Possible Changes at AE

Tambralyn · 04-02-2007, 12:55 PM

DH tells me that there may be a change at AE soon, depending on the results of an upcoming election. They were doing this at TSA when John was in scheduling there.

I jokingly asked John when he was going to make captain, and he responded "Maybe sooner than you think." Apparently, AA has started calling up a lot of their TWA flowbacks, and now Eagle is getting low on captains. They are talking about qualifying some of their higher seniority FOs as Captains. This sounds great, doesn't it? Well, what they plan to do is qualify them, but keep them as FOs, occasionally calling them to sit in the left seat. When they do, they'll make an extra $10/hr. Still sounded pretty good to me.

But John's concern is that they'll just stop promoting at all. He saw it happen at TSA. They qualified a bunch of FOs, started using them like crazy to act as captain, and didn't give the actual captains any decent lines. Kept them at or below minimum because the qualified FOs were cheaper.

So, if your SO feels strongly about this issue, remind him to vote in the upcoming election. John has never voted before, but he said he's gonna make d**n sure he does this time. He's pretty adamently against it.

I know it sounds like a raw deal for the current captains, but I'm not sure about how bad it would be for the FOs. I suppose it kind of depends on their goals. If they were planning on becoming captains and retiring from AE, that would be pretty bad. If they're planning on using AE as a stepping stone to the majors, it might not be such a terrible thing, because at least they'd be getting PIC hours, which they're not now. They told John when he hired on it could 5 - 8 years to make it to captain, so that would speed up his timetable quite a bit.

What do you think?

Kristie · 04-03-2007, 08:10 PM

occasionally letting them sit in the left seat?? does that mean TWO recurrent training dates? only $10 extra? that's not very good....sounds fishy

Tambralyn · 04-04-2007, 09:05 AM

He just explained to me that they aren't even planning to do a full captain training for them. He said it would basically be one week - like recurrent training, but in the left seat.

He's definitely not loving the idea.

Kristie · 04-04-2007, 11:18 AM

i wouldn't either without full CA training!!!

Tambralyn · 04-10-2007, 11:01 AM

We got some clarification on this from DH's union rep. It's not quite the way John understood it. Apparently the FAA has changed some of the requirements for recurrent training, and now everyone is going to have to go every 9 mos. instead of 6 mos. for some and 1 yr. for others. The idea is to combine recurrent for CAs and FOs. They will still do some training in the left seat during recurrent and become "captain qualified". That way they have a pool of CQs ready to promote once they fill in their current FO holes. These CQs will be paid an extra $10/hr until they are actually promoted to CA. When they are called up for CA, they will then go through IOE. Of course it could have been 8 1/2 mos. since they had the training, and that is John's biggest concern about it all. But is could certainly speed up the upgrade process if he chooses to do it. Sounds like he is going to vote for this change.

His biggest shock? It makes too much sense!

04-02-2007, 12:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
Tambralyn Jetgirls Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Farmington, MO Posts: 182 Recipes: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Possible Changes at AE DH tells me that there may be a change at AE soon, depending on the results of an upcoming election. They were doing this at TSA when John was in scheduling there. I jokingly asked John when he was going to make captain, and he responded "Maybe sooner than you think." Apparently, AA has started calling up a lot of their TWA flowbacks, and now Eagle is getting low on captains. They are talking about qualifying some of their higher seniority FOs as Captains. This sounds great, doesn't it? Well, what they plan to do is qualify them, but keep them as FOs, occasionally calling them to sit in the left seat. When they do, they'll make an extra $10/hr. Still sounded pretty good to me. But John's concern is that they'll just stop promoting at all. He saw it happen at TSA. They qualified a bunch of FOs, started using them like crazy to act as captain, and didn't give the actual captains any decent lines. Kept them at or below minimum because the qualified FOs were cheaper. So, if your SO feels strongly about this issue, remind him to vote in the upcoming election. John has never voted before, but he said he's gonna make d**n sure he does this time. He's pretty adamently against it. I know it sounds like a raw deal for the current captains, but I'm not sure about how bad it would be for the FOs. I suppose it kind of depends on their goals. If they were planning on becoming captains and retiring from AE, that would be pretty bad. If they're planning on using AE as a stepping stone to the majors, it might not be such a terrible thing, because at least they'd be getting PIC hours, which they're not now. They told John when he hired on it could 5 - 8 years to make it to captain, so that would speed up his timetable quite a bit. What do you think?

04-03-2007, 08:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,729 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: Possible Changes at AE occasionally letting them sit in the left seat?? does that mean TWO recurrent training dates? only $10 extra? that's not very good....sounds fishy __________________ www.jetcareers.com

04-04-2007, 09:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
Tambralyn Jetgirls Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Farmington, MO Posts: 182 Recipes: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Possible Changes at AE He just explained to me that they aren't even planning to do a full captain training for them. He said it would basically be one week - like recurrent training, but in the left seat. He's definitely not loving the idea.

04-04-2007, 11:18 AM	#4 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,729 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: Possible Changes at AE i wouldn't either without full CA training!!! __________________ www.jetcareers.com

04-10-2007, 11:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
Tambralyn Jetgirls Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Farmington, MO Posts: 182 Recipes: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Possible Changes at AE We got some clarification on this from DH's union rep. It's not quite the way John understood it. Apparently the FAA has changed some of the requirements for recurrent training, and now everyone is going to have to go every 9 mos. instead of 6 mos. for some and 1 yr. for others. The idea is to combine recurrent for CAs and FOs. They will still do some training in the left seat during recurrent and become "captain qualified". That way they have a pool of CQs ready to promote once they fill in their current FO holes. These CQs will be paid an extra $10/hr until they are actually promoted to CA. When they are called up for CA, they will then go through IOE. Of course it could have been 8 1/2 mos. since they had the training, and that is John's biggest concern about it all. But is could certainly speed up the upgrade process if he chooses to do it. Sounds like he is going to vote for this change. His biggest shock? It makes too much sense!

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