Originally Posted by
Rocket61
Thank you for those very detailed info. In fact, If not commuting, i was interested in being able to go back to Germany quite often on days off to see my family there, but still having a place to live in Riga. If days off are always single, it can be quite tricky, but if they at least come in pairs, it is far more doable. I suppose there is absolutely no way for a FO to negotiate a fixed roster. What can you bid in the system : flights, days off, everything ?
And do you have any idea on how many FOs they need for the Dash fleet ? It might be quite low... Is there a pool ?
We connect with Germany quite well, there are multiple flights a day going to Munich, Berlin, Diseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg etc, you will also have access to ID (staff) travel that will give you serious discounts on other carriers, such as Lufthansa, so I would say Germany shouldn't be a problem as such. I read that your location is Rome and that could be a bit more problematic. They will pair 2 days off as well whenever they can.
Bidding wise, you can bid on days off, flights, layovers etc. Some people who commute like to bid for a night stop followed by a day off, so they finish a flight at 7am in the morning and go straight to next aircraft that will take them home. Some other people bid for TLL layovers, this way you can get a decent work week with plenty of flights that result in more days off.
Regarding FOs, there is no pool as far as I know. We have about 50 FOs on dash at the moment. We need probably about 60. The very first Pilot Academy group is about to finish and they will all start on the dash in the next few months, there's 12 people there. At the same time lots of guys on the top of the seniority list are very close to moving on to the left seat and the guys in the middle will move to the Airbus. Realistically I expect to see a massive movement in the next half a year or so. If they are recruiting, the vacancy is there. You also have to take into account that if they hire you tomorrow, it will probably take around 2 to 3 months before you even get close to the aircraft - company course and type rating takes time!