Current QOL at UA
10-05-2022, 09:18 AM
#32
Line Holder
Joined APC: May 2022
Position: 756FO
Posts: 99
Originally Posted by elmetal
NB, literally newhire.
787 about 6 months, 777 over 3 years.
787 about 6 months, 777 over 3 years.
10-05-2022, 09:39 AM
#33
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2020
Posts: 261
Going to disagree here.
Friend is the bottom lineholder in his category this month. He had 5 trips for October. Every one of them had a all-nighter in it. He’s already traded 4 of the trips for non ANF trips. If you are patient and can wait to be a lineholder life is amazing. As a new hire FO on the Airbus or 737 (guppy) there can be 5+ trips every day to trade/choose from if you don’t like the trips you have now. Especially a few days out as other trips drop into open time.
Every FO I have flown with told me they are doing much better overall at United than they were at JB, Alaska, Spirit, Allegiant, Regional etc.
YMMV
Friend is the bottom lineholder in his category this month. He had 5 trips for October. Every one of them had a all-nighter in it. He’s already traded 4 of the trips for non ANF trips. If you are patient and can wait to be a lineholder life is amazing. As a new hire FO on the Airbus or 737 (guppy) there can be 5+ trips every day to trade/choose from if you don’t like the trips you have now. Especially a few days out as other trips drop into open time.
Every FO I have flown with told me they are doing much better overall at United than they were at JB, Alaska, Spirit, Allegiant, Regional etc.
YMMV
Originally Posted by Zoomie
Hate to be a Debbie downer here but:
Talking to friends at SWA and AA and DL, I would say we have one of the worst scheduling contracts of any of them.
1) It's not easy to drop trips, or trade, even if you are senior. Our work rules for trading doesn't have the flexibility of other companies. I have a buddy who's a newhire at AA that I talk to and he tells me he's got 2 weeks off without vacation(as a NB FO), I don't see that happening here.
2) Lines are close to 89 hr lines prior to the Sept pull back, so while you might get a reprieve here in Oct, Nov/Dec will be busy. Jan/Feb will draw down, then Mar will be busy, then Apr/May draw down then Jun-Sep will be busy.
Management is on record that they won't "draw down" the way I have described above. The draw downs are typical of our company and the UAL NEXT plan says we will be busy year round.
3) Reserve sux everywhere, especially if you commute. If you get 777/787 as a newhire you will be on reserve for 2 years, almost guaranteed, unless you decide to upgrade to NB CA at the end of year 1, then will be on reserve as a NB CA for another 2 years. If you live in base and don't like to fly, this might be awesome.
If you are commuting to reserve, you will spend a lot of time watching Netflix in your crashpad. With the pullback we just did in Sept, management pushed reserve percentages which are typically 80-100% in base to a much higher level
None of these are direct comparisons. You can never apply an apples-apples comparisons on work rules even though we try. I'd say that here at United, you will benefit from rapid growth and a quicker CA upgrade then our competition in this point in time. With the amount of growth we have right now, you will struggle for about a year for QOL, but will probably (assuming we grow as anticipated) gain so much seniority that you will gain any QOL back within a year or two. If the TA fails and we stop growth mode and stagnate, I expect that this is one of worst places for QOL as a junior guy.
Talking to friends at SWA and AA and DL, I would say we have one of the worst scheduling contracts of any of them.
1) It's not easy to drop trips, or trade, even if you are senior. Our work rules for trading doesn't have the flexibility of other companies. I have a buddy who's a newhire at AA that I talk to and he tells me he's got 2 weeks off without vacation(as a NB FO), I don't see that happening here.
2) Lines are close to 89 hr lines prior to the Sept pull back, so while you might get a reprieve here in Oct, Nov/Dec will be busy. Jan/Feb will draw down, then Mar will be busy, then Apr/May draw down then Jun-Sep will be busy.
Management is on record that they won't "draw down" the way I have described above. The draw downs are typical of our company and the UAL NEXT plan says we will be busy year round.
3) Reserve sux everywhere, especially if you commute. If you get 777/787 as a newhire you will be on reserve for 2 years, almost guaranteed, unless you decide to upgrade to NB CA at the end of year 1, then will be on reserve as a NB CA for another 2 years. If you live in base and don't like to fly, this might be awesome.
If you are commuting to reserve, you will spend a lot of time watching Netflix in your crashpad. With the pullback we just did in Sept, management pushed reserve percentages which are typically 80-100% in base to a much higher level
None of these are direct comparisons. You can never apply an apples-apples comparisons on work rules even though we try. I'd say that here at United, you will benefit from rapid growth and a quicker CA upgrade then our competition in this point in time. With the amount of growth we have right now, you will struggle for about a year for QOL, but will probably (assuming we grow as anticipated) gain so much seniority that you will gain any QOL back within a year or two. If the TA fails and we stop growth mode and stagnate, I expect that this is one of worst places for QOL as a junior guy.
10-05-2022, 09:41 AM
#34
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2020
Posts: 261
Originally Posted by MagicGoose
How long does it take to hold a line on 756 and 777 @UA? I got a CJO from UA and SWA. From the info I gathered, it takes years to hold a line on WB on a non coastal base. QOL in reserve looks limited. The few guys I know at UA who joined recently are happy but they all live in Base which makes a big difference. I also hear complains of guys on WB who do not break above monthly guarantee as they are on the low end of the seniority scale. That is just some information i gathered...
10-05-2022, 09:47 AM
#35
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2020
Posts: 261
Originally Posted by Ni hao
At some point the music is going to stop. They have hired 2500 pilots in like 18 months. They continue with 100 a month.
ORD as a new hire assuming they continue to hire 100 a month 2023-2025 to a line 5 months.
Solid weekends off every single one 3-4 years.
The company also keeps saying we are OVER staffed on 737 FO so who knows where that is going. Without a new pilot contract soon. Things will get ugly in 2023.
ORD as a new hire assuming they continue to hire 100 a month 2023-2025 to a line 5 months.
Solid weekends off every single one 3-4 years.
The company also keeps saying we are OVER staffed on 737 FO so who knows where that is going. Without a new pilot contract soon. Things will get ugly in 2023.
Not sure that the music will stop. We need to replace 440 RJs with mainline jets (according to Kirby). United may stop growing, but mainline will need more pilots to cover the new planes as the mix of flying moves from RJs to 737s and Airbus planes.
10-05-2022, 05:40 PM
#36
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,464
Originally Posted by Tesla S
I’ve been here almost 4 years and can’t hold 777 or 787 in IAH. From the latest vacancy, it looks like I’ll be able to hold 73 CA in IAH before I can hold 777 or 787 FO if the bidding trend continues.
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10-05-2022, 06:05 PM
#38
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2022
Posts: 120
Originally Posted by FriendlyPilot
Going to disagree here.
Friend is the bottom lineholder in his category this month. He had 5 trips for October. Every one of them had a all-nighter in it. He’s already traded 4 of the trips for non ANF trips. If you are patient and can wait to be a lineholder life is amazing. As a new hire FO on the Airbus or 737 (guppy) there can be 5+ trips every day to trade/choose from if you don’t like the trips you have now. Especially a few days out as other trips drop into open time.
Every FO I have flown with told me they are doing much better overall at United than they were at JB, Alaska, Spirit, Allegiant, Regional etc.
YMMV
Friend is the bottom lineholder in his category this month. He had 5 trips for October. Every one of them had a all-nighter in it. He’s already traded 4 of the trips for non ANF trips. If you are patient and can wait to be a lineholder life is amazing. As a new hire FO on the Airbus or 737 (guppy) there can be 5+ trips every day to trade/choose from if you don’t like the trips you have now. Especially a few days out as other trips drop into open time.
Every FO I have flown with told me they are doing much better overall at United than they were at JB, Alaska, Spirit, Allegiant, Regional etc.
YMMV
EDIT: Want to add that I bid low 40% in my base as well and still can't do much in terms of drops or swaps.
10-05-2022, 06:29 PM
#40
Line Holder
Joined APC: May 2022
Position: 756FO
Posts: 99
Originally Posted by elmetal
Go look at the Jr man document from 23-01. 13xxx for 787 fo
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