AWAC info??

[iflyjets4food]

What is the method of bidding at AWAC?
If you live in base, can you do out and backs?
How long on reserve?
Any other QOL comments would be appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[Tyler Durden]

What is the method of bidding at AWAC?

1. Flica, Free in the crewrooms otherwise 10 bones a month for home access
2. Pilot run website (free),
3. Call it in.
Bid packs come to you in your mail box or you can view the pack online via #1 or #2.

If you live in base, can you do out and backs?

Out and backs aren't really built as a pure line. The closest thing to it is a stand-up. Those lines vary month to month from going senior to junior it seems.

How long on reserve?

Right now a newhire in class is probably looking a 2 months or so on reserve. The 146 guys are going to start sliding into the RJ in the next month and a half which will creat a small hicup for newhires. As I understand we are supposed to hire fairly aggresivley for the next 6ish months or so.
***Discalaimer***
This is what I've heard in ATW. Don't bash if you think or heard different.

Any other QOL comments would be appreciated!

Right now QOL sucks. It is of ones own opinion in what QOL really is. For me having a line with 12-13 days off and having to commute on the front for 2 trips, and the front and back of the other 2 trips if I'm lucky, sucks. From the top there is said to be changes coming to improve schedules since our entire RJ fleet will be in Us Air color by the end of Feb. Again see above disclaimer.

Hope this helps

 

[FlyingBuckI]

Anyone commute out of CMH? I know there is at least one AWAC pilot here in town but I don't know him/her. Just curious.

For those of you starting indoc next week, see you there!

FB

 

[iflyjets4food]

Right now QOL sucks. It is of ones own opinion in what QOL really is. For me having a line with 12-13 days off and having to commute on the front for 2 trips, and the front and back of the other 2 trips if I'm lucky, sucks. From the top there is said to be changes coming to improve schedules since our entire RJ fleet will be in Us Air color by the end of Feb. Again see above disclaimer.

Hope this helps

If you don't have to commute, would that improve QOL tremendously or not? As a newer employee, how likely is it that you'll be able to get 2 or 3 day trips instead of the longer trips? How hard is it to get based at DCA? I appreciate your honesty.

 

[BAe3100FO]

YES!!!
QOL is soo much better living in domicile...
BUT that being said, if you move for the company plan on moving every 18 months! So if you're single with nothing to hold you back it's like being in the military (again). But if you move everytime this "airline" changes hubs then you might want to invest in uhaul,ryder,budget stock.
You can't go wrong with this company though...we have one of the top pay and work rules in the industry and right now upgrades are happening fast...for AWAC 2 1/2 years for our most junior Capt.(when I interviewed, they asked if I'd be ok with a 6-8year upgrade). So things change overnight. And right now, I'm around 100 #s away...hired May'04. With our current upgrade schedule, who knows (could be 6months, could be years).

 

[Beechnut]

QOL will be MUCH better if you can move. I'm hearing stories of how expensive it is to live around DCA or PHL. I'm hearing better things about the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. ORF is junior and there seems to be a bunch of folks that moved down there for the instant senority. FO I just flew the past couple trips with (I'm ORF based) has been here a few months and is fairly well connected with the other folks down there and there always seems to be a party somewhere. I'm stuck where I am (a Denver refugee) but ORF sounds like fun for a young single guy.

Good Luck,

S.

 

[iflyjets4food]

What about average trip lengths? How often would I expect long trips? How many hours would one fly in a 2, 3, or 4 day trip? How much pay credit for those trips? Thanks.

 

[Beechnut]

The pilot group was polled a few years ago and most of us requested that 4 day trips be built. It makes the commuting easier as 2 2 day trips back to back or a 2 day and a 3 day means buying more hotels. It seems when we open a domicile, the first few months are pretty bad with a bunch of 1 day trips in a row or a 4day with a 1 day tacked on the end. Those stink six ways from Sunday. After awhile, it seems that things settle down and you see lines mostly of 4 day trips. Right now the credits are pretty bad. 12 days off, 75 hours pay and 18 to 20 credit hour trips. Those are awful. In comparison, Denver use to have 16 or 17 day trips worth 80 to 90 hours and the trips were commutable.

Short answer. We continue to push the developement of 4 day trips. You will probably see more and more of them. A poorly paying 4 day is about 18.5 hours, a good one is about 27 hours.

S.

 

[DiverDriver]

Just in the past 3 months I have been flying about 80 hours block and crediting 105. I don't think that will continue as we get people hired into the company to cover attrition. The transition is almost complete and Feb schedules showed some improvement for PHL but are far from what I would call "good". In January there were many lines with back to back 3 day trips that showed early first day and got done at 2130 on day 6. In Feb I saw less of that but it still existed. Again, I think over the next 3 - 4 months it will improve and then platue as we arrive at our full staffing for the flying we have.

Don't expect to get lines of flying and then drop trips to improve the number of days off. It takes an act of upper management to make crew schedule drop something. We haven't gotten scheduling to define what "minimum reserve coverage" means so it's impossible to call them to the carpet on denying trip drops.

Now, I don't know about other companies but AWACs contract does pay for moves if your domicile is closed. Someone mentioned being single and buying stock in Uhaul. You don't need to if moving is really an option for you when a base closes. It is paid. But they are right about bases opening and closing every 18 months. Over the past six years I've seen an amazing amount of base closings. You can't help being a commuter at some point with AWAC. And yes, they will tell you straight to your face that commuting is your choice.

Yah, right.

 

[Mr Biggelsworth]

Hey AWAC guys, couple of quest:
1. What's the average length of time that it takes to hold a line in each of the bases??
2. Ten year contract with US Air, right?
3. Do you guys get block or better?
4. With UA being phased out soon, June I thought, does that mean an overstaffed pilot group or are you repainting all the UA CRJ's and putting them on US air's ticket??

Thanks for the insight....