New gig within a gig

[Flyinthrew]

I have been meaning to get around to my LinkedIn profile update, but haven’t. I guess I’m more comfortable saying it here, and it’s not exactly in line with all these Captain upgrades, but if anybody at SJI happens to need to call the Duty Pilot in the OCC, I know a guy that is officially done training for it and will do his first shift alone on Friday. He says it is wildly eye opening what goes on around here that many will never hear about.


Oh, and yes, you can have a crew meal. No, you can’t switch to the short layover hotel for your 17 hour overnight. Also, call in fatigued all you want, but I deduct cool points if you’re obviously trying to sound tired. Like, you don’t have to do that.

 

[SurferLucas]

I have been meaning to get around to my LinkedIn profile update, but haven’t. I guess I’m more comfortable saying it here, and it’s not exactly in line with all these Captain upgrades, but if anybody at SJI happens to need to call the Duty Pilot in the OCC, I know a guy that is officially done training for it and will do his first shift alone on Friday. He says it is wildly eye opening what goes on around here that many will never hear about.


Oh, and yes, you can have a crew meal. No, you can’t switch to the short layover hotel for your 17 hour overnight. Also, call in fatigued all you want, but I deduct cool points if you’re obviously trying to sound tired. Like, you don’t have to do that.

Congrats! Just had a convo with Chris in OCC on Sunday night about a little issue in SAN, too bad it wasn’t you.

that’s a tough job at times…you spend 90% of your time dealing with 10% of the pilot group

 

[///AMG]

I always hated being ODO/SDO. I can't imagine doing this. But I'm sure it will be interesting. You guys get a pretty good deal with crew skeds as a reward, right?

 

[Flyinthrew]

Congrats! Just had a convo with Chris in OCC on Sunday night about a little issue in SAN, too bad it wasn’t you.

that’s a tough job at times…you spend 90% of your time dealing with 10% of the pilot group

You’re absolutely right. The entire OCC spends 90% of it’s time on about 5% of the operation

I always hated being ODO/SDO. I can't imagine doing this. But I'm sure it will be interesting. You guys get a pretty good deal with crew skeds as a reward, right?

It’s really more like working on the bridge area of the CAOC more than it is holding down the desk at the squadron. Much faster paced and higher level focus. I get the “why would you do that” from most pilots. To be sure, I shadowed a shift with a duty pilot and asked a lot of questions before even applying so that I could develop a clear sense of why I would want to do it. Without getting too philosophical and boring, I tend to be wired to be much more of a generalist than most career airline pilots.

I also shadowed in the chief pilot’s office. Hard pass; at least as an FO.

 

[///AMG]

Oh sorry, I wasn’t really trying to say that it sounds stupid. I bet it is pretty interesting. We got the OCC tour during my CTP course, and I remember talking to the former Strike Eagle dude who was FODO/whatever you guys call it, that day. What’s the duty cycle like? I imagine if you have interest in the management side, or just want to know about how the operation really works, this would be an important bit of experience. I don’t have interest in management, but I do think it would be kinda cool to see how the sausage is really made and the ops/business interaction......purely for my own edification

 

[luke3]

Congrats! It's a tough job and one I have lots of respect for. Can we stop into the OCC to say hi and maybe have a little tour? They didn't take us down during indoc but I always like meeting the voice on the other side of the phone

 

[SurferLucas]

Congrats! It's a tough job and one I have lots of respect for. Can we stop into the OCC to say hi and maybe have a little tour? They didn't take us down during indoc but I always like meeting the voice on the other side of the phone

Heck yea! I walked over during sim’s to say hi/see what it looked like over there. Everyone seemed somewhat excited to see our group, haha

 

[EIR]

OCC, an in Orange County Choppers?

 

[Beep]

OCC, an in Orange County Choppers?
View attachment 69522

no. Old Caucasian Codgers.

 

[DPApilot]

Congratulations! I will make sure to be part of that 5%!
(Kidding, I’ll just stare out the window.)

 

[Flyinthrew]

Oh sorry, I wasn’t really trying to say that it sounds stupid. I bet it is pretty interesting. We got the OCC tour during my CTP course, and I remember talking to the former Strike Eagle dude who was FODO/whatever you guys call it, that day. What’s the duty cycle like? I imagine if you have interest in the management side, or just want to know about how the operation really works, this would be an important bit of experience. I don’t have interest in management, but I do think it would be kinda cool to see how the sausage is really made and the ops/business interaction......purely for my own edification

14x 8 hour shifts and 3 fly days a month. I'm not necessarily interested in management either, but I did figure that since I would be here for 25 years, it would add value to have a deeper understanding of the processes and to know a lot more people around the system. If something else at the General Offices interests me when I get exposed to it (which wouldn't happen without this job), I am not against pursuing it. I don't really see working for years in an office cube farm as "in my movie" though.

Congrats! It's a tough job and one I have lots of respect for. Can we stop into the OCC to say hi and maybe have a little tour? They didn't take us down during indoc but I always like meeting the voice on the other side of the phone

Yeah, we can do tours. I think it's a missed opportunity that a guy can work here 30 years and never set foot in the place, even though the sims are right downstairs or across the street. Sometimes it gets pretty busy so it is best to plan ahead to make sure it's a good time.