USA320Pilot said:Apparently the trip sheet will have some pairings with 6 legs and 7 hours of block time and some pairings with four flights that could include 2 BOS-DCA or DCA-BOS legs to increase block time over 5 hours per day. To accomplish this there must be one segment flown by a mainline pairing.
Sky high states: ALL ONE DAY TRIPS.....with 6 LEG DAYS? Imagine doing 4 OF THOSE IN A ROW. 13 HOUR DUTY DAYS!!!:down: That's MISERABLE!
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Shuttle Crew Pairing Changes
- Thread starter USA320Pilot
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USA320Pilot
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- May 18, 2003
- 8,175
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Fatburger:
I'm 165 numbers away from holding a B757 Captain Bid and as of today the average pilot flight time for the month is about 40 hours. If I fly 60 hours per month as a B757 Captain then that would be about 30 to 35 hours less than I fly now, thus I would work about 1/3 less for a much larger hourly pay rate.
US Airways has been losing about 22 pilots per month, if my memory serves me correctly. The average Captain age is 55, the average F/O age is 52, and the average pilot age is 54. I'm 49 and in the lower part of the seniority list in regard to age.
It's unclear how many pilots senior to me will leave the company early due to retirement or medical reasons, but for discussion purposes if it averages 15 pilots per month including age 60 retirements than in about 1-year I could hold the B757.
If I bid the A330 as a F/O, I would fly as a blockholder, fly the maximum pay cap, have some trips bought, obtain international override pay, and have no commuting expenses. I could enjoy long European over nights and make almost what I earn now, in regard to net pay minus expenses.
Moreover, I still am a primary blockholder and have secondary blockholders below me. The same situation exists in BOS.
Fatburger, if you were me which option would you bid?
Thank you and to other's who have shown a personal interest in my position.
Regards,
USA320Pilot
By the way, I now personally know six Captains senior to me who want to bid out of LGA because of the trips, the high hotel expense, and poor commuter pad situation. I suspect there are many, many more who will opt for the same thing, as their seniority improves after the aircraft reductions stop in February.
I'm 165 numbers away from holding a B757 Captain Bid and as of today the average pilot flight time for the month is about 40 hours. If I fly 60 hours per month as a B757 Captain then that would be about 30 to 35 hours less than I fly now, thus I would work about 1/3 less for a much larger hourly pay rate.
US Airways has been losing about 22 pilots per month, if my memory serves me correctly. The average Captain age is 55, the average F/O age is 52, and the average pilot age is 54. I'm 49 and in the lower part of the seniority list in regard to age.
It's unclear how many pilots senior to me will leave the company early due to retirement or medical reasons, but for discussion purposes if it averages 15 pilots per month including age 60 retirements than in about 1-year I could hold the B757.
If I bid the A330 as a F/O, I would fly as a blockholder, fly the maximum pay cap, have some trips bought, obtain international override pay, and have no commuting expenses. I could enjoy long European over nights and make almost what I earn now, in regard to net pay minus expenses.
Moreover, I still am a primary blockholder and have secondary blockholders below me. The same situation exists in BOS.
Fatburger, if you were me which option would you bid?
Thank you and to other's who have shown a personal interest in my position.
Regards,
USA320Pilot
By the way, I now personally know six Captains senior to me who want to bid out of LGA because of the trips, the high hotel expense, and poor commuter pad situation. I suspect there are many, many more who will opt for the same thing, as their seniority improves after the aircraft reductions stop in February.
Hawkhunter
Veteran
- Jul 11, 2005
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USA320Pilot said:
[deleted],
Bid the 330. The Captains there will just love you. If I was you I would do anything to stay Captain. F/os have to fly with you and listen to your crap Captains dont.
PA18
Senior
- Aug 12, 2004
- 398
- 9
In the past the Trump Shuttle used to keep the same aircraft and crew matched throughout the day,...
Just like Southwest and jetBlue do every day. Can't make any money that way, though.
Apparently the trip sheet will have some pairings with 6 legs and 7 hours of block time and some pairings with four flights that could include 2 BOS-DCA or DCA-BOS legs to increase block time over 5 hours per day.
Hello? We're already flying six-leg Shuttle trips, most of which are scheduled for over 13 hours of duty time. So what happens when the thunderstorms roll through DCA, LGA, and BOS, as they have the last three evenings? Crews go illegal, and flights get canceled.
We also now fly all three cities in the same day. (How much of the $55 million is this genius getting for thinking up things that are already happening?). So if it's stormy in DCA, you still lose the next hour's LGA-BOS Shuttle because the airplane is stuck in DCA -- even though the weather is gorgeous in LGA and BOS.
To accomplish this there must be one segment flown by a mainline pairing.
This has never worked and will never work. How do you explain to a premium Shuttle customer that his 5:00 p.m. Shuttle is two hours late because the airplane is delayed in FLL?
They believe this change will reduce the company’s Shuttle expense by over $2 million per year...
...while driving away $5 million worth of business. Yep, let's further screw up the Shuttle just as Amtrak is getting their Acela trainsets on line, and jetBlue is pondering starting a shuttle operation. BTW, the Delta Shuttle still offers its customers free newspapers.
In my opinion, LGA flight crews will see many of their multiple day trips become 1-day trips because of their bi-directional Shuttle O&D flights and the ability to easily fly the BOS-DCA market. This will cause the base to become more junior with less mainline flying, which will be less desirable to commuters because these pilots and flight attendants will have less per diem and hotel's provided by the company for over nights. Thus, the pilot and flight attendant seniority will become even more junior, similar in scope to last year, when most of the flying was 1-day trips.
The least expensive LGA hotel is the Ramada Airport at $139 per night (unless an on-line service like Priceline.com can be used to obtain a lower rate) and “crashpad†availability is poor. Moreover, many crashpads are intolerable because of 10 to 20 occupants, hot beds, and high rent for what many consider a suitable apartment.
Translation: "Don't bid into LGA and make me lose my block. It's all about me, me, me-e-e!" Is it any wonder this pilot group has been divided and conquered so many times? And is about to be again?
Just like Southwest and jetBlue do every day. Can't make any money that way, though.
Apparently the trip sheet will have some pairings with 6 legs and 7 hours of block time and some pairings with four flights that could include 2 BOS-DCA or DCA-BOS legs to increase block time over 5 hours per day.
Hello? We're already flying six-leg Shuttle trips, most of which are scheduled for over 13 hours of duty time. So what happens when the thunderstorms roll through DCA, LGA, and BOS, as they have the last three evenings? Crews go illegal, and flights get canceled.
We also now fly all three cities in the same day. (How much of the $55 million is this genius getting for thinking up things that are already happening?). So if it's stormy in DCA, you still lose the next hour's LGA-BOS Shuttle because the airplane is stuck in DCA -- even though the weather is gorgeous in LGA and BOS.
To accomplish this there must be one segment flown by a mainline pairing.
This has never worked and will never work. How do you explain to a premium Shuttle customer that his 5:00 p.m. Shuttle is two hours late because the airplane is delayed in FLL?
They believe this change will reduce the company’s Shuttle expense by over $2 million per year...
...while driving away $5 million worth of business. Yep, let's further screw up the Shuttle just as Amtrak is getting their Acela trainsets on line, and jetBlue is pondering starting a shuttle operation. BTW, the Delta Shuttle still offers its customers free newspapers.
In my opinion, LGA flight crews will see many of their multiple day trips become 1-day trips because of their bi-directional Shuttle O&D flights and the ability to easily fly the BOS-DCA market. This will cause the base to become more junior with less mainline flying, which will be less desirable to commuters because these pilots and flight attendants will have less per diem and hotel's provided by the company for over nights. Thus, the pilot and flight attendant seniority will become even more junior, similar in scope to last year, when most of the flying was 1-day trips.
The least expensive LGA hotel is the Ramada Airport at $139 per night (unless an on-line service like Priceline.com can be used to obtain a lower rate) and “crashpad†availability is poor. Moreover, many crashpads are intolerable because of 10 to 20 occupants, hot beds, and high rent for what many consider a suitable apartment.
Translation: "Don't bid into LGA and make me lose my block. It's all about me, me, me-e-e!" Is it any wonder this pilot group has been divided and conquered so many times? And is about to be again?
OP
USA320Pilot
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- May 18, 2003
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The purpose of my post to start this topic was to provide an update on what is going to happen to Shuttle pairings in the not-to-distant future. The construction process is being lead by ALPA and will improve the company's bottom line.
In regard to the commuting issues, I cannot control what people bid and this board will have little if any effect on the process. The reason I posted the commuting problems is that they will cause people to leave the base and was intended for those who take pleasure in seeing a person lose relative seniority. I will probably be about 1,350 out of about 4,500 pilots (furloughed and active) at the end of the year and have three good bidding options.
Thus, what others do is relatively irrelevant to my position.
Regards,
USA320Pilot
In regard to the commuting issues, I cannot control what people bid and this board will have little if any effect on the process. The reason I posted the commuting problems is that they will cause people to leave the base and was intended for those who take pleasure in seeing a person lose relative seniority. I will probably be about 1,350 out of about 4,500 pilots (furloughed and active) at the end of the year and have three good bidding options.
Thus, what others do is relatively irrelevant to my position.
Regards,
USA320Pilot
careerfurloughee
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- Apr 7, 2004
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USA320Pilot said:
Whistling through the graveyard.
