tcaphou

Was hoping to get a QOL question answered.
What is a typical monthly bid line for UPS pilots?
How many days away?
Are your line commutable?
What percentage of your flying is night?
Any further resources available on the web regarding QOL?

Thanks in advance.

Dog Breath

Try using the Google search feature located on the upper left side of the page. These questions have been addressed many times before.

Here's a start....

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=0034768..._CSE&sa=Search

Refine as necessary.

tcaphou

That worked pretty well. Thanks.

Newbie for sure

SaltyDog

Dogbreath has good advice. I just click the "search" function on the toolbar and it does an APC search.
Here is one on ANC Schedule from last Sept through February or 2008:
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/sh...ad.php?t=16615

1 and 2. We bid for a Bid Period (BP) that includes two Pay Periods (PP) of 28 days each. [One exception is a single 35 day BP around Thanksgiving]
Looks like this:
Currently in Bid Period 4 (BP 08-04) includes PAY PERIOD 6 (18 MAY-14 JUNE)
and PAY PERIOD 7 (15 JUNE-12 JULY).
We all bid and had our schedules by 30 April-01 May.
We are guaranteed to have 13 days off in 28 if on RSV. IMO, most Lines between 12-14 on. Some less, some more.
The actual schedule changes as UPS changes markets, but generally, it is defined by Fleet and Domicile. i.e. domestic/international.

Lots of week on/week off domestic and international. Also lot of 4 on-3 off.
We have day trips both AM/PM.
Reserve varies by fleet. Intl has many 15 day on in a row/13 off in a row.
Domestic typically week on/week off and 4 on/3 off.
3. Answers vary, Depends on lots of factors. Some willing to endure great sacrifice and will say Yes, others will say No. Generally, Yes. Except ANC domicile has the most "No's, not commutable" but know many who do. Quality of Life hit hard for those that do though.
4. Domestically, the majority. Maybe 75% night, 25% day. Realize that the night stuff may have you taking off at sunset in summers, landing at sunrise. Day stuff may have you taking off late afternoon, landing in the dark, or, Taking off early in am darkeness, landing late morning.
International is International.
5. QOL is best in domicile like everyone else. Seniority drives QOL like everyone else. Overall, MO, our QOL is OK to Great the majority of the time considering the business we are in. Ultimately, the beauty is that you can choose what type you want. Domestic/Intl, commute/domicile etc.

tcaphou

Great followup SaltyDog. Thanks for the info. Any projections on the next hiring window? (last question )

SaltyDog

Unfortunately, No. Business environment is very fluid. IMO, UPS responds in a generally reactive way regarding pilot hiring. Factually: Pilot HR office shutdown. 800-241-2357 is pilot hiring hotline. www.upsjobs.com, when listed would be "Flight Officer"

Slice

Not much to choose from these days if you were hired prior to 2000! I haven't had a choice here yet except for avoiding the panel so far.

SaltyDog

Well, I know, but I had a choice to bypass Capt or be a senior F/O on any fleet. (96 hire) flying lines of pretty much my choice. I did panel (lead flight attendant) for 2 years before able to upgrade. I chose CPT and RSV but an added benefit is I don't need to bid anymore, unless I want to choose between the last 2 RSVA lines.

CE750

Did I miss something, are they hiring?

FIT59

Not yet, but if we do I hope you can get your foot in the door. Good luck out there!