ladon67

Hello- I'm getting ready to retire from active duty in the Guard...well, just short of 2 years from now. With terminal leave, I can be available around Mar 2019 (19 months from now). I have around 7800 hours, of which 6000 or so is FWME turbine and 4100ish is PC. A very brief stint of Part 121 due to 9/11.
Questions I have for folks in the know-
1. I believe my numbers are competitive. Are they?
2. What would the junior base be?
3. Is there a reserve? How long is it? What is the callout?
4. What time does duty day normally start or does it vary? (We always think of cargo being a night job, so if that's a dumb question I apologize in advance!)
5. Can you commute on UPS planes back to your base?
6. And the big question- How soon should I put an application in if I won't be available until then?

Thanks in advance for any input.

BoilerUP

Yes, assuming currency.

Depends on the drop each class; my guess is you'd be in the top half of a class based on age and therefore you'd likely be able to hold any base available.

Most likely SDF or ANC for junior base.

Yes, there are multiple types of reserve, there are other threads that go into them at length. Callout is 90min (SDF) and I think 2 hours everywhere else. Most common for junior pilots is Reserve A (midnight-noon duty) and you have 14 RSV days every 28 day pay period.

Yes, it depends. For hub sort stuff, generally duty on 8-10pm and duty off 7-9am.

Yes, you can reserve jumpseats in advance and they are first come/first serve, not by seniority.

I'll defer to a .mil guy but say you might as well, so long as your availability date is stated. You'll apply now, then have to apply again in early 2018, then apply again in early 2019 - each will be an opportunity to update your flight times.

Spend some time doing a search, there's a number of similar threads that go into some of these items in greater detail.

Good luck!

G550Guy

I would add that UPS reserves the right to assign fleets and domiciles completely at their discretion. There have been classes this year in which the entire class was assigned MD11 Anchorage. So seniority in class means nothing if everyone is going to the same acft/domicile.

People considering UPS would be wise to evaluate every acft and domicile... because you could very well be assigned any of them. And you will stay there until a bid opens up where you can hold the seniority to move.


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FTFF

I can't remember where it is posted but if you search posts by me I've put out a lot of detailed info about our schedules.

ladon67

Thanks for the input guys! I'm a New Englander, so Anchorage would be a tough commute! I suppose I could do it for a while to get a foot in the door. Be real nice to be able to just hop a company bird one leg into SDF!!

whalesurfer

Lots of good advice here.

As far as the application time frame, I agree with boiler, do it now. There should be an availability date there somewhere.
You'll have to repeat the process every January. They do like to see that you've been working on getting on with brown for some time, that's it's not a spur of the moment decision. So if you interview in '19 they'll know you had an application on file for at least two years..

Hopefully some mil folks will chime in. ..or search posts by SaltyDog here. (maybe even send a PM?) A great source of mil-to-ups info..

Thank you for your service and good luck!

PS. There's a EWR-ANC 76 flight, so it's an option if you get based in ANC. Generally speaking, the commute is MUCH more difficult than to any of the other domiciles. However, the lines are somewhat better. Not by much but typically only 1-2 flights a day/night.
Also, ANC based crew members are generally much better pilots! They're also better looking than the SDF riff-raff. Just a few things to consider.. ;-)

.

CactusCrew

BDL-SDF-ANC, did that for almost 5 years.

ANC commute is tough from nearly everywhere. The commuters from the Pacific Northwest have more options, but not always good.

It really doesn't matter that you start in New England. If you ride on company, nearly everyone is in the same situation. 1-3 hour ride to SDF to catch 1-4 SDF-ANC flights on any given day. You're no worse off than most other ANC commuters by starting in NE (with a few exceptions).

Later, CC

P.S. Never used EWR-ANC flight. I think only operates 4 times a week. Getting to EWR was not easy for me, or most NE residents.

Good Luck !

Brown Boeing FO

Except at breakfast in HKG I've heard.

whalesurfer

Haha, yes, apparently some bring the SDF riff-raff dress code to free breakfast in Hong Kong..

FlewNavy

You likely won't be able to complete the application until you are within 12 months of your availability. Its a limitation of the software that UPS uses. It "blanks" out any dates 12 months from the application date - at least thats how it worked a few months ago.