FTv3

The optimizer killed City pairing purity in the last few years. Trips are getting more scrambled by the bid period. Your best bet is week on / week off and then trade around to maximize trips with l/o’s at home. I’d say it depends most on where you actually live, then fleet, then fleet seniority.

RJdriver22

I searched a lot and most of what I found was from awhile ago...I am curious what life is like having a MIA base and living in SE Florida. Currently how long is it taking to hold MIA? Is it possible to bid station turns to maximize time at home in MIA (live 5 mins from the airport)? If there is station turns, is it mostly night turns or do day turns exist? Would reserve typically go senior for FO's in this base? Appreciate the help

767pilot

I can't answer too many of those questions, but I just flew with a new hire that got it on the first bid after training. I know two others that got it on their initial slot. Timing is everything, but 6 to 12 months shouldn't be hard.

CCCXCI

If there is a MIA slot in your class you will most likely get it if you want. If not you will most likely be able to hold it at the next system bid. A fair amount of new hires assigned MIA out of training bid out at the earliest possible time. If you live five minutes from the airport then you will have some pretty decent lines open to you. There are day and night turns. Night turns go junior but not all of them. You would be able to hold day turns also fairly quickly. Most of the shorter trips go junior, the longer stuff goes senior. Reserve is cyclical. Right now it’s pretty senior but that will change and change and change. Day reserve is always more senior. Seniority progression is not as high as SDF or other domiciles but it is steady. Hope this helps.

RJdriver22

This helps a ton thank you...Im currently 32 Years old with a CJO at American but everything I've researched tells me I should at least try for UPS. Really appreciate the detailed response.

FlexNinja

What is the standard amount of days off a UPS pilot will get in a month? I know the bids are slightly different in that, 28 day ect. One thing at the pax carriers, we tend to hear a lot is x-amount of days off per month. Also, some like United and Southwest can drop down to zero. As far as ive read, UPS doesnt seem to have anything like that, but is there a way outside of vacation to get extra days off if needed.

Also, ive not seen much about premium pay or critical pay etc. Are there situations where you can pick up trips and make extra money?

thanks!

tnkrdrvr

Short version, you will never involuntarily have a schedule that uses more than 14 days of the 28 day month. However, domestic, they can extend you one day into your off days on reserve (pays150%) and two days international on reserve (also 150%). Many guys hold lines that only require 11-13 days. Right now, international trips routinely arrive several days late. Once you hit 50 hours late all late pay is at 250%. This is very common right now since we’ve been essentially flying “peak” since Covid hit. There are a lot of premium or soft money angles that come into play. Especially on international trips.It’s a great time to make ridiculous money here, but harder to be a slacker. We can drop our entire line on the trip board, but someone has to take your flying for it to drop off your line. If you drop below 37.5 credit hours, you don’t get credit towards your pension. Conversely, if you just want to cash in and could care less about QOL, there is no credit cap on flying that touches mainland China. We have FOs touching $500k international and other FOs who rarely exceed min guarantee (roughly $200k). So not as flexible as some places, but more flexible than some think.

doubles

Sounds like it has become more difficult to get trips picked up off the trip board. How easy or difficult is it over the first, say, five years to get trips picked up?

Also, on the subject topic (typical schedule), do the three night turns still exist in the schedule? How numerous? How senior? (This is the 3 on / 4 off for all four weeks instead of 4 on/3 off for three weeks).

tnkrdrvr

Not something I bid for and I don’t have a bidpack handy.

FTv3

Personally, I’ve never seen a 3-on 4-off each week of a PP in turn lines nor in base trips. I have seen schedules in a normal PP that have 15-16 days away from home but pretty rare.

If you want more time off then you look to conflict bidding (for juniors, you can still get a day or two off with this from training events), bidding with training captains, or trade into something that gives you a day or two more at home (eg. weekend layover, CML that works in your favor), and last, trying to drop something on the trip board.

In terms of what gets picked up off the trip board, it just depends on what the market wants. Short trips are much easier to get rid of. I’d say most of the times I’ve put something small up there it eventually got taken.

FWIW, I haven’t been late arrival on any of my trips this year.