feeling down

[devin]

He's out of BFI (Seattle).

He did talk to one of the other people in his training class today that apparently knows a lot about the company and schedules at BFI, and he said that "most" of the runs on the 99 are going to end around 530-630pm, and not all work through to saturday. Assuming he knows what he's talking about, I guess now it's just a waiting game. *crosses fingers*

[Bigsweetie]

Originally Posted by Kristie

Can they actually fly freight pilots that hard? seems hard to believe, not to mention against FAA rules(?), they'd only be able to get 4 hrs of sleep every night.

Eric just put in a 30 hour work day. Not all flying, of course, but not in a hotel either! And he's Part 121!!!

It all depends on how you log the legs. You can only fly so many hours Part 121, but Part 91 (which you can log it if there's no pax or frieght on board) you can go MUCH longer!!! Also, flying outside the US allows much longer duty times too!

Not to mention, freight companies like to "doctor the books" so to speak. Eric's worked at two freight companies now, both of which have asked him to lie about his duty times. Don't even get me started on how shady maintenance is at freight companies.... it'd scare any pilot away from this industry. LOL!

[devin]

Yeah a lot of them have horrible safety records, but the reason this was our first choice was because of the excellent safety record. I think there have been only 3 accidents in several years (5? maybe more) and they were all pilot error and not mechanical.

[Bigsweetie]

Originally Posted by devin

Yeah a lot of them have horrible safety records, but the reason this was our first choice was because of the excellent safety record. I think there have been only 3 accidents in several years (5? maybe more) and they were all pilot error and not mechanical.

That's what my DH's company told him too! They haven't really had any "accidents" that were the fault of maintenance, but you have to have captains that are willing to refuse trips based on pencil whipped maintenance issues.

The plane Eric just flew down the Mexico yesterday had radar problems. The maintenance dept. kept saying it was fixed (like three times) and, in fact, it wasn't. Luckily the capt. refused to fly the plane because they would've been heading into a tropical storm!! Then, after a couple of cancelled trips, they put a new one in. However, the inboard flap that needed to be fixed, was logged in the book as the OUTBOARD flap being fixed. When the pilot caught the discrepancy, he checked the plane. In fact, it WAS the inboard flap that was fixed, but now the outboard flap didn't work. Maintenance tried to get him to fly the plane anyway (as they usually do). Luckily, again, he refused.

In cargo, the capt.'s are put under ALOT of pressure to fly these planes with maintenance issues just to keep the trips. I'm sure not all companies are like that, and i'm sure your DH's company isn't either. That's just been our experience.

Your DH is still in training, right? Tell him he HAS to watch his back. Even as an FO. Eric HAS refused to fly trips due to a p**sy of a capt. who didn't have the guts to tell dispatch "this plane is unsafe to fly". Cargo pilots live life on the edge.

ETa: you don't have to have accidents to have maintenance issues...

[devin]

He's still in training yes. He also won't be doing any work as an FO, they fly their planes solo, unless they have an outside person paying for time, then that person sits in as FO. So at least he won't have to deal with stupid captains trying to kill him - the only captain that could do that would be him!

[the_woman_99]

My BF works for AMF right now and I know exactly what you are talking about with the every night off and then the weekends off. I have to say though that when we lived in Utah together his schedule wasn't that bad. He was home every night around 8:30 but he did have to be up for work around 4:30 in the morning. He had enough senority as well that he didn't have to work Saturdays unless he bid for them. So we did have the weekends. I know how frustrated I was when I felt like we didn't have a lot of time together. He would get home and we would eat together and watch a little tv and then it was off to bed. I work a job where it is 9-5. I did have a few hours to myself which was nice but I also wanted him there. Oh well. He did hate sitting in a hotel in the middle of nowhere all day. That was really hard for him. He transfered bases and works out of CVG now. His schedule is soooo different. I still live in Utah which sucks but we are dealing with it. He has way weird hours though. He can either work 7pm to 7am or work the opposite but it is something that he never reallys knows. It would suck to live with him if his schedule was 7PM to 7AM. We would never see each other so that is something that I am not to excited about. But things are looking to change in the next couple of months so I am just playing the supportive girlfriend.
My advice would just to enjoy the time that you have with each other as much as possible. You never know what might happen with his schedule. I know that with time his senority will change and he will get a better schedule but everyone has to put in there time.
I know how hard it is. I went from seeing my SO every day to where now we don't live with each other and I just saw him a couple of weeks ago for a couple of days. We hadn't seen each other for the 2 months prior to that. It has been a huge adjustment. I know how hard it can get but just stick with it and enjoy every moment that you can see each other. I know that me and my SO have admitted taking that for granted.
Good luck with everything.

[kly_2007]

This really sucks for you, I'm sorry!!! I am enjoying the schedule my hunny has now. He works 4 days during the week, when I am working, and has weekends off. What I am not looking forward to is him getting a new job. He is putting applications in now for other airlines. I am not looking forward to the whole commuting thing for him as it will take away more time from us, and the crappy schedules. I am going to be in the same boat as you here pretty soon!!! I am not familiar with this situation yet, so I can't really give any advice as to how to deal.

Also, I haven't ever felt mislead either by him. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful to you. Just remember, everyone has to start at the bottom sometime in life. It's the only way to get to the top. Hopefully things will get better for you soon. I told my husband that I was going to quit my job and come with him when he goes to training at his next job. Even though I was just kidding, it didn't sound like a bad idea to me!!! Anyways, hope it gets better for you soon.

[devin]

Originally Posted by kly_2007

I told my husband that I was going to quit my job and come with him when he goes to training at his next job. Even though I was just kidding, it didn't sound like a bad idea to me!!! Anyways, hope it gets better for you soon.

LOL There are days that doing just that sounds like the best idea in the world! I have to remind myself that he's not partying over there (at least not every day, hah!) and he'd not have much time for me anyway, so it's probably better if I go to work.

It has gotten better. The company let him come home for a little over 24 hours before he began training in the actual plane early this morning. It was so wonderful to see him! The downside is that while he is training with the Seattle trainer (where we live) the training is *actually* based out of Spokane (the other side of the state and about 5 hours away!). So it was kind of a let down that he won't be able to stay here for that part of training... But he'll be home for most of the weekend! Yay!

Still no word yet on what his actual schedule will be, but he talked with some of the guys there and apparently there are only two runs in his plane out of Seattle, and neither one should really be arriving back here later than 630pm, so that's MUCH better than what we were hearing before! Only about a week or so to go!

[kly_2007]

Just think of all the time you've had to wait. A week will go by in a flash. You sound like you have more of a positive outlook on it now, which is good. That is the only way to really get through things like this without going crazy. I have been through the whole training thing one time last year and that was for Tony upgrading. It was only about 6 weeks long and I saw him every weekend. I can't believe I just said only 6 weeks. When he was gone for training I would have said 6 weeks seemed like forever. I am not sure what airline Tony will be going to next, so I don't know where he will be training at. Hopefully somewhere not to bad to try to non rev too. Anyways, I am glad you are getting through it, and good luck on the next week. But I am sure you won't need it