be Petty Crap.:D

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👍👍

I have a friend hired Nov 2016 who finally was able to bid into IAH 737 on this last Vacancy - so should be activated there by this fall. Have another Jan 18 new hire friend who wants IAH 737, about 35-40 pilots now remain between him and the junior pilot awarded IAH last time around. Those 35-40 only includes guys who want to bid DEN or stay SFO (e.g. everyone else senior to him who wanted LAX/ORD/etc got it). So, if there is a decent sized Vacancy Bid this fall he will probably get to IAH after about 1 year on property. If things stagnate again it will obviously be longer, but the resumption of New Hire classes suggests movement will continue. YMMV.

Thank you everyone very much for all the replies and great insight! Coming to United for a IAH base is not even close to the only reason I'm planning United, it's just the main place I'd like to live of the option given. I just don't know anyone who works at United that's based in IAH so just a lot of unknowns as far as the overall feel of the base is, so I really appreciate it guys, thank you.

I commuted to IAH 737 for about a year on reserve. I did a lot of Bogota, Port of Spain red eyes in the summer and a lot of Edmonton, and Calgary in the winter. This was back in 2011 so things may have changed but IAH is a big base with some neat flying. I got qual’d to do Tegucigalpa as a reserve. I would shoot for the 737 but obviously I’m biased. I just think the flying is better. Has nothing to do with comfort. Clearly the a320 wins in that category. Hopefully this thread does not devolve. Lol. Houston definitely has a lower cost of living than most (all) of our bases. It’s just too hot and muggy for my blood.

PM me.

I really like IAH.

Do you suppose those two are related in any way?

It has more to do with the way taxes are generated and just being in the south.

Not really. Many of the Southern / Midwest / Western cities are less expensive to live in than those on the coasts. On the coasts housing is more crammed in and with limited space, costs rise. (I realize I am making an oversimplifed generalization.)

I have lived in MCI, STL, and currently DFW. (As well as briefly in IAH.). People moving from the coasts are amazed at how low real estate prices are and how spread out the metropolitan areas are. (In DFW I think nothing of driving 35 miles from my home up north to downtown Dallas. Except at rush hour I can drive it in 30 minutes.) These are correlated.

Specifically about IAH, my great uncle was an electrician forman who put in the first dial telephone system. That was before the war (One not Two). He told me Galveston was bigger than Houston at the time. He said Houston was 35,000 people. Today at 6 + million, it is amazing how much it has grown. Oil, air conditioning, and draining the swamps have transformed it. Pre Civil War there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever. Over one third of all Houston citizens died from it, in that single year.

Derek,

Good luck with your career path. If you do end up in Houston, I have a request. Wear your Alpa pin proudly on your tie, stay informed, vote, and attend a council meeting from time to time. We still have a certain group of f/o’s who are still butt hurt from their “perceived” injustice on the seniority list after the merger and refuse to wear their Alpa pins. We need to get everyone pulling on the same end of the rope during contract negotiations. Houston seems to be the only place with this culture problem. Don’t let these guys rub off on ya.

Last slick tie I flew with was ORD based and that was over a year ago. Apathy has no allegiance to a particular fleet, base, or legacy. All your post does is try to reinforce a dead stereotype. Great job trying to build unity by singling out a base with a false claim. Please repeat your unity 101 class.

98% of UAL Pilots will go to war for any other UAL pilot regardless of background, legacy, and base. The other 2% are scabs and/or people who can’t see past false labels.

So even though you bashed IAH Pilots based on a false stereotype, I am willing to stand with you when the time comes that you need the unity of 12,500+ pilots during contract negotiations or if the company comes after you as an individual.

Ironic saying culture problem coming from someone who calls themself, "Guppydriver95"! :eek: Let me guess, 95 LUAL hire? :rolleyes:

Umm.. huh? I call myself that, and u extrapolate an issue? Puh lease. If your delicate sensibilities can’t discern the difference between a term of endearment, and a true issue with our own pilots not wearing an alpa pin, then I can’t help you.

Probably still wears his legacy wings too....:rolleyes:

Five years or so into this merger and I have yet to see a single guy wearing legacy wings. However, I have seen a ton of guys with slick ties. Which is worse? I know which one chaps me more.

Swing and a miss. Come on guys, quit grasping at straws. Slick ties are a cultural problem that needs to be addressed. Deflections don’t change that.

I saw a 777 FO awhile back wearing his legacy wings, legacy epilletes, and a backpack. They’re out there. I really hope we can all focus on being professional and doing our jobs with integrity. No better way to do this than standing unified. We’ve come a long way and there is no reason for a slick tie at our airline in today’s environment.

Exactly. It wasn’t my intent to start a ****ing match re: the pin. I thought it was universally accepted that we wear them. Period. The slights against my call sign and accusations about legacy wings were unnecessary. I’m Iah based and was simply commenting on what we all already know.

I’m the same. Not seen a single person in “legacy” gear, and tbh only had 1 FO out of uniform with his tie. I gave him one out of my bag and he wore it for the rest of the trip. He may have tossed later but I think after 4 days he had a better understanding of what it meant to have his/her fellow pilot’s back meant.

Guppydriver, time for you to jump off your "high horse" now! Yes, you stated, " We still have a certain group of f/o’s who are still butt hurt from their “perceived” injustice on the seniority list after the merger and refuse to wear their Alpa pins." You seem to forget the "butt hurt" group in all your subsequent posts! :rolleyes: I wouldn't have a problem with you calling out ALL pilots that don't wear their pins. Not just the part where you call out a WHOLE base because, of your apparent bias towards that group. I'm not sensitive, since I'm not part of that "butt hurt" group. Just getting a little tired of YOUR group always trying to make another group look bad. Keep up the good work on your UNITY drive though!!!;)

Swing and a miss again. The poster was discussing moving to Iah. This is an issue in Iah. Anyone who’s spent any time there knows exactly what I’m referring to. Try and focus. This isn’t about calling a guppy a guppy, legacy wings, or whatever other distraction with which you want to try to create a false equivalency. We still have a culture problem in Iah, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. No high horse dismounting required.

Guppy you do not speak for me. I am IAH based and fly with crews from both legacies and post merger hires all the time. I do not see a culture problem in IAH. I fly with double furloughees and bottom 1/3rd guys all the time and get along just fine, no butt hurt noted. The best thing about showing up to work is flying with great pilots who I have no problem spending a 4 day with.

Stop using we. You only speak for yourself. You do not own the culture perception of a base consisting of thousands of individual pilots. If you perceive a culture problem I suggest you look in a mirror and start reconciliation with that guy.

I saw a guy wearing them at a memorial service in FLL attended by 150+ pilots, talk about a class act. Not the time or place but if I ever run into him again I will speak my piece.

Saw one in LA the other day with the legacy UAL wings as well as sporting his old, expired UAL company id clipped to his epaulettes.

Toolbag extraordinaire.

I've only seen one in full legacy uniform. It was just over a year ago. He was from my side of the fence and I was embarrassed.

Sincerely though, why are there so many slicks?

Was he retired?

No he was not.

++++1 Very well said! Unfortunately, Guppy is a little "Butt hurt"!;)

Just a follow on to my post from last May - the Jan 18 new hire I mentioned above got awarded IAH in this last vacancy. So, he'll probably be activated there NLT the Feb bid month - after almost exactly a year on property. I also know a new hire from the same class who managed to get DEN this vacancy. With hiring picking up since summer and some mid-continent growth, I wouldn't be surprised to see folks easily making IAH/DEN in less than 12 months.

IAH Updates?
 

Heya Folks,

I was curious if anyone has the latest on how long it will take a new hire to get IAH as a base, and long to expect to be on reserve?

Cheers!

Very difficult to say since the movement in IAH has been glacial.

Last April on a vacancy bid there were a couple of IAH 320 FO awards, the junior of which is about 700 numbers from the bottom of the seniority list.

Last Feb on a vacancy bid there were some IAH 320 FO awards and IAH 737 FO awards, the junior of which was about the same seniority level.

So, there hasn't been an opportunity to bid in for 6 months and so for whenever the next opportunity comes there will be whatever pent up demand that time has created and whatever demand there is among those 6-700 pilots that haven't had the opportunity to bid IAH yet.

That being said, you get a couple of big vacancy bids with lots of movement throughout the system (which are supposed to be starting with 1 tomorrow) and things can change in a hurry. Hopefully the tide will continue to rise and even the boats in IAH and ORD can start to rise!!

Thanks GC! Much appreciated! Last two questions.

1) What has the average hiring ratio been between civvy and military, is it still around 50/50?
2) Which prep service do most applicants use nowadays?