Myfingershurt

I don’t work at UPS but i am guessing that is not the case.

BoilerUP

It depends.

A UPS “month” (pay period) is 28 days, a bid period is 56 days. 11 days off in a pay period/24 off in a bid period is contractual min, but flying lines must average and reserves get 14 days off in a pay period/28 days off in a bid period.

UPS buying ticket to commute? Not exactly.

If you have a commercial deadhead to begin/end a trip, you can use that ticket index for deviation travel from/to home. If your trip begins in domicile, you have to get there yourself.

arcla

Hopeful for some advice please.

I have a CJO for the October heavy class. I'm assuming the options will be 747 ANC and MD11 SDF. I would prefer to bid for the 747 as I have previous experience on type however I will be commuting to ANC from Florida (TPA). How long would it take to hold the 747 in SDF? What are the pro's and con's of the 747 versus MD11 schedules in SDF?

I recognize that I may not get what I bid for however I would at least like to make an informed choice on what to bid for.

Any advice or input on the differences in schedules would be greatly appreciated.

FTv3

1. Probably a couple of years and I’d bet once this covid stuff floats away, even more.

2. MD has a lot of variety and a good majority of it is domestic. Now, if you have to do domestic the MD skeds are, generally, the least painful. The international is limited and I wonder how much it’s going to do once covid is over. Lots of week on-off hub sort stuff and base trips (mix lines).

The 74 is almost entirely international. The trip mix keeps the lines interesting - don’t see clean week on-off or 2 week on/off….more like a few days off then an 8 day trip. Then 6 off, then a CGN (Germany) 3 day, 4 days off, and another CGN 3 day. They have a little domestic flying too which isn't too commuter friendly but I don’t believe it goes junior either.

If you have kids or something demanding your time in Tampa then I wouldn’t think twice - bid MD. Otherwise, bid the whale in ANC, get into the commute and the JA gravy train and don’t look back.

flyguy23

It seems like you’re talking as if covid is going away soon. It likely won’t be behind us for yearS. I personally wouldn’t make any decisions on what people think things will look like post covid. No one has a clue what that will look like or when it will even come.

FTv3

Useful information for the poster would be more along the lines of something like this:

Since opening, the SDF 74 domicile on the FO side hasn’t gone as senior as speculated for 2 reasons: system wide upgrade times have come down in past few years and many senior FOs are staying on their current fleet until they pull the trigger for upgrade. Other FO’s inclined to fly the whale are holding off due to the negative effects covid is having on 74 schedules and layovers. Last, for many reasons ANC is a superior base. Not many are chomping at the bit to bid down to SDF despite the easier commute. I think we had guys at the 1 year mark (or a little bit longer) get transfers to SDF in the last system bid but it was mostly 2-3 year guys taking the FO slots - sorry, don’t have access to my company stuff to verify. Covid or not, getting back into SDF as a new hire won’t be quick and easy.

Its indisputable UPS wants the MD all domestic and plenty of evidence supports this including what the schedules looked like just before covid hit -> nothing in the bid pack but a rare CGN or HNL. Right now the network demands pinching off some MD flying for overseas volume needs.

arcla

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Useful information. Sent you a DM.

Whalehunter

I believe new hires right out of training got awarded SDF on the last bid.

tnkrdrvr

It is true that prior to Covid the MD was going to go pure domestic. It’s also try that a third of the bidpack (60 lines) were international on the last bid. What UPS says it will do and what happens are often only loosely related. The MD will go wherever it makes the most money. Currently, that’s heavy into Asia, a smattering of Europe, some DOD charters, and the usual domestic assortment. If you want to have no choice but international long haul, go 74. If you want a fleet with a broad variety of flying, go MD. No matter what you get, it’s not forever.

Beech Dude

Are trips always between 10 and 14 days? Or do you just not get anything shorter until you're pretty senior?