Kikapu wrote:Paphitis wrote:I hope you hear from your friend.
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Paphitis, this is what my friend, the AA Captain wrote.Always great to hear from you ***** and I’m glad you’re doing well. Demand seems to be returning and here at American they are increasing the flying every month starting with April.
I assume United and Delta will probably be doing the same. With the Covid vaccine getting out the outlook is positive. Looking forward for international to open. That’s the game changer. How’s your schedule for a FaceTime later?
Yes that exactly coincides with what is happening at United.
I also presume Delta will be on a similar path.
Pilots are being called back as if last month and the pace us getting more frantic as pilots need to be retrained.
It’s going to take some time to get to full capacity but what I have been told is that the check and training department are working like they have never worked before, even before Covid.
So it’s really great news.
To top it all off, US Airlines are working off a much higher base than their counterparts in other countries. A lot of their domestic market fir instance had a far smaller impact than elsewhere. So they don’t have as big of a problem than the rest of the world.
Their problem is mainly been the sheer size and proportion of the flight crew numbers that need to be retrained. The volumes over there are just staggering.
What does this mean for Aussie and Canadian E3 holders? Well, I have been told we will be employed, or given a start date. We were told we are 3 to 6 months away from a start date and the only reason for that delay is because there just aren’t any simulator slots.
They are also sending their pilots to Singapore, and Ireland for training because all their US Sims are working 24/7 now. Sims are booked in 4 hour slots. When one crew finishes and exits, another crew jump in. The things are always running with only downtime being maintenance or malfunction.
That is another thing that could happen. Our training could be outsourced to CAE Oxford.
Technically, the way this was handled, we were indeed just like other furloughed US Crews. The only difference between them and us is that we are foreigners on E3s. And by foreign I mean Australian and Canadian nationals. They don’t except any other countries, not even UK or any EU country.
There is a method in the madness. Those who haven’t flown for close to a year are the highest priority because after 12 months of non currency, they pretty much have to do the entire endorsement over again. If it’s less than 12 months, a simple check suffices. But most may require an extra sim session to get back up to speed.
Hence why they asked for our log books.
Over there, you are just a number. It’s a sausage factory. You go to your sim with people you never met before. The positive is that there is nearly no drama or politics with people to involved in your life. It’s just a matter of proficiency and ticking boxes.
International Travel will be open by October in Australia. Presume it will be earlier for US Travellers. I’m itching for that. I want to get to Cyprus by June 2022 at the latest as I’ve got some things to take care of. I think the world is pretty much fed up with Covid now. Vaccines will be critical. I’m getting my jab as soon as I can. The only thing I’m wanting is that it’s the Pfizer version.
