There is certainly a lot less capt/capt flying going on now because they did change their way of doing things and most recently employed pilots are FOs. To be accepted as a direct entry captain you now have to hold a JCAB ATPL and, preferably, be type-rated. The type-rating isn't an absolute but the JCAB licence is. Obviously this means there is now more 'normal' flying going on and the capt/capt stuff is a lot rarer.
For the time being they are employing more FOs but bar talk suggests they are getting close to their target number of pilots, so I would expect the intake to slow down in the fairly near future.
Also, in the past FOs could expect to start the upgrade process around the 3.5 year mark but this is already changing and I foresee it getting pushed back to the beginning of the second contract i.e. after 5 years. This is based on nothing more than a feeling in my bones that they are captain heavy (although a lot less than before), they have few sim slots, SOME of the FO experience is lower than in the past and the completion of the first contract is a natural break for both parties to part company if it is warranted.
If you choose to use your vacation days each month then, yes, it is really no problem getting 14 days off per month. Some pilots do it that way, some save all their vacation days and use them in bigger blocks, some pilots back-to-back one months days off to the next month (but then have to pay back by being in Japan for 5 weeks or so); there are a lot of combinations but PARC are telling you the truth. The secret to us being able to keep this great option is by us being a bit flexible now and then. It might be that AJX has a load of pilots on certain days and not many on others, so they might ask you if you can move your days off to help them adjust pilot numbers. Normally this is just a matter of two or three days either way and, when they're able, most pilots will help out and do so. This way the Company gets to cover their work and we get to keep a good days off policy. It's always under threat because it would be far easier for AJX to allocate days off blocks for us to 'bid' for but all the while we are prepared to be flexible with our days off then the Company will let us keep going the way we are.....and long may it remain
