Kellwolf's Major Airline Experience

kellwolf said:
Apparently, we're mad short for the holidays. I've been getting e-mails for RSA days (ie we don't have enough reserves, so you can get paid a LOT of $$$ to potentially sit and do nothing) in pretty much every base, mostly on the CA side. Shame I'm not even current and qualified in my aircraft.....
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...what are your minimums again? :D
 
CRJDriver said:
Are they still calling people for interviews with applications on file?
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I know they are interviewing people next week, so they've likely called all they are going to for that date. However, there will be dates after that, you can count on it. Two more classes rumored in Feb and there will have to be more after that to fill in the vacancies on the bid for June. As far as I know, there's no one left in the pool after the January classes. If there are a few stragglers, the Feb classes will for sure take care of that.
 
kellwolf said:
I know they are interviewing people next week, so they've likely called all they are going to for that date. However, there will be dates after that, you can count on it. Two more classes rumored in Feb and there will have to be more after that to fill in the vacancies on the bid for June. As far as I know, there's no one left in the pool after the January classes. If there are a few stragglers, the Feb classes will for sure take care of that.
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Cool, thanks! Here's to hoping for a hopefully good start to the new year.
 
I know others have said it before, but thanks for taking the time during a busy training event to post this for people. It was a good read and quite informative.
 
I'll try to keep things updated on IOE. Depends on how busy it gets/internet connection,etc, etc. I finally got my crash pad set up in BOS, and I head up there on Sunday.
 
Well, I can tell ya right now, there is a lot of rust after a couple of week away from the sim.

FAM flights were from BOS-RDU-BOS, and it was more or less exactly what I expected. It was nice to see everything in an overview frame of mind before jumping right back into things tomorrow. It let me know what I need to study up for tomorrow. I'll have to hit up my flows and profiles tonight, but then I should be ready to go for tomorrow afternoon.
 
So, day one of IOE is in the books, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Late show around 4 pm. Met up with the check airman I'm flying with in the crew lounge and was shown where everything is there. Headed out to the airplane to get things set up. On the ground, things came back to me pretty quickly. I was able to get the W&B software up and running fine and on-time without any major hiccups. Flows and checklists on the ground were good, but it's a good thing I went over them last night. Took off out of BOS and headed for JFK. Once we were in the air, I started to fall behind pretty quickly. I think it was a combination of new airplane, not having done anything for two weeks and not having actually done actual FLYING since about October. The closer we got to JFK, the more on top of things I felt. Once we landed in JFK, I was back in my comfort zone. Found out where the crew room and everything was in JFK. Grabbed some food, and started to second guess bidding BOS as my base at first. I'm a LOT more comfortable in JFK, but I'll be there in June anyway. This way, I know what BOS is like and I won't be wondering one way or the other.

Headed out from JFK to AUS with no surprises. I'm flying every leg from here on out so I can get the practice and the landings in. Turned towards AUS and settled in for a long (about 4 hours) flight. Thunderstorms between us and the airport, so I got some practice using the radar. It's a lot better than the one in the CRJ. :) ILS to 35L, and I'll be damned if I didn't grease the landing. I have to say, I felt like I was WAY high the whole time on approach. The sight picture is COMPLETELY different than the CRJ-200, so it's going to take some getting used to. I have to give credit to some tricks they taught me in training, some pointers from the check airman I was flying with and sheer luck.

Short overnight (for jetBlue, it's about 11 hours which was an average overnight at Pinnacle), then off to FLL in the morning and a Nassau turn.
 
kellwolf said:
So, day one of IOE is in the books, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Late show around 4 pm. Met up with the check airman I'm flying with in the crew lounge and was shown where everything is there. Headed out to the airplane to get things set up. On the ground, things came back to me pretty quickly. I was able to get the W&B software up and running fine and on-time without any major hiccups. Flows and checklists on the ground were good, but it's a good thing I went over them last night. Took off out of BOS and headed for JFK. Once we were in the air, I started to fall behind pretty quickly. I think it was a combination of new airplane, not having done anything for two weeks and not having actually done actual FLYING since about October. The closer we got to JFK, the more on top of things I felt. Once we landed in JFK, I was back in my comfort zone. Found out where the crew room and everything was in JFK. Grabbed some food, and started to second guess bidding BOS as my base at first. I'm a LOT more comfortable in JFK, but I'll be there in June anyway. This way, I know what BOS is like and I won't be wondering one way or the other.

Headed out from JFK to AUS with no surprises. I'm flying every leg from here on out so I can get the practice and the landings in. Turned towards AUS and settled in for a long (about 4 hours) flight. Thunderstorms between us and the airport, so I got some practice using the radar. It's a lot better than the one in the CRJ. :) ILS to 35L, and I'll be damned if I didn't grease the landing. I have to say, I felt like I was WAY high the whole time on approach. The sight picture is COMPLETELY different than the CRJ-200, so it's going to take some getting used to. I have to give credit to some tricks they taught me in training, some pointers from the check airman I was flying with and sheer luck.

Short overnight (for jetBlue, it's about 11 hours which was an average overnight at Pinnacle), then off to FLL in the morning and a Nassau turn.
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I've really enjoyed reading this, thanks! I'm heading to NY today for an interview tomorrow morning. I really hope to join the team and get based in BOS, since I live in Maine. What is your best guess about how long you'll be on reserve?
 
ah said:
I've really enjoyed reading this, thanks! I'm heading to NY today for an interview tomorrow morning. I really hope to join the team and get based in BOS, since I live in Maine. What is your best guess about how long you'll be on reserve?
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Congratulations!
 
ah said:
I've really enjoyed reading this, thanks! I'm heading to NY today for an interview tomorrow morning. I really hope to join the team and get based in BOS, since I live in Maine. What is your best guess about how long you'll be on reserve?
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Good luck, and I hope it went well. BOS wouldn't be much of a problem to get right off the bat. As for reserve, it's hard to tell. It really depends on what happens with classes in Feb. Looking at what's going on right now, I MAY be off reserve in April depending on what the lines look like. There's enough guys behind me that I'd be either the bottom of the line holders or the top of the reserves. We did just get some new reserve language that allows reserves to a) bid on trips in open time during reserve periods and b) bid on trips on days off to get paid on top of guarantee. That may get some of the senior guys to bite on reserve since it gives a bit more control of your schedule. Granted, there has to be open time to bid on, and there's not much of that right now. At the absolute latest, I'd be off reserve in June when I switch over to JFK.

Doing a two-for on this one since things got hectic (I fell asleep) last night.

Started out yesterday flying AUS-FLL without any major issues. Did FLL-NAS-FLL, and it went by pretty quickly. Most of the day was spent fine tuning some stuff and getting back into the swing of flying the line as well as getting used to the airplane.

Today, started out in FLL, did a NAS turn followed by a HPN turn for another overnight in FLL. Most of today was more fine tuning as well as getting more comfortable with the plane. Now, my check airman is throwing some new things at me like different flap landings and takeoffs (we can land with either Flaps 5 or Flaps Full depending on several factors and we can take off with a few different flap configs). Also tossed in a no auto throttle takeoff and landing.

Still working on the sight picture, but things are starting to come together.
 
Last day of this trip on IOE. Started in FLL and flew to AUS. Got up to cruise and we knocked out pretty much all the "discussion" topics that we either hadn't talked about yet or hadn't done. With the weather in the south during this trip, I got a decent bit of work in on the radar, so I'm okay with that now. We talked about oceanic flying since FLL-NAS isn't really oceanic. Not a lot of trips on that in the 190, but they do pop up occasionally going to Bermuda and the Carribbean. Got to set up the HF radios (didn't use them) and do a SELCAL check with AIRINC to get that out of the way. Talked about de-icing and how it's done at jetBlue. De-icing is pretty much de-icing anywhere you go, but the QRH for the 190 here has nice flow charts that make sure you don't get violated. I like this.

Quick turn in AUS and then up to BOS for a late night arrival in the rain. Shot the ILS to 22L, landed (getting a LOT better at that finally) taxied to the gate and done.

I'm about 2 hours short of the 25 needed for IOE to be complete. If I had the 25, I would have been done and signed off last night. So, I've got one more trip that's basically just a BOS-BWI overnight and back to BOS to finish up next week. Hanging with the family for the next couple of days.
 
kellwolf said:
Last day of this trip on IOE. Started in FLL and flew to AUS. Got up to cruise and we knocked out pretty much all the "discussion" topics that we either hadn't talked about yet or hadn't done. With the weather in the south during this trip, I got a decent bit of work in on the radar, so I'm okay with that now. We talked about oceanic flying since FLL-NAS isn't really oceanic. Not a lot of trips on that in the 190, but they do pop up occasionally going to Bermuda and the Carribbean. Got to set up the HF radios (didn't use them) and do a SELCAL check with AIRINC to get that out of the way. Talked about de-icing and how it's done at jetBlue. De-icing is pretty much de-icing anywhere you go, but the QRH for the 190 here has nice flow charts that make sure you don't get violated. I like this.

Quick turn in AUS and then up to BOS for a late night arrival in the rain. Shot the ILS to 22L, landed (getting a LOT better at that finally) taxied to the gate and done.

I'm about 2 hours short of the 25 needed for IOE to be complete. If I had the 25, I would have been done and signed off last night. So, I've got one more trip that's basically just a BOS-BWI overnight and back to BOS to finish up next week. Hanging with the family for the next couple of days.
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Is this a three man crew? Captain. f/o (you) and check airman, or is the captain that you're flying with also your check airman. Making for only two of you in the cockpit?
 
Maximillian_Jenius said:
Is this a three man crew? Captain. f/o (you) and check airman, or is the captain that you're flying with also your check airman. Making for only two of you in the cockpit?
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Captain is the check airman. Works the same for upgrading captains, except the check airman sits in the right seat and acts as the FO, although he is still the one responsible for the safety of the aircraft.
 
And I'm finally done. Did one leg from BOS to BWI to get the last 1:28 I needed. This was more or less just a line check to make sure I was good to go as far as line flying goes. A little bit of weather involved, so I got to use the radar again and shoot an ILS to 10 in BWI. Everything went well without any major problems or discussion topics, and I even nailed the landing. I'm really enjoying flying the new airplane, and I'm looking forward to getting more experience in it.

The training here overall was phenomenal. There wasn't the huge amount of pressure I felt at my previous airline, and it was actually an enormously enjoyable experience. Everyone I've met and talked with so far has been extremely welcoming and helpful. I've already gotten my reserve schedule for February, and now I'm just waiting for Crew Planning to build me something to bridge the gap. The class behind me is finishing up their sims this week and will likely start IOE next week. There's another class behind them and another planned class starting next week with more interviews and classes to come this year. Rumor from the CP's office is 150+ for the year. Looking at the bids, schedules and classes coming up, I'll likely only be on reserve for a few months. Possibly off reserve in April, and I'll for sure be off reserve when I switch to JFK in June.
 
Glad your IOE went well. Welcome. I haven't read this whole thread. Why are switching to JFK? Commutability? BOS is a much more pleasant place to work. I look forward to getting back up there one day. I had to take JFK again for the upgrade.
 
I figured I'd give them both a shot. There are more flights a day to JFK, and they're all A320s. BOS is a mix of the 320 and the 190. Crashpads are a bit cheaper in JFK. Had a hell of a time even finding a pad in BOS. I figure I'll give JFK a shot for a bit, and if I can't hold MCO on the next bid I make the call on going back to BOS or sticking with JFK until I can hold MCO.
 
Okay, just a quick update now that I'm line qualified and official like.

Spent my first six days on reserve. Yes, that sentence just sent most of my Pinnacle reserve buddies running for the liquor cabinet. I have to get used to a WHOLE new bidding scheme. I actually WANT long stretches of reserve here. I spent a grand total of TWO nights in my crash pad. Yeah, that's it. The first 3 days I spent at home. In Orlando. Yeah, still on reserve. The evening of the 3rd day I had to commute up since I was escalated from long call to short call. Not uncommon when you've got a long call day before starting two short call days. My first day of short call I did nothing but hang out at the pad, watch Netflix and freeze to death. About two hours before I was off reserve on my second day, they called me for a trip that night. It wasn't a "We need you NOOOOWWW!" call. It was a "Hey, this just dropped into open time, and your show time is in 3 hours. I'll go ahead and check you in for it." call. Even better, I was done at 9:30 in the morning, more or less negating my entire last day of reserve and getting me home about 6 hours earlier. I was nervous getting on the plane to go home right after I finished the trip. I asked my CA "But, I was on reserve until 1 pm. I can just...go when we get back?" Yeah. You're done. "But, don't I have to check out to make sure they didn't add anything else?" Uh...which regional did you come from again?

Someone told me QoL on reserve here is about the same as QoL for a line holder at Pinnacle. Honestly, I'd say that's pretty accurate.
 
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