The new airline thread

[uhhello]

 

[FourFans]

Looking at the stats on the FAA site, it appears that the number of runway incursions is staying relatively stable from past years.  Perhaps we're just seeing more press on them now with trackers like FlightRadar24 and such.  Still, not good.

https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/statistics/

[Standby]

7 hours ago, FourFans said:

Looking at the stats on the FAA site, it appears that the number of runway incursions is staying relatively stable from past years.  Perhaps we're just seeing more press on them now with trackers like FlightRadar24 and such.  Still, not good.

https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/statistics/

Good data pull, helps give perspective to the increase in media coverage. To me, it’s analogous to the coverage that shark attacks get…one person gets chomped and all of the sudden it’s like Jaws is at every sand bar of every beach in USA. 

[slc]

On 3/16/2023 at 9:27 PM, SocialD said:

 

 

Honestly, I can't even imagine working 15 days/month at the airline.  Homie do play that game...12 days is about my max.  Much prefer to be down around 6-9.  In base reserve or line holder, dropping trips is where it's at.  Life's too short to be working that much, especially at our pay rates. 

Ding Ding....to each their own but when you hit a certain age (as I have), you begin to realize that QOL is way more important that the almighty dollar.  My colleagues look at me aghast when I tell them I'm happy working 2-4 days for the airlines per month.  But what about all that money you're giving away??  My answer, don't need it, not gonna take it with me, don't have 3 ex wives, no loans/mortgages, no boats/airplanes, nest egg is built, etc etc.  This is where I differ from the "norm" IMO.  In that I mean my time spent w/ friends/family and doing hobbies that I may not be able to do when I'm 55-65 are the priority.  

[icohftb]

9 minutes ago, slc said:

Ding Ding....to each their own but when you hit a certain age (as I have), you begin to realize that QOL is way more important that the almighty dollar.  My colleagues look at me aghast when I tell them I'm happy working 2-4 days for the airlines per month.  But what about all that money you're giving away??  My answer, don't need it, not gonna take it with me, don't have 3 ex wives, no loans/mortgages, no boats/airplanes, nest egg is built, etc etc.  This is where I differ from the "norm" IMO.  In that I mean my time spent w/ friends/family and doing hobbies that I may not be able to do when I'm 55-65 are the priority.  

Which airline let's you work 2-4 days a month?

[Biff_T]

42 minutes ago, icohftb said:

Which airline let's you work 2-4 days a month?

Compass lets you work zero days a month.  

[nsplayr]

9 hours ago, FourFans said:

Looking at the stats on the FAA site, it appears that the number of runway incursions is staying relatively stable from past years.  Perhaps we're just seeing more press on them now with trackers like FlightRadar24 and such.  Still, not good.

https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/statistics/

Thank you for bringing actual data.

Also thank god were all safe from the Woke DEI nightmare that’s ruining civil aviation and compromising safety! /sarcasm

Not a dig at you personally, just the general vibe where too many people take their desired biases and graft them into whatever the issue is.

[nsplayr]

53 minutes ago, slc said:

Ding Ding....to each their own but when you hit a certain age (as I have), you begin to realize that QOL is way more important that the almighty dollar.  My colleagues look at me aghast when I tell them I'm happy working 2-4 days for the airlines per month.  But what about all that money you're giving away??  My answer, don't need it, not gonna take it with me, don't have 3 ex wives, no loans/mortgages, no boats/airplanes, nest egg is built, etc etc.  This is where I differ from the "norm" IMO.  In that I mean my time spent w/ friends/family and doing hobbies that I may not be able to do when I'm 55-65 are the priority.  

This is the way. Congrats on winning at life 🍻

[slc]

2 hours ago, icohftb said:

Which airline let's you work 2-4 days a month?

Ahh, yes, I did forget to mention you still have to be in the ARC, which for me provides a few more days of obligation which I still "enjoy" (the flying that is).  The triad (family, airline, military) is a careful balance.  Careful guys because the years go by too fast....life is short

[nunya]

3 hours ago, icohftb said:

Which airline let's you work 2-4 days a month?

With disclaimers, D does.

[brabus]

I think any of the majors will let you work very little, but the major caveat at all of them is your category manning and seniority will play a huge role in whether you can actually do that or not. I could drop my entire schedule every month at DAL if I so choose - other categories couldn’t drop a single day. It depends!

[mcbush]

Step 1: Live in base

Step 2: Hang out in a category overstaffed with tons of new hires

Step 3: Bid reserve

Step 4: ???

Step 5: Profit

I've blocked 12 hours this year, and I only picked up that one trip because it was pretty gucci and I didn't feel like going back to the sim to maintain my landing currency. And that's as a NB FO at the major with the worst reserve rules. Anything's possible with a little gamesmanship (and a little bit of luck).

[SocialD]

21 hours ago, slc said:

Ding Ding....to each their own but when you hit a certain age (as I have), you begin to realize that QOL is way more important that the almighty dollar.  My colleagues look at me aghast when I tell them I'm happy working 2-4 days for the airlines per month.  But what about all that money you're giving away??  My answer, don't need it, not gonna take it with me, don't have 3 ex wives, no loans/mortgages, no boats/airplanes, nest egg is built, etc etc.  This is where I differ from the "norm" IMO.  In that I mean my time spent w/ friends/family and doing hobbies that I may not be able to do when I'm 55-65 are the priority.  

 

 

Nothing wrong with having those things (well, maybe besides multiple ex's), if you're smart about it.  But ya, too many folks raise their standard of living right up to what the make.  I flew with a guy who "needed" to make 86 hours/month as a 12+ year WB B, just to stay afloat...crazy.  But hey, thanks to those guys, I can do my thing and work less.  

 

On the flip side, lots of senior pilots have lived through a near 50% paycut, loss of a pension and/or a furlough.  Some are in the "make hay when the sun shines," mindset, which I can certainly understand.  Those of us hired since 2014 have experienced mostly great things.  

[brabus]

5 minutes ago, SocialD said:

 

 

Nothing wrong with having those things (well, maybe besides multiple ex's), if you're smart about it.  But ya, too many folks raise their standard of living right up to what the make.  I flew with a guy who "needed" to make 86 hours/month as a 12+ year WB B, just to stay afloat...crazy.  But hey, thanks to those guys, I can do my thing and work less.  

 

On the flip side, lots of senior pilots have lived through a near 50% paycut, loss of a pension and/or a furlough.  Some are in the "make hay when the sun shines," mindset, which I can certainly understand.  Those of us hired since 2014 have experienced mostly great things.  

“Wait, you don’t need $469k/yr to make end’s meat? I don’t get it.” - Doug, 17 yr 7ER FO, has 3x secret families who don’t know about each other

[hindsight2020]

22 hours ago, mcbush said:

Step 1: Live in base

Step 2: Hang out in a category overstaffed with tons of new hires

 

From the lamentations I hear at work, don't do that at the folksy texas two step airline. The new hires eat the lines for training (consolidation), leaving the "senior" eating the reserve coverage, which is generally not commutable (no LC). Since NH bid off said junior base asap, the cycle repeats with new entrants, so you don't get the downline needed for all these QOL promises to materialize.

Of course, the only reprieve is the fluctuations of the training footprint itself, which is system-wide dependent, so the training glut can shift away to a different domicile and restore much of your loss. For a guy who lives in said base this is perhaps a sunk cost; for a commuter that matters quite a bit more.

Talking to the non-LUV junior guys (we have quite a few nowadays), that doesn't seem to be an issue for them, cuz I guess they get the trips bought off or whatever. Not sure why swa doesn't; must be more of that whitewashed texas exceptionalism mythology story they try to indoctrinate my 4th grader with. 😄  

Edited March 19, 2023 by hindsight2020

[Hugo Stiglitz]

5 hours ago, hindsight2020 said:

The new hires eat the lines for training (consolidation), leaving the "senior" eating the reserve coverage

Yeah it’s pretty lame SWA does this, and especially dumb because reserves rarely go unused. A new hire here could go straight to a reserve-only line and still hit consolidation without having to subvert seniority in the process. I guess management would make a case that a legacy who buys off an FO so that a new hire can consolidate is being less efficient cause it’s paying two people for the same trip, and hey it’s SWA so we need every cent we can save for, oh I dunno, updating our scheduling software, among other things?

[Polar Bear]

On 3/18/2023 at 7:17 AM, slc said:

Ding Ding....to each their own but when you hit a certain age (as I have), you begin to realize that QOL is way more important that the almighty dollar.  My colleagues look at me aghast when I tell them I'm happy working 2-4 days for the airlines per month.  But what about all that money you're giving away??  My answer, don't need it, not gonna take it with me, don't have 3 ex wives, no loans/mortgages, no boats/airplanes, nest egg is built, etc etc.  This is where I differ from the "norm" IMO.  In that I mean my time spent w/ friends/family and doing hobbies that I may not be able to do when I'm 55-65 are the priority.  

Why even work for the airlines?

[HossHarris]

1 hour ago, Polar Bear said:

Why even work for the airlines?

Stupid money. 
low bullshit. 
gets me out of the house. 

[Lord Ratner]

13 hours ago, brabus said:

“Wait, you don’t need $469k/yr to make end’s meat? I don’t get it.” - Doug, 17 yr 7ER FO, has 3x secret families who don’t know about each other

I wish you were joking

[hindsight2020]

The city of Lima is basically floated by AA line numbered blue passport holders..... 😄 

[slc]

13 hours ago, Polar Bear said:

Why even work for the airlines?

Hmmm….paid sick leave, free non rev travel, 4 weeks paid vacation, an extra paycheck each month, if I want to make more money to buy that boat/airplane I have the OPTION to do so, company pays 16% into 401k. Anything else I missed?

[Prozac]

22 minutes ago, slc said:

Hmmm….paid sick leave, free non rev travel, 4 weeks paid vacation, an extra paycheck each month, if I want to make more money to buy that boat/airplane I have the OPTION to do so, company pays 16% into 401k. Anything else I missed?

Free financial/marital/medical advice from senior captains? 

[slc]

Ha!  Which is why I limit the pain to 2-4 days per month!!

[SocialD]

7 hours ago, slc said:

Ha!  Which is why I limit the pain to 2-4 days per month!!

 

 

Just upgrade, then you don't have that pain anymore.  Plus then you'd only have to work 1-3 days a month 🤣

Edited March 20, 2023 by SocialD

[slc]

1 hour ago, SocialD said:

 

 

Just upgrade, then you don't have that pain anymore.  Plus then you'd only have to work 1-3 days a month 🤣

True, but then you start right back where you started on the seniority list where the QOL is minimal.  Pay may be 40-50k more per year BUT that's based on working the full schedule per month (which I don't/won't do).  Ultimately the 70/20/10 rule applies anyway....70% of folks are a pleasure to fly with, 20% are 50/50, and 10% are on the avoid list!!  And when you only plan to do this job for a few more years anyway and retire in the mid-50's to enjoy life....what's the point!!