Indoc New Hire Questions
 

Hello,

I am scheduled to begin indoc in a few weeks at United. In my current group, projected around 70 new hires, I am sitting roughly in the middle of the pack seniority wise. I will be living in base at EWR and have been mulling over what to bid. My top three are the 756, Bus and 737. With that information, I have a few questions:

- Does it make sense for a new hire to bid the 756 – what would be the reserve time, use, etc. in EWR? I think I read the junior line holder is a 11/2018 hire?

- Besides more LGA flying on the Bus, is there a benefit and or con of one over the other, I’m not picky on cockpit size and all that. Again, what’s reserve time and line holding life like for those fleets?

Thanks so much for your help! I look forward to joining United soon! Stay safe everyone!

First of all, CONGRATS!
Now.. here it comes. You'll get alot of opinions on what you should bid as a NH. Here's my take as a 756FO about to leave to the 78.
The 756 will give you a variety of flying that you won't see on any other fleet. Also, with the amount of projected hiring in the future (take that with grain of salt) you will not be on the bottom of the list for very long. Sure, you MAY get a line sooner on the 73/Guppy~Airbus/Fiffy but it's probably only a few months difference. People can argue that IF you go to one of those, your (potential) upgrade will be easier in a year or two. But mind you, if you choose to be one of those Y2Capts in the future, you will be on RESERVE for a long long time.
(Please don't be one of those guys who wants to see an LOA changing the Reserve Rules [in the future] as we need a FULL Contract.. no more damn LOA's/MOU's)

On option would be to choose the smaller plane and then switch to the 756 in a year or two. It all comes down to how much you love/hate/don't mind training.

As someone who picked the 756 out of InDoc, I have had no regrets. Bigger cockpits with different types of flying and rare to have more than 2 legs a day.

Either way, enjoy the excitement of being a new hire and take it all in. Both the good and the bad.
See ya on the line~
Always
Motch

PS) No matter what, make sure you FS, FP & FtC

756 pre-pandemic out of ewr had some of the best flying. Western Europe and some random widebody pay 764 trips if you live in base and don't mind the reserve callouts. The 73 is all around superior to the bus. It is a growing fleet, great diversity in trips, less LGA by a large margin, and you get to make fun of bus pilots... all around win. It is trying times in ewr with operational issues but that is being felt universally right now. If you are local 756 if you aren't 73. Just my opinion. Welcome!

when did you find out your seniority in your class?

I’m not in EWR but I bud 737 for seniority progression, once I can hold a line on 756 comfortably I’ll bid over and avoid global reserve. I don’t mind global reserve but if I’m going to do that I’d rather do it on787/777

Except at LGA ;)

I spent 5 years on 756 and it was fantastic flying.

Ya ummm the data on 756 ewr time to line vs 737/320 time to line is wildly off in this thread. Correct the junior LH on the 756 was hired in 2018. Not sure on the 737/320 but I would assume it’s a half winger

Here is another look at your question. We are getting new A321NEOs followed by XLRs with deliveries started in 23 and 24 respectively. Those will most likely take over the 757 flying and eventually grow it to include international and trans-cons and most likely some Hawaiian flying (my opine on the latter). We are getting new 737s at a prodigious rate, and they do some great flying, lots of variety as compared to what the Bus currently does. If you want seniority then go NB, with the 737 initially being better with the Bus fleet closing the gap in the near future. Also, remember, as we get the NEO / XLR expect the 757 fleet to start shrinking. The 767 fleet offers a lot as talked to above, just realize it will eventually start it's drawdown. Oh, there is the perpetual reserve of 777 / / 787 if one desires (consider moving to domicile for quality of life).

The above is just an opinion and is worth maybe 2 centavos.

Disclaimer, I'm a Bus guy.

Involution of the regionals offers a decent dusting of uncertainty on the fleet futures too

It appears every new hire class starts a what's app chat, which (at least in my group), have created a spreadsheet showing name, domicile and fleet preference, along with age/dob.

Thanks so much, Motch!

Thanks everyone!

I’ll be commuting from ATL. Are lines commutable on 73 vs bus? How long to get a commutable line? Looking at EWR and IAD. Trying to figure out how to bid while minimizing crash pads or hotels (extra days, really).

opinions/advice appreciated

In your scenario I'd probably bid EWR 737 and be watching IAD 737 as well, you'll be able to easily base trade between the two. You'll be able to avoid LGA trips easier on the 737 than the bus, IMO. IAD is probably an easier commute but maybe less flights, and historically slightly more senior so you're probably looking at a line in EWR faster which will make life easier commuting. Also if anything at all is going on in EWR, they tend to throw positive space at it which is nice.

It is on the first day of class. The class roster (pic with names) is normally posted in the training center a couple of days in advance and those names are in seniority order.

FYI IAD has to cover three fields (IAD, BWI and DCA) vice EWR just covers itself and LGA. And I second the positive space allowance for EWR is fairly large.

The commutability of lines on either fleet are dependent on your seniority. I would expect that a new hire won't find most of the lines commutable as more senior bidders bid them. For the 320, LGA trips tend to start earlier and finish later, although they are higher credit. So you might end up with more days off on your schedule if you bid all LGA (I would assume that is an easier commute from ATL on DL vs to EWR on UAL), but you might have to commute on some of those days off. EWR trips on the bus are more generally the flavor of start early, finish early or start late finish late, so commutable on one end or the other. You can group multiple trips into work blocks, though, where you are flying multiple trips back to back and build a commutable line that way.

How do you find these whatsapp groups? I was originally in the Feb08 class, but got bumped up to the Feb01 class. Would love to get in touch with people in my class.

Hop on the new hire Facebook page and post there. That’s a pretty good resource starting out!

PM sent I can add you

Indoc New Hire Questions
 

I’m a ATL-EWR commuter on the 73. I started in July and with the backlog in OE never sat reserve (until Dec due to the massive G-line adjustment). I’m back to a line in Jan/Feb. I can hold commutable back end (or front end) trips right now. Sometimes I get commutable both ends. You will have to be ok with some red eyes on occasion but they aren’t the worst thing ever. I am also able to swap into commutable both ends fairly regularly as long as I’m willing to lose an hour or two of pay.

I have commuted over the years to DCA/IAD/ORD and the ewr commute is by far my least favorite. There are at least 25 pilots I have personally met that commute to ewr and I’m sure a bunch more I haven’t met. There are boatloads of FAs that commute to ewr and usually the most junior of them are deep into the 90’s hire date. It is a tough and unpredictable commute but thus far I have not been able to make it some way or another. Just be aware of that.

The 73 fleet out of EWR is probably your best bet for movement and great flying. We go EVERYWHERE. I will see west coast, east coast, Midwest, Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America at some point every month. Generally no more than two legs a day.

PM me if you have any more questions. Happy to help.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

756 would also cover JFK. I don’t think right now they are doing any LGA flying on it though that is always subject to change. At one point we were flying the 757-300 into LGA.

If you bid either the 737 or 320 you can bid-up to the 756, or any widebody, at any time. You are only restricted in moving 737 to 320 or 320 to 737 and that lasts for two years.
If you bid 756, you are locked out of both the 320 and 737 for two years.

I'd recommend bidding 737, or 320 if you think you'd like it better, then fly a few months before reevaluating if and when you want to bid the 756 or a widebody. You'll have access to the bid awards for the fleet(s) that you're interested in and will be able to see what your seniority can hold and you'll have a better understanding on what flying for UA is like and what is important to you.

The layovers on the 737 are better than the 320. From EWR, lots of island layovers. Fewer legs per day. More pilots and more trips so more flexibility in bidding. Many in the 320 fleet prefer the 320 because of the airplane and the comfort factor in the cockpit.

Pay is also slightly higher in the 737 fleet. The 319 and 737-700 pay the same lower-rate; the 320 and the rest of the 737s pay the same higher-rate. There's only aroun d 40 737-700 out of over 400 737s and around half (?) of the 320 fleet are 319. That means you'll fly the lower-paying airplane more often and your blended rate (what you're paid for all non-flying activities like guarantee, vacation, and training) is less as it's is a combination of the two rates based on the ratio of high and lower paying airframes in the overall fleet.

What’s the initial training footprint look like? All in Denver? Or is there some at home study?

The CBTs can be completed at home. (3 days). The remaining training schedule is all in Denver.

As I recall at least partial weekends off and positive space too and from, it’s really not bad

Word is, first week indoc is Tuesday - Saturday. Early day Saturday. Can go home if you want (positive space). Second week is Tuesday -Friday.

mon - wed following week is at home self study. Then start your aircraft training. Four-ish weeks for fleet training (depends on type, of course). Can go home positive space on days off, which can vary wildly. It’s not going to always be sat/sun.

after that, wait for OE, which can be anywhere from 2 days to 3 months, depending on fleet.

Much much more commutable trips on the 737 versus the 320.

A lot more flying to choose from , including broken pairings and melt downs , Deadheads etc. loved the bus for 10 years (5 here) but at TK now training for the 737, just so much better flying esp if you commute and need flexibility and need to stay relatively senior in category.

Almost. After Indoc is done (Friday), you get Sat-Sunday off (go home if you want, most people do), then IFT days 1 and 2 on Mon-Tuesday. Then go home again, wait anywhere from 1-3 weeks to start fleet training. People have the option to do the 3x days of CBTs at home (default) or at FTC, but you'd have to ask Training Hotels to start your reservation early, which isn't an issue.

So like 7 weeks plus OE? Thanks

KCM
 

When do you get KCM as a new hire? The thought of having to go through full TSA just gives me anxiety, as its always a mess.

Day 1

Filler........

that gives you anxiety? Guess that hogan test isn’t as good as we thought

It’s when you get your badge which isn’t till week 2 I believe

they say to be available for up to 12 weeks.

Are new hires getting the 767s?

The 767 isn’t a separate category, although the 767-400 pays at WB rates.

756 encompasses 767 so yea, quite a few each class

ya no. Bad gouge. Second week of Indoc