Ask The Pilot

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AviatorInsight said:
My next command will definitely be on the 737 unless I choose to go to the ATR for it (done the turboprop thing), or unless Virgin decides to get Ejets again... I'm just buying my time for the first jet command.
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How long until you will have the seniority for a command at the current rate?
 
Does the Company decide who will be the pilot flying or is it the Captain's decision to tell the FO he is the driver for the sector?

What sort of notice does the FO have that he will be the pilot flying ?
 
Major said:
Does the Company decide who will be the pilot flying or is it the Captain's decision to tell the FO he is the driver for the sector?

What sort of notice does the FO have that he will be the pilot flying ?
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Usually at the start of the day/trip the Captain will ask what sectors we would like to fly. I always like to take the challenging ones, CNS, AYQ, PER, anywhere with weather. Depending on the captain they may agree or they may say that they're taking it. Really makes no difference.

The only thing the company decides on is who is the PIC (in the case of 2 captains operating).
 
AV,

Did you first start out on the 777 when you joined? How do you find the differences in lifestyle between SH and LH if so?
 
flyer89 said:
AV,

Did you first start out on the 777 when you joined? How do you find the differences in lifestyle between SH and LH if so?
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I did. LH actually took a lot of getting used to. I loved it for the first couple of years. After coming off the Saab where I would do up to 8 sectors a day there (TNQ), to going to work to just do one sector and have about 36 - 60hrs off in the port was awesome!

After about 2 years of that, with only five 777s there wasn't much work going on. Having 2 weeks off at a time was pretty good but also very boring. That's why I started bidding for AUH. The flying was so much more interesting than the Pacific and I was away longer. I also wanted to fly. Sure sitting in the back was good and I learnt a lot especially never having flown a jet before but my skills definitely started to diminish.

In regards to SH, sure we don't get the same amount of days off as the LH guys but I find it's just like flying the Saab all over again but with an APU this time!

I try and keep things grouped together. Fly on a 3/4 day trip with long sectors (>3hrs) and then have 3/4 days off at home. That seems to work the best for my lifestyle. However it doesn't always work like that and it is very fast paced at SH and there's not a lot of down time even on trips. 12hrs off is the norm.

At QF SH it's a little worse. Their conditions aren't as good as ours. Sure they might get paid more but they're averaging about 90hrs a month and I'm only at about 65. Makes a big difference. We also get more days off than they d, 9 compared to 11/12 (depending on the month). Some guys have jumped ship from VA to QF and they're now trying to come back.

I still love being at SH and being in a control seat again as it's what you make of it.
 
AviatorInsight said:
Ask an Ye shall receive. This is from May/Jun this year.

The reason why I don’t upload my rosters like JB did, is because there’s always some sort of chopping and changing going so it would be too hard to keep uploading the latest version of it.


View attachment 179488
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Hi AV. On any given day in a roster that looks like the above, would you stay with the same aircraft for the entire day or is it a different aircraft per flight? Thanks.
 
Kerrodt said:
Hi AV. On any given day in a roster that looks like the above, would you stay with the same aircraft for the entire day or is it a different aircraft per flight? Thanks.
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Very rare to stay in the same aircraft all day unless the turnarounds are less than 45mins. Then they’ll try and keep us on the same aircraft. But it’s not uncommon to have a 4 sector day and 4 different aircraft with 4 different captains and 4 different sets of cabin crew!
 
AviatorInsight said:
Very rare to stay in the same aircraft all day unless the turnarounds are less than 45mins. Then they’ll try and keep us on the same aircraft. But it’s not uncommon to have a 4 sector day and 4 different aircraft with 4 different captains and 4 different sets of cabin crew!
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I recall on the 767, that I once replied to a workgroup about on-time departures, to the effect that management obviously did not really care about them because, if they did, we would keep the same crew and aircraft all day.

Very rare for us to change FO/Captain during the day. The only exception was if someone needed a sector for recency. On long haul trips the crewing varied. Most Pacific trips the entire crew operates together in both directions. For London, you have a new cabin crew on each sector. You’ll often lose one of the SOs, but keep the other all the way.

Going back into the dim past, a flight crew would operate together for the entire 56 day period of the roster. I look back rather fondly on that system now, as it meant that the Captains had the time, opportunity, and incentive to work on training the FO/SOs. And the counter was that the PITA crew, were never as bad when they had to work with you over that period as they can be on a single trip. I recorded the flying I got as an SO under that system, and it was probably double the amount that was handed out later on.

Hidden away on a drive somewhere, I’ve got rosters from the 767, 747, and 380 going back to 1996. I’ll put some up later.
 
AviatorInsight said:
Ask an Ye shall receive. This is from May/Jun this year.

The reason why I don’t upload my rosters like JB did, is because there’s always some sort of chopping and changing going so it would be too hard to keep uploading the latest version of it.


View attachment 179488
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DDO is a day off, I take it? If so, you worked all weekdays on that roster. And it looks darned busy too.

Our next trip is MEL-SYD on VA841 in March. Just a heads-up if you want to bid for it....

:-)
 
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jb747 said:
Very rare for us to change FO/Captain during the day. The only exception was if someone needed a sector for recency. On long haul trips the crewing varied. Most Pacific trips the entire crew operates together in both directions. For London, you have a new cabin crew on each sector. You’ll often lose one of the SOs, but keep the other all the way.
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LH I recall that happening, usually there would always be recency requirements between Capt and FO, so there would always be the question of, how's your recency requirements going? We always had one local night as SOs in LAX and the primary crew got 2 so we would usually change on the way home but stay with the cabin crew. Going to AUH we would stay with the same crew there and back.

Going back into the dim past, a flight crew would operate together for the entire 56 day period of the roster. I look back rather fondly on that system now, as it meant that the Captains had the time, opportunity, and incentive to work on training the FO/SOs. And the counter was that the PITA crew, were never as bad when they had to work with you over that period as they can be on a single trip. I recorded the flying I got as an SO under that system, and it was probably double the amount that was handed out later on.
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That can be both a blessing and pain! Interesting set up for back then.
 
mjt57 said:
DDO is a day off, I take it? If so, you worked all weekdays on that roster. And it looks darned busy too.

Our next trip is MEL-SYD on VA841 in March. Just a heads-up if you want to bid for it....

:)
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Correct. Stands for designated day off. The other type we can get is ADO for additional day off...that never happens at SH. We used to get them regularly at LH though. The Blank day is for additional rest requirements.

I try to bid for weekends off. Sometimes I get a roster where I get everything I want. Most of the time there's a compromise. I always bid for weekends off and trips with long sectors. On this roster it gave me the weekends off but all the short sectors. 2 out of 3 bids ain't bad.

I'll keep an eye out on the next roster (due Friday night), for any VA841s I might get.
 
RooFlyer said:
Anyone read this? Comments?
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I bought it the other day, but haven't read it yet. Saving it for QF93 in a couple of weeks.

I'd expect it to be a much better read than some alternatives. Kevin is quite a character, who had an incredible reputation as a s**t magnet. He was just unlucky enough to have a bunch of things happen throughout his career...but the company was lucky that they happened to him, as he was very capable.

I like that he's wearing USN wings in the image.
 
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