Best North American Freight Base
 

Any advice on which NA freight base has the best schedules? Does one base get more time off than others? Does one base do shorter trips than others?
If based in JFK and you fly to ORD then on to ANC ,do you stop for 24 hours in ORD or just continue on. (2 or 3 pilots). Do you ever just go to ANC and then back home the next day or do you always go to HKG?
Any info on requesting a Hong Kong roster. I know you don't get the housing allowence and it's expensive but how is the roster? would you do more regional flying or just a NA roster in reverse?
Thanks

I wish someone will help us out with this topic. I like to know myself..

LA

north american trips in reverse plus having to pay own accom in hk plus no allowances plus rostered as hot reserve by c.ctrl.
Best take the NA base although LA for capt is rare but know fo who just walked in there

All wrong. Where did you get that?

Originate N America, either dct HKG or via ANC. One day (24 hours) in ANC, then to HKG. 24 hours in HKG then back to ANC or a local flight in the region (NRT, SIN or other) or reserve - all on the roster, published on the 16th of the preceding month. On arrival at "home base" 5 days clear of duty.

All accom in HKG provided for by CX at the Headland Hotel (at CX City) with S&T allowance, about USD90 per day, cash, in advance on arrival.

Answer...the one closest to your home!:)

cpdude has got the closest to the truth so far.

Cpt Underpants, I believe the answer from Fire Wall about Nth American trips in reverse was in reply to the original question about HKG based rosters (these can be helpful for some...but really not applicable to new hires onto the freighter who are from/living in Nth America). Those who use the HKG based roster are mainly those who have been living in HKG already and don't need the housing allowance but wish to go onto the freighter in Nth America, or perhaps for some who come to HKG a few months before their Pax base officially starts to get set up and can handle life without housing allowance/schooling etc for a little while. The HKG based roster tends to be mainly HKG-ANC-HKG over and over again.

It is quite rare for any flights to go direct to HKG from Nth America on the Freighter. They do occur occasionally from YVR, but it would be fairly safe to say that 97% of freighter flights from Nth America go through ANC.
The schedules are varied and a tight pattern over to HKG and back can be done in 5 days. However, your average pattern will be 7-8 days. Very occasionally, you will do a pattern staying in Nth America.....more often from a reserve call out rather than rostered that way.

The JFK-ORD-ANC pattern is a stop in ORD for a few hours with some offloading and loading of freight and a pick up of a RPIC FO.
ie. it is 2 man crew to ORD and 3 crew continuing onto ANC.

hope this helps.

With a JFK base, sometimes you will do the few hour stop in ORD and sometimes you will fly direct to ANC. LAX-based guys do something similar using YVR or SFO as a stop. With a JFK base, there are enough hours in a pattern that you can only do two a month. LAX guys have the room to squeeze in another trip or a half trip (end-of-month overlap). LAX is cheaper for hotels and the office is within walking distance of the Sheraton. JFK can present some commuting difficulties because of more expensive hotels and the fact that (depending on where you live) you might have to fly into LGA and get yourself to JFK Cargo area. Lots of time to wear out your liver in ANC (sometimes up to 75 hours, but usually about 35 has been average for me.) I've only had one strickly domestic trip in the last year -- usually you go to HKG.

Pogie

how do people commute. Told at interview not allowed to ride on company freighters for insurance reasons. I presume no us carrier will let CX jump seat. I live near ORD but know i could get based anywhere. just wondered how people are getting to work if they live out of base.

AA flies once an hour to LGA from ORD...they are a member of the One World and discount tickets can be bought (ID 90s I think). Also ATA from Midway to LGA is pretty cheap for full fare tickets.

Mayday

ORD is now closed to further DEFOs. Only JFK, ANC (FO's), and LAX will be offered.

Jumpseating on a US carrier is generally unavailable unless a Captain is feeling charitable.

Pick LAX. Better WX. Better commuting. Better chance to get more landings on the 400 (major problem, have been told the average 400 pilot gets roughly 12-15 landings a year!)

P.S. Better Mexican food than JFK.

Curious what the trips are like out of ATL?

Hey guys, 'still a little new here and still testing the waters a bit. Let me get this right. Does Cathay not have jumpseat agreements with US carriers, or is this just an issue of cockpit jumpseats?
Q2: Does CX ever plan to become part of the CASS system, or is it a pipedream that I could keep my house in smalltown USA and commute to base?
Thanks guys,
Sky

Only foreign carriers that have jumpseat agreements with US carriers are some Canadian carriers.

It seems only to be a US idea to bump and move pilots from base to base constantly forcing them to commute. Most other places pilots don't commute.

CASS is for US carriers only.

CX pilots can ride jumpseat on some US carriers if there is a seat in the cabin and the Captain is feeling generous, but without agreements it isn't guaranteed.

Thanks J_M:
The company I work for just got into CASS, so I am still a little vague about the details.
Jumpseat agreements: I checked with my USAirways gate agent where I live. He printed out a list of airlines who have a jumpseat agreement with them.
Cathay Pacific was on the list as CX. There is an access code that you can give gate agents to verify you.
Of course, this applies to cabin jumpseaters and not cockpit. Its a good deal nonetheless, especially with an airline that covers so much ground.
Thanks again,
Sky

DAL open as a freighter base?
 

I vaguely remember reading that Dallas was going to be opened as a freighter base. Is this correct or just wishful thinking on my part? :confused:

Thanks,
265

When Amy called me a few nights ago she accepted DFW as my #2 base preference....that is for a tentative December class.

That's good news! Btw what was the date for the Dec class?

No firm date
 

She told our group to expect Dec or early '07...details to follow.

That would work perfect for me; I can start terminal leave early Dec. Let's hope the interviews go well (phase 1 end of June).

Congrats to you & good luck in training. Maybe I'll see you there.

Good luck
 

After just going through the process I can say that it is fair...even if I didn't get hired that would be my assessment. All the gouge out there is right on. Don't be concerned if you feel it didn't go well based on the actions of the interviewers...it's difficult to read these guys and you get very little feedback. The only positive thing said from my phase 1 came from the tech guy towards the end of his questioning. "Well, I don't know what esle to ask you because you've answered everything correctly." If you've done your homework you'll do fine. The tech part aside, as has been stated here before, they're looking to see if you're someone they can sit next to for 14 hours.
Feel free to PM me. Thanks for the congrats...it's great to know that all the preparation paid off.