FlyDubai
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: up front on the right
The rules
Some rules of thumb for what to expect as a newcomer (low seniority) pilot at a company that practices absolute seniority with bidding:
1. 8-11 days off a month: 8 is the legal minimum, 11 is what u will get if you bid smart (i.e. avoid weekends and first few days/last few days of month, everyone wants those and you are the bottom pick). Legally u also have to be off 1 in every 6 and 2 in every 12, and you will often see rosters that are close to that limit.
2. Mostly, but not exclusively nights: you can only work 3 nights/earlies in a row and 4 in 7, legally. That's why you will occasionally fly by day in order to get the most out of you. This unfortunately also means that you will see a string of nights, followed by a rest day (the day you come back from ur last night) and then a 8 am report the following day. This is the worst that could happen to you.
3. Sectors: most of the duties are 2 sector days, and about half our flights are under 2 hrs each sector. There are some 4 sector days (45-90 mins sectors) and as a newbie u can expect at least 1 per month. Overall you can expect approximately 30 sectors per month if u have no leave, and improving to about 18 sectors when you are really senior. effectively, with leave and training factored in you will rarely see these figures, more likely to do about 12-24 sectors per month, depending on seniority.
4. Hours: we are rostered about 70-75 hrs a month. some months are better or worse but generally thereabouts.
5. Layovers: we have 5-6 layover destinations (CMB, CTG, DAC, EBB, DAR, and PRG) most of which are daily flights and more often than not 24 hrs (some layovers are for 36-48 hrs). hotels are ok, nothing fancy. Some people like them and some people fly the 737 to avoid them so you will get a chance to bid for them even early on as a newbie.
6. Long day flights (8-11 block days): we have quite a few of those mainly to Russia and Europe but also to Africa and South Asia. The more of these you do the less days you have to work obviously and they tend to keep you in a human circadian rhythm. you will only get these very infrequently in your first 18 months. the more senior you get, the more days like this you get and the more off days you get to offset your hours.
7. Standbys: expect a minimum 1-2 per month, usually 8-10 hrs each, and they usually don't call you.
8. Training days: 2 days OPC, 2 day LPC, 3-4 days of this that or the other. spread over a year it's less than 1 day per month.
9. Deadheading: new trend for long flights and getting more popular. 2 crews 1 deadheading and 1 operating outbound and then switch. Used for long flights with low frequency to avoid multi-day layovers. Expect a bunch of these initially as most people hate them.
10. War zones: it's really up to you what u consider a "war zone". some people consider anything outside of europe as such (but this is not the time or place to bust that bubble). we fly to afghanistan and iraq several times daily and you will get at least one or 2 flights a month initially. it is not 100% terrible though. i personally don't bid for them but i know a lot who do and they enjoy these flights, mainly because they are 3 hr sectors during the day.
so to sum up, as a newcomer, typical roster for you would be 3-4 days on (mostly short afternoon or medium night flights), followed by 1 day rest and 1 day off, then 4-5 days on same pattern, 2 off and repeat.
I hope this covers it for you guys, and good luck.
1. 8-11 days off a month: 8 is the legal minimum, 11 is what u will get if you bid smart (i.e. avoid weekends and first few days/last few days of month, everyone wants those and you are the bottom pick). Legally u also have to be off 1 in every 6 and 2 in every 12, and you will often see rosters that are close to that limit.
2. Mostly, but not exclusively nights: you can only work 3 nights/earlies in a row and 4 in 7, legally. That's why you will occasionally fly by day in order to get the most out of you. This unfortunately also means that you will see a string of nights, followed by a rest day (the day you come back from ur last night) and then a 8 am report the following day. This is the worst that could happen to you.
3. Sectors: most of the duties are 2 sector days, and about half our flights are under 2 hrs each sector. There are some 4 sector days (45-90 mins sectors) and as a newbie u can expect at least 1 per month. Overall you can expect approximately 30 sectors per month if u have no leave, and improving to about 18 sectors when you are really senior. effectively, with leave and training factored in you will rarely see these figures, more likely to do about 12-24 sectors per month, depending on seniority.
4. Hours: we are rostered about 70-75 hrs a month. some months are better or worse but generally thereabouts.
5. Layovers: we have 5-6 layover destinations (CMB, CTG, DAC, EBB, DAR, and PRG) most of which are daily flights and more often than not 24 hrs (some layovers are for 36-48 hrs). hotels are ok, nothing fancy. Some people like them and some people fly the 737 to avoid them so you will get a chance to bid for them even early on as a newbie.
6. Long day flights (8-11 block days): we have quite a few of those mainly to Russia and Europe but also to Africa and South Asia. The more of these you do the less days you have to work obviously and they tend to keep you in a human circadian rhythm. you will only get these very infrequently in your first 18 months. the more senior you get, the more days like this you get and the more off days you get to offset your hours.
7. Standbys: expect a minimum 1-2 per month, usually 8-10 hrs each, and they usually don't call you.
8. Training days: 2 days OPC, 2 day LPC, 3-4 days of this that or the other. spread over a year it's less than 1 day per month.
9. Deadheading: new trend for long flights and getting more popular. 2 crews 1 deadheading and 1 operating outbound and then switch. Used for long flights with low frequency to avoid multi-day layovers. Expect a bunch of these initially as most people hate them.
10. War zones: it's really up to you what u consider a "war zone". some people consider anything outside of europe as such (but this is not the time or place to bust that bubble). we fly to afghanistan and iraq several times daily and you will get at least one or 2 flights a month initially. it is not 100% terrible though. i personally don't bid for them but i know a lot who do and they enjoy these flights, mainly because they are 3 hr sectors during the day.
so to sum up, as a newcomer, typical roster for you would be 3-4 days on (mostly short afternoon or medium night flights), followed by 1 day rest and 1 day off, then 4-5 days on same pattern, 2 off and repeat.
I hope this covers it for you guys, and good luck.
