756 for new hires
 

Have BI starting in a couple months and was told that the 756 SFO and EWR might go to new hires. Could someone share their take/experience as a new hire on that fleet? Snapshots of the types of trips they do would be great! Thanks, guys!

SFO = All domestic flying (including plenty of PS transcons) with some Hawaii

EWR = Lots of transatlantic with a lessor amount of domestic and Caribbean in the mix

Both = Except for last minute sick calls expect to "fly the garbage" as a new-hire on reserve ;)

How long would it take to get to ORD on the 756?

Depending on what bids are open at the time, and when they close. ORD seems to be running around a year. For Feb, junior 756 F/O is #12063. But remember, commuting to a line sooner in SFO or EWR may be a better quality of life than not being able to sit short call at home for ORD.

Plan on a lot of short call duty on reserve.

Garbage is putting it kindly for some of the 756 reserve trips out of the West Coast. Doing an all nighter to EWR for a day sleep, late flight back that night to the West Coast getting in around 10:30-midnight. 24 hours there then another all nighter back to EWR for yet another day sleep to a late flight back to your respective domicile out West which should get you in just about 20 minutes past your last commute option (9:30-10:30pm). Wash, rinse and repeat during the summer months.

I did that same pairing all month of June last year. As a relatively new guy that month tried its best to take away the shine of working here as a newbie. It makes the EWR to U.K. "Garbage trips" seem like you've died and gone to heaven.

From my understanding in EWR as a reserve there are times when you can't even luck into a bunkie spot to London or Manchester. Instead the reserves get the 6am departures for transcon trips. So that is something to consider as well.

The plane is great to fly but the 737 is where junior guys go to win if you want a set schedule and good amount of control early on. I'm nearing my 2 year seat lock and seriously considering the 737. Commuting to reserve on the 756 hasn't been "bad", but I'm tiring of the absurd short call assignments that seem to pop up for no reason and if I do get a trip, I can bet that it will be an all nighter to Newark. Meanwhile guys 600 numbers junior to me have 17-19 days off with tons of Hawaii, Caribbean and Cancun layovers. So there's that to consider.

It all depends.

There have not been any major vacancies in ORD recently (that can change anytime) and the most junior pilot on the 756 in ORD is #12,077 (out of 12,700.)

New hire training on the 756 is a bit of a nightmare. The course is set up for someone who pretty much knows UAL procedures and the 756 FMC when they show up. Not to mention the huge amount of bunnies trips you'll be doing as a Jr. F/O in EWR. When you come back for landings you will be sucking hind titt because you haven't flown since IOE.

You'll be on reserve forever.

All of the points mentioned are definitely valid and point to the poor quality of life when commuting, really poor quality of life when commuting to reserve, and extremely poor quality of life when commuting to reserve on a fleet with a wide range of departure times (and airports)

If you are going to be commuting to SFO or EWR (or any other domicile for that matter) it would much better to avoid the 756 if at all possible.

All that being said, I will tell you that I live in the ORD area and was on reserve on the 767 for several years as a local guy. That is a whole different quality of life. If you are comfortable living on 73-77 hours a month you can have a huge number of days off by picking up short calls on reserve and rarely flying (especially in the winter months) You actually see a descent number of guys that bid reserve in the low time months, because they can get more days off that way than flying a line!!

The reserve system here does have some ability to "pick your poison" on assignments. At 11am the day prior reserves can pick up open trips or open short call assignments that are available for the next day. The problem is that the crew desk can build those short call assignments later in the day, so you may not have all the information (prob won't) when you are deciding what to do at 11. So, as a commuter, this can be a challenge as you have to decide what to do without knowing what the crew desk has behind curtain numbers 2 and 3.

Morale of the story, don't commute!

I would recommend the 73 for a new hire if it is available. The training is straight forward, lineholder potential quicker, and it is a great plane to get your feet wet across the operation with pretty diverse destinations. The guys you fly with will be welcoming, incredibly helpful, and will answer whatever dumb question you think up with a very fair and friendly amount of ridicule. Not saying other fleets aren't as welcoming but I have witnessed fantastic people at every turn on this airplane. The 75/76 can always be bid too if you get the itch as the 2 year seat lock doesn't apply.