Chicago Freighter Base
 

I am for the moment doing my homework on all things Cathay, and after many searches on here and flightinfo, I have not received a firm answer on the ORD base. As I understand it, this base is not open to new hires, nor will it be for quite some time. I live in Chicago, with a family, and plan on staying. That being said, commuting is something I am ok with, but only as a temporary situation - meaning, I don't want to plan on commuting for the rest of my career. I am currently a regional captain, looking into the next step.

1. I remember reading that this is a very small base for FO's, but are there many captains based there? Can a junior captain hold Chicago?

2. I also read about something where you can be based in JFK or one of the other NA bases but list ORD as your preferred base, meaning you can be assigned trips out of there if a trip will begin or end there. Does this happen often, or is it pretty much a once in a while (or never) occurrence?

3. I already know that jumpseating is difficult at best, and most people who commute do so with paid tickets. Are the trips commutable at all on the front or end of trips? Do you know what time you will begin and end your trips in advance, and if so how long in advance?

Thanks for any information you can provide, I really appreciate all the assistance in this forum and look forward to beginning the process.

ORD freighter base
 

there is a bid message out for ORD freighter now.
presently, the junior f/o in ORD has around two years.
the most junior Captains (2 years and 4 months) could
hold ORD now. the trip leaves ORD around 10:40pm to
go to ANC. a few days a week the flight comes in from
JFK and then onto ANC, it leave ORD around 3am. the
flight gets back to ORD at 8pm from ANC or 1am if it
comes through JFK.
if you have ORD as a prefered port, you could get most
of your trips out of ORD from day one.
despite what you may read on pprune, the job, crews,
medical coverage, number of vacation day,
aircraft and layovers are great. pay could be better,
training is 'unusual'. overall, the job is a home run.

CX has no jumpseat agreements with any US airlines.
after 6 months (you would be in HKG training for the
first 4), you get ZED tickets on AA. it costs about
$24 USD for short trips, and $36 ish for longer ones
(each way). ZED fares are very low priority on the
non-rev list.

Any chance I get get you to answer those same questions but in regard to Atlanta?

Thank you

ATL
 

the Atlanta flight arrives around 3am if it comes through DFW.
it returns to ANC non-stop around 5am. not sure what the
timing is, but a few days a week, i think it comes non-stop
from ANC, then goes to DFW-ANC. later this summer the frequency
is supposed to increase, to DFW and ATL (daily) and eventually operate
as ANC-DFW-ANC, ANC-ATL-ANC. there are rumours MIA may be added
as a tag leg to ATL. hotels are cheap around ATL ($40 ish) for commuters.
DFW is not a crew base. there are around 10 pilots based in ATL. junior
captain around 2 1/2 years, junior f/o little less than that. from looking at
the senority list, it looks like all new hires are getting JFK/LAX/ANC, all
are available. once onboard, you can put in for prefered port, ORD/ATL/
YYZ/YVR etc. i would guess most of your trips would start at your
prefered port.

Thanks for the response. I appreciate it.

During my interview they told me DFW is a base and that I could use it as a preferred port. Is this not the case now?

As far as Chicago goes don't base any decisions on the most junior FO. Its possible it was awarded out of seniority and won't happen again.:)

Hello fellow aviators,

I am also trying to get some info on CX (DEFO Cargo) operations out of the USA. So am I correct in understanding that the bases available in the US are ORD, ATL, JFK, ANC and LAX?

Also, I would be very interested in knowing what destinations are on your schedule, being based in the US as a F/O on Cargo.

And my last question for today: What does your generic schedule look like? Please include any "standby at home or at airport" information.

Thanks in advance!

C77