The new airline thread

[BADFNZ]

Keep in mind the beauty of the airline life is you can generally work as much or as little as you want.  I tend to give away a lot of my trips and work far less than most of my bros.  But let's say for one month I want to work my ass off just to make up some of the difference.  Here at SWA I can easily pick up extra trips and make over $20K a month as a 2nd year FO if I play my cards right.  Then go right back to sitting on my ass and not thinking about an airplane until a few weeks later.

And to hit on an earlier subject, as a SWA PMer, I'd say we go out as a crew (pilots and FAs) about 98.69% of the time.  The only time it doesn't happen is if the FAs have an early show and want to get some sleep.  They don't have the same crew rest requirements so they get hosed sometimes when it comes to ground time.

Edited May 19, 2021 by BADFNZ

[HuggyU2]

7 hours ago, Springer said:

I early retired 11 yrs ago and bet I outlive him and his mansion on the lake in DAL's ATL base housing.

Winning!  

[di1630]

Where is the place to look for app windows to open?


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

[Newb]

19 hours ago, Springer said:

As an example of an extreme $$$ hog, my bro-inlaw at DAL flew almost nothing but "Greenslips."  As a senior narrow body A320CA he made $500K, $500K, $602K in the last three years.  He went on LTS last May and was making $44K/mth due to the look back clause until he retired (65) in Jan '21.

I early retired 11 yrs ago and bet I outlive him and his mansion on the lake in DAL's ATL base housing.

Are greenslips a type of premium flying?

Edited May 19, 2021 by Newb

[Pancake]

2 hours ago, Newb said:

Are greenslips a type of premium flying?

Yes. Double pay.

[SocialD]

On 5/18/2021 at 6:24 PM, Springer said:

As an example of an extreme $$$ hog, my bro-inlaw at DAL flew almost nothing but "Greenslips."  As a senior narrow body A320CA he made $500K, $500K, $602K in the last three years.  He went on LTS last May and was making $44K/mth due to the look back clause until he retired (65) in Jan '21.

I early retired 11 yrs ago and bet I outlive him and his mansion on the lake in DAL's ATL base housing.

 

Ya, that's working way too damn hard.  As someone who often bids reserve, I love people like that.  I much prefer that they fly those trips and I stay home.  Hoping to follow in your foot steps and retire early...hopefully around the same time I'll start collecting my Guard retirement (circa 57 years old).  May stay longer if I still have the ability to drop my entire schedule and just fly what I want.  That's the hope/plan for now anyway.  

 

10 hours ago, di1630 said:

Where is the place to look for app windows to open?

 

Airlinepilotforums, airlineapps, pilotcredentials, FDX/UPS websites, The Pilot Network on FB.

 

7 hours ago, Newb said:

Are greenslips a type of premium flying?

 

Double pay for line holders.  For reserve pilots, every day flown on an off day is pay above reserve guarantee, then you get the same number of days of reserve dropped later in the month.  That's what you'll hear DAL bros refer to as "rolling thunder."     

[BADFNZ]

53 minutes ago, SocialD said:

Double pay for line holders.  For reserve pilots, every day flown on an off day is pay above reserve guarantee, then you get the same number of days of reserve dropped later in the month.  That's what you'll hear DAL bros refer to as "rolling thunder."     

Hold up.  So reserve pilots not currently sitting reserve can't pick up premium as extra fly?  Ouch.

[SocialD]

11 hours ago, BADFNZ said:

Hold up.  So reserve pilots not currently sitting reserve can't pick up premium as extra fly?  Ouch.

 

Edit:  At DAL.

I may have worded my post poorly.  A reserve pilot on a day off (currently not sitting reserve) absolutely can pickup premium flying, it's just at single pay (ABOVE your monthly guarantee) rather than double pay, but you also get compensatory days off later in the month.  In fact, GSing on reserve can often be much more lucrative than GSing as a line holder.  Eg...say this month your reserve guarantee is 75 hours and you're on call the 16th through the 31th of the month, with the 1st through the 15th as days off.  On the 1st of the month you get called for a 3 day Greenslip worth 16 hours.  Add that to your reserve guarantee...75+16 = 91 hours is now your pay and your reserve days on the 16th through the 18th are dropped and are now off days.  On the 5th you get called for another 3 day worth 16 hours...your pay is now 91+16 = 107 hours and now the reserve days on the 19th through the 21st are dropped and are now off days.  Keep repeating that (if you're lucky) and you could end the month with ~150 hours of pay and never have actually sat a day of reserve.  

 

On the flip side, if you get a GS on an off day and there are no more reserve days left in the month, those days go into a bank that can be used at a later date to drop days of work for pay.  If used properly, these are absolute gold.  Lots of nuance in how they can be used, but I once used three of these to get paid ~32 hours to fly a single, 8 hour, 1 day trip.   

 

You an also pick up premium flying while ON reserve days...essentially you're making yourself a short call pilot by doing that.  In that case, only the first days flying goes on top of guarantee and you get no payback days (since you were on call already).  Sometimes it's a good deal, sometimes it's not worth the effort. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by SocialD

[Guardian]

Which airline?

[SocialD]

21 minutes ago, Guardian said:

Which airline?

 

My bad, the airline got lost in the quotes.  Post edited to say DAL.

[Newb]

I really appreciate all the posts/replies. 

I’m sure the answer is “depends”, but I would still like to ask because there is a lot of knowledge and experience here not found in an AD squadron. 

If I’m not hired by a major airline at the end of my ADSC, should I pursue another flying assignment at a FTU/UPT base, or go guard/reserve + regionals? 
 

My goal is to acquire a line number at a major airline as soon as possible. My spouse is AD mil as well, so the lower pay of the regionals is not a factor. 

For reference: IP, 500 heavy PIC, 1850 total (2x MWS). 2 years left on my ADSC. 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Newb

[SurelySerious]

I really appreciate all the posts/replies. 

I’m sure the answer is “depends”, but I would still like to ask because there is a lot of knowledge and experience here not found in an AD squadron. 
If I’m not hired by a major airline at the end of my ADSC, should I pursue another flying assignment at a FTU/UPT base, or go guard/reserve + regionals? 
 
My goal is to acquire a line number at a major airline as soon as possible. 
 

Isolating all other factors, if the goal is to be available to a major as soon as possible, then a two year ADSC for PCS to UPT isn’t the way to go.

At a regional you can give two weeks notice.

[nunya]

Palace chase to the ARC now.  
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2606672/fy21-voluntary-force-management-programs-conclude-may-27/

edit: I can't even find the matrix for the eligible AFSCs.  Make them tell you no.

Edited May 20, 2021 by nunya

[Nodeskjobs]

23 minutes ago, nunya said:

Palace chase to the ARC now.  
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2606672/fy21-voluntary-force-management-programs-conclude-may-27/

edit: I can't even find the matrix for the eligible AFSCs.  Make them tell you no.

This!  The matrix doesn’t have 11x, however there is a note on the matrix that states PC incurs a 1:1 commitment, even if you’re AFSC isn’t included in the program. However it may be to late for that option as they moved the close-out date to May 27ish. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Nodeskjobs
Added matrix

[SocialD]

3 hours ago, Newb said:

I really appreciate all the posts/replies. 

I’m sure the answer is “depends”, but I would still like to ask because there is a lot of knowledge and experience here not found in an AD squadron. 

If I’m not hired by a major airline at the end of my ADSC, should I pursue another flying assignment at a FTU/UPT base, or go guard/reserve + regionals? 
 

My goal is to acquire a line number at a major airline as soon as possible. My spouse is AD mil as well, so the lower pay of the regionals is not a factor. 

For reference: IP, 500 heavy PIC, 1850 total (2x MWS). 2 years left on my ADSC. 

 

I'd consider the Guard + other flying options.  Regionals are a great place to gain some experience and check the box.  With your time, even if you had to go to a regional, I'd be surprised if you had to stay there very long.  Also, don't count out places like Atlas, ATI, etc...  Some of those places allow you to be home based, so you could conveniently live wherever the spouse career allows.  

[HuggyU2]

If your goal is to fly in The Majors, then going to a Regional airline is most likely your best option. 

As an aside, corporate / Part 91 flying is getting interesting. Big demand. It’s still “network centric” and the owners often go cheap when looking for pilots. But those that don’t change are going to be hurting bad very soon. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by HuggyU2

[Sua Sponte]

[hindsight2020]

"You too can be the best of what's left!" 😄 

Painfully apropos these days....

 

[SocialD]

2 hours ago, hindsight2020 said:

"You too can be the best of what's left!" 😄 

Painfully apropos these days....

 

Aren't you still full time?  😁

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by SocialD

[Bergman]

On 5/18/2021 at 7:20 PM, nunya said:

The highest paid pilot at DAL for a few years was a narrowbody FO.  That is until 2019 when they couldn't compete with the 7-figure 350 captains.  Let's just say you won't miss the AF's paycheck if you land at any major airline.  We might be singing a different tune during COVID 2.0, but short of that, you'll be ok on the outside.

From everything I have heard, the 7-figure Captains were a juicy rumor.  

There was one guy who banked 272 hours in a month (272x$353=$96,000, plus $15,000 in 401k contribution), so I think the rumor mill started with the logic leap that if he had kept that up EVERY month he would have cleared $1M.  I had also heard 11 guys topped $1M but can’t find anyone who actually knows these guys.

I will add that said Captain always bought dinner and drinks for his entire crew of 13 people.  Class act and very nice guy.

[Springer]

On 5/10/2021 at 3:06 PM, Gazmo said:

 I've flown with Captains that run off the airplane and asked me to shut her down because they're trying to make it to the next terminal so they can get home that night. Some have to stay in a hotel that night because they had no way to get back home and they're flying home on their off days. I couldn't imagine living that way.

I commuted 1200 miles for 24 years but early on realized it was not worth racing home on the last flight to save a buck just to be wiped out the entire next day.  Having said that, I was single and had an airport car the entire time.  The locals were very friendly at the home base.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Springer

[Lord Ratner]

1 hour ago, Bergman said:

From everything I have heard, the 7-figure Captains were a juicy rumor.  

There was one guy who banked 272 hours in a month (272x$353=$96,000, plus $15,000 in 401k contribution), so I think the rumor mill started with the logic leap that if he had kept that up EVERY month he would have cleared $1M.  I had also heard 11 guys topped $1M but can’t find anyone who actually knows these guys.

I will add that said Captain always bought dinner and drinks for his entire crew of 13 people.  Class act and very nice guy.

It's true, but it was an issue with the A350 training capacity that allowed a few (I think 3?) Captains to make a killing. Once they finally fixed the glitch, their incomes returned to "normal."

[Springer]

6 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

It's true, but it was an issue with the A350 training capacity that allowed a few (I think 3?) Captains to make a killing. Once they finally fixed the glitch, their incomes returned to "normal."

I heard the same from a 330 instructor friend.

Ret NERD

[hindsight2020]

On 5/22/2021 at 1:53 PM, SocialD said:

 

Aren't you still full time?  😁

 

Absolutely. It's called self-deprecating humor. 😄

One man's trash brahdah! 🤙

 

[FourFans]

5 hours ago, hindsight2020 said:

 

You could be living a different dream...

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by FourFans130