Focus Air
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Long Flight sounds like easy trip
ONLOAD in LUX sleep to GYD (Tech stop)- sleep to HKG OFF/On Load -sleep to ALA (Tech Stop) -sleep to GYD (Tech Stop) -sleep to LUX Offload. How hard can it be?
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What, no after take-off walkaround? No hourly in-flight walkaround? And no Flight Crew bashing and crashing around in the galley?
No pre-planning for the next turn?
In-flight sleep is not restfull sleep
No pre-planning for the next turn? In-flight sleep is not restfull sleep
Join Date: May 2001
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The pay rates only go through the first five years right now. they are:
first year.........$98.00
second year....$104.00
third year........$113.00
fourth year......$120.00
fifth year.........$127.00
add $10.00 per hour to the above for any time flown above 70 hours per month which is pretty easy to do with the present contracts and certain pairings. Not so easy to do on other pairings.
first year.........$98.00
second year....$104.00
third year........$113.00
fourth year......$120.00
fifth year.........$127.00
add $10.00 per hour to the above for any time flown above 70 hours per month which is pretty easy to do with the present contracts and certain pairings. Not so easy to do on other pairings.
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Excessive time
Sure it would be nice to have shorter legs but it would depend on what’s available at enroute stops and schedule (destination) changes.
To reference CargoMatatu's post: Of course pre-planning for the next turn can be done. On a long leg It doesn’t take much time to get that done, and for the 1 hour walk around I don't recall seeing that in any loadmasters duties for any company although I'm may not be familiar with the company he works for.
Let's face it every loadmaster would like shorter legs or ground station duty but it may not be financially prudent for the company. If the costs are cheaper for hiring people at stations or the need to have additional loadmasters due to crew duty time llimitations then loadmasters may become to expensive. I agree there must be a line between excessive time/fatigue issues and performing loadmaster job functions. In my opinion the schedule referenced above does not cross the excessive time/fatigue issue line. Safety is of course the top issue and should never be compromised.
and WhaleDriver is correct alot of loadmasters do get tons of sleep inflight...It may not be undistirbed sleep like in your hotel but after each trip if the loadmaster gets off the aircraft and goes to the hotel then he would have off the time it takes the next fligth to run. I don't think thats a bad work schedule.
Fly Safe
To reference CargoMatatu's post: Of course pre-planning for the next turn can be done. On a long leg It doesn’t take much time to get that done, and for the 1 hour walk around I don't recall seeing that in any loadmasters duties for any company although I'm may not be familiar with the company he works for.
Let's face it every loadmaster would like shorter legs or ground station duty but it may not be financially prudent for the company. If the costs are cheaper for hiring people at stations or the need to have additional loadmasters due to crew duty time llimitations then loadmasters may become to expensive. I agree there must be a line between excessive time/fatigue issues and performing loadmaster job functions. In my opinion the schedule referenced above does not cross the excessive time/fatigue issue line. Safety is of course the top issue and should never be compromised.
and WhaleDriver is correct alot of loadmasters do get tons of sleep inflight...It may not be undistirbed sleep like in your hotel but after each trip if the loadmaster gets off the aircraft and goes to the hotel then he would have off the time it takes the next fligth to run. I don't think thats a bad work schedule.
Fly Safe
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Re: Focus Air
CargoMatatu,
Walkarounds are only necessary if you are a smoker and have to leave the upper deck for health reasons. like the non-smokers will beat the hell out of you
Walkarounds are only necessary if you are a smoker and have to leave the upper deck for health reasons. like the non-smokers will beat the hell out of you
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I, for one, am a non-smoker.
It is not written in any operator's SOPs. It is something I was trained to do, some thirty years ago, as taking a professional attitude to the job and responsibilities. Safety first!
Of course, that was in the days when a Loadmaster was regarded as a professional crewmember and got rest periods like a human being
, unlike today when they are regarded as being a piece of the cargo equipment and only replaced when it breaks
It is not written in any operator's SOPs. It is something I was trained to do, some thirty years ago, as taking a professional attitude to the job and responsibilities. Safety first!
Of course, that was in the days when a Loadmaster was regarded as a professional crewmember and got rest periods like a human being
, unlike today when they are regarded as being a piece of the cargo equipment and only replaced when it breaks
Top Dog
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With a miserable 16 years 74F experience, some of you may consider me junior. Nevertheless, 50 hours DUTY (some can sleep for a few hours, some not) is outrageous. Would YOU want ME to prepare a complicated extended ZFW W&B in some nice place like Lome when my eyes are seing double? Those are the situations where 1+1=3. You'll moan 'coz stab trim is a 1/4 out.
CargoMatatu has double my time. (Just for info. Fact).
CargoMatatu has double my time. (Just for info. Fact).
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New to the game here...
Just got signed here for PPrune. I just couldn't sit here and read things about Focus that aren't always true. As much as I tried to stay off here, I just couldn't.
For you that think our Loadmasters are abused... from all that I see, they get treated pretty good. We have been keeping one Loadmaster in Shenzhen for the majority of the time, he does have to have days off at home sometime. Because we keep one there, Loadmasters are not flying on the CES routes. Half the time we don't have a mechanic either. We keep one in Shenzhen also. We have basic maintenence in Almaty for the tech stop. Its kind of like... sometimes we carry one, sometimes we don't. I know on the Hong Kong run, the Loadmastes fly the round trip and then usually swap out in Luxembourg. Seems they fly every other flight. Our Loads have a nice queen size air mattress to sleep on, all the food they can stick down their neck.
It's not like nobody told them what the job was about when they hired on. When I worked for Kalitta, they abused their Loads and Mechanics a lot worse than Focus ever thought to. At Kalitta I watched those poor guys having to search out showers in cargo buildings after being on the plane for 7 and 8 days in a row.
If you sign up for a job, if you know the details before you come to work as to how long your time on the plane is going to be... then you can't really complain about it. Everyone hired here knew the rules, I sat in on the Load and Mechanics briefing... they knew what they signed up for.
Oh, and hey, Focus buying Polar... yea, right.
FACFE
For you that think our Loadmasters are abused... from all that I see, they get treated pretty good. We have been keeping one Loadmaster in Shenzhen for the majority of the time, he does have to have days off at home sometime. Because we keep one there, Loadmasters are not flying on the CES routes. Half the time we don't have a mechanic either. We keep one in Shenzhen also. We have basic maintenence in Almaty for the tech stop. Its kind of like... sometimes we carry one, sometimes we don't. I know on the Hong Kong run, the Loadmastes fly the round trip and then usually swap out in Luxembourg. Seems they fly every other flight. Our Loads have a nice queen size air mattress to sleep on, all the food they can stick down their neck.
It's not like nobody told them what the job was about when they hired on. When I worked for Kalitta, they abused their Loads and Mechanics a lot worse than Focus ever thought to. At Kalitta I watched those poor guys having to search out showers in cargo buildings after being on the plane for 7 and 8 days in a row.
If you sign up for a job, if you know the details before you come to work as to how long your time on the plane is going to be... then you can't really complain about it. Everyone hired here knew the rules, I sat in on the Load and Mechanics briefing... they knew what they signed up for.
Oh, and hey, Focus buying Polar... yea, right.
FACFE
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Hard times for loadies and flying spanners
Hi Facfe,
I am guessing from your handle you are an engineer. I quite agree with yiu and how Kallys boys are treated, e.g the flying spanners spend 21 days on board, using contacts at airports to get a shower. A story I heard recently one of the flights had to lay over and everybody went to the hotel - the mechanic claimed he couldn't sleep as there was insufficient motion.
I find it quite normal for all start-ups to get sniped at - usually by those who had the opportunity but refused, then see how well the guys who took the chance are doing. If you are one who moved - I say good luck to you and your buddies. If you are with Focus, do you need loadmasters? I have a couple of pals who would like to move where they might just be appreciated.
I am guessing from your handle you are an engineer. I quite agree with yiu and how Kallys boys are treated, e.g the flying spanners spend 21 days on board, using contacts at airports to get a shower. A story I heard recently one of the flights had to lay over and everybody went to the hotel - the mechanic claimed he couldn't sleep as there was insufficient motion.
I find it quite normal for all start-ups to get sniped at - usually by those who had the opportunity but refused, then see how well the guys who took the chance are doing. If you are one who moved - I say good luck to you and your buddies. If you are with Focus, do you need loadmasters? I have a couple of pals who would like to move where they might just be appreciated.
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What happened to 361FC this weekend? Was supposed to fly for CLX on Saturday - we cancelled the flight today. Some cargo distributed onto other flights, and re-routed one of ours this evening. Called Ocean in too. We've been kept in the dark, hearing that the a/c has been in/out/in/out etc of a hangar in SPL. Latest I heard was rudder control probs. We gave up today, couldn't wait any longer.
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Originally Posted by trashhauler
One of my very good friends is leaving Focus after less than a year. He told me it was over pay (low)and scheduling issues.
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Hey Guys...you seem quite critical of an airline that's just getting it's feet wet and has only been flying revenue trips for seven months. I remember the early days of Atlas and it's like dejavu all over again. Same conditions, same complaints. And remember, a bad day flying beats the hell out of a good day flipping burgers!
Are there problems at Focus? Sure there are! It's a start up for crying out loud! It's not going to be a perfect airline! Could the pay be better? Sure it could! Are the problems and pay going to be addressed? I believe they will! There is already talk of revisiting the pay scale. As a matter of fact, with the installation of a new Chief Pilot, several new schedulers and licensed dispatchers there have been some immediate improvements and what I believe will be a lot more long term fixes and solutions.
Just remember, when there was talk of Polar going on strike and possibly shutting the doors, there were a heck of a lot of resumes and telephone calls going Focus' way, problems or not!
All I'm saying is give them a chance...we all had to start somewhere and that's what Focus management is asking.."Just let them get the airline up and running." Which by the way, seems to be progressing very well. The company is operating in the black so far and rumors aside, their customers have indicated they are happy with their performance.
Are there problems at Focus? Sure there are! It's a start up for crying out loud! It's not going to be a perfect airline! Could the pay be better? Sure it could! Are the problems and pay going to be addressed? I believe they will! There is already talk of revisiting the pay scale. As a matter of fact, with the installation of a new Chief Pilot, several new schedulers and licensed dispatchers there have been some immediate improvements and what I believe will be a lot more long term fixes and solutions.
Just remember, when there was talk of Polar going on strike and possibly shutting the doors, there were a heck of a lot of resumes and telephone calls going Focus' way, problems or not!
All I'm saying is give them a chance...we all had to start somewhere and that's what Focus management is asking.."Just let them get the airline up and running." Which by the way, seems to be progressing very well. The company is operating in the black so far and rumors aside, their customers have indicated they are happy with their performance.
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Originally Posted by fr8box
Hey Guys...you seem quite critical of an airline that's just getting it's feet wet and has only been flying revenue trips for seven months. I remember the early days of Atlas and it's like dejavu all over again. Same conditions, same complaints. And remember, a bad day flying beats the hell out of a good day flipping burgers!
Are there problems at Focus? Sure there are! It's a start up for crying out loud! It's not going to be a perfect airline! Could the pay be better? Sure it could! Are the problems and pay going to be addressed? I believe they will! There is already talk of revisiting the pay scale. As a matter of fact, with the installation of a new Chief Pilot, several new schedulers and licensed dispatchers there have been some immediate improvements and what I believe will be a lot more long term fixes and solutions.
Just remember, when there was talk of Polar going on strike and possibly shutting the doors, there were a heck of a lot of resumes and telephone calls going Focus' way, problems or not!
All I'm saying is give them a chance...we all had to start somewhere and that's what Focus management is asking.."Just let them get the airline up and running." Which by the way, seems to be progressing very well. The company is operating in the black so far and rumors aside, their customers have indicated they are happy with their performance.
Are there problems at Focus? Sure there are! It's a start up for crying out loud! It's not going to be a perfect airline! Could the pay be better? Sure it could! Are the problems and pay going to be addressed? I believe they will! There is already talk of revisiting the pay scale. As a matter of fact, with the installation of a new Chief Pilot, several new schedulers and licensed dispatchers there have been some immediate improvements and what I believe will be a lot more long term fixes and solutions.
Just remember, when there was talk of Polar going on strike and possibly shutting the doors, there were a heck of a lot of resumes and telephone calls going Focus' way, problems or not!
All I'm saying is give them a chance...we all had to start somewhere and that's what Focus management is asking.."Just let them get the airline up and running." Which by the way, seems to be progressing very well. The company is operating in the black so far and rumors aside, their customers have indicated they are happy with their performance.
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From what I understand they don't hide these facts at the interview. So why complain once you get there. Maybe your friend should simply not have gone since he knew what he was getting into 