Flight Training - December 2013 - 30

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START DRINKING FROM THE FIRE HOSE. If
all goes well, the applicant could receive
a job offer on the spot. More likely, he
or she will receive a conditional offer of
employment and be sent home to wait for
a follow-up phone call and a training date.
With so many slots coming open, the
regionals are facing situations they've
never had before, said Templeton. For
example, "they'll have 20 people scheduled for an interview one day. Ten might
show up. The others don't even call," he
said. "Of those 10 who show up, [they]
might be able to offer a job to six of
them. The first day of ground school rolls
around, and [they're] expecting six to
show up-three will show up."
Airline orientation training may not
have spawned the phrase "drinking from
the fire hose," but it owns that description. New hires spend several weeks
closeted together, drilling cockpit resource
management, company operations, and
the aircraft's flight operations manual and
systems. As they progress, training moves
to simulators, followed by initial operating experience-or training in the airplane
30 /

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YOU MAY START
OUT MAKING
$25,000 A YEAR
BUT, DEPENDING ON
YOUR CAREER TRACK,
YOUR ANNUAL
EARNINGS COULD
INCREASE TO
$250,000-OR MORE.

they'll fly. The first time new first officers
fly the actual airplane, they'll likely be
carrying a load of passengers-and working with a captain who's had much more
experience.
SENIORITY STARTS NOW. On the first day
of company indoctrination, new hires will
receive their seniority status within the
class-a status that will affect them for the
remainder of their careers. Seniority is
based on a birth date or, in some instances,
a formula in which the final four digits of a
Social Security number are added together
(the highest number equals the highest
seniority ranking). When pilots bid on
crew bases, schedules, aircraft, and time
off, seniority determines who gets what.
The crew base is a new pilot's home
away from home. He or she will fly out of
that airport and may be locked there for a
specific period of time. Bases are determined by staffing needs and/or a bidding
process; if a company needs pilots for just
one base, new hires will be sent there,
but bidding can occur if there are slots
available at multiple locations. According

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to Wright, it's usually easier to change
bases "if you stay in the same equipment
in the same seat, which means a Canadair Regional Jet first officer in Charlotte
could transfer to Philadelphia if he stays
in the CRJ as an FO, assuming there is an
opening that his seniority can hold."
Every airline requires a minimum
amount of time in new equipment before
moving up, owing to the cost of training,
Wright added.
A new hire may need to commute to
his or her base airport, living away from
home days at a time. About 80 percent
of airline pilots commute, according to
Templeton, who said the industry has
made commuting fairly easy, thanks to
jump seat agreements that allow traveling
airline personnel to ride in auxiliary crew
stations.
That may be the case, but the crew base
selection can be a source of angst among
new pilots. Mark Kimberling, a former first
officer at American Eagle, recalled a fellow new hire who began to weep as pilots
with more seniority chose slots in Dallas
and Los Angeles, leaving Chicago and San
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Flight Training - December 2013

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