777 School dates?
 

So I have a slight dilemma. I'm bidding the 777 on this current bid closing on the 20th. I also have a fully paid for vacation (Cruise ship) the first week of April. The vacancy bulletin says training can be expected as early as March. Unless something drastic happens, I'll get the award. The cruise is fully refundable if I cancel it by this Monday. I hate to cancel this vacation if there's no chance I'll go to training that early. Calls to training schedulers have gone unreturned. I know training is taking a while to get assigned on the 777 right now, but might that change soon? I'd hate to keep my vacation and then be thrown into a slot early. Any advice how to handle this.

Thanks,

SNA320

I would call the Chief Pilot and let them know that you don't want to go to training until after your vacation. Since it is relatively close in, I would think it would not be an issue. You may need to agree to not be pay protected if they send somebody junior to you to training first (since it would be your decision to delay).

That all being said, the contract doesn't give you any protections in this area , so you are definitely putting the vacation at risk by taking the bid. Now, if you can come up with a reason that this cruise is a "life event" then you might be able to stretch the contract to cover it for you. (perhaps your daughter's wedding cruise, your 25th anniversary cruise, your 3rd marriage's honeymoon, etc)

First World problems...;)

You're gonna love the -300ER.

Don't bother with CPO, go right to Herve. That guy is highly responsive, and will give you the best info they have. He won't bend the contract or make deals, but will give you the best info the help make a decision.

I was very impressed with how user friendly he was, I didn't get the answer I wanted, but just being responsive was a huge change.

Herve leaves for new position soon...not sure of the exact timing. Paul Carlson is taking over. I've had good experience interacting with Paul in the past.

Yeah, either way, if I had a paid vacation on the books I'd reach out to that office instead of the CPO.

Really? Paul is being resurrected?? Go figure

I was surprised at that, wasn't it his watch that led to the massive manpower imbalances that precipitated a back office change to begin with?

As we enter into the new year, we start a new chapter. This one is charged with emotions for me, as it will bring me into a new role here at United. I will soon transition to a new role in our Financial Planning and Analysis group as Managing Director of Network Analysis and United Express Finance, so this will be the last Crew Resources Outlook you’ll see from me. Going forward, you will hear from Paul Carlson who is returning to the helm of Crew Resources after serving in other Flight Operations roles. I know Paul is committed to keeping you updated, and he’ll let you know what Crew Resources communications to expect.

This from the latest update from Flight Ops.

No, that was done by his Legacy CAL counterpart that was retained in the job when the two sides combined into one. He was/is a pilot and was politely invited to return to the line a few years later, but by then the damage was done!