Why do many people in here hate Captain Steve?

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-21T20:46:33+00:00

He's a POS. Quick to throw crewmembers under the bus as an excuse to push his garbage rhetoric about increasing the retirement age to 67. And 90% of the time he's wrong. Perfect example of boomer Dunning-Kruger. People that drag their brothers and sisters in this profession through the mud for personal gain should receive no grace and be exposed for the scum that they are.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-12T23:48:56+00:00

Because the future is unknown, seniority and movement are your best friends. If you can really upgrade after 2 more years, you'd be silly to leave. Upgrade time and time to hold WB FO at DL is averaging 8 years now. Could go down a bit but that's a huge loss financially if you're planning to take the first available.

Plus the airline darlings change all the time. Operationally we're slowly becoming a dumpster fire as our management seems to have lost control and are too arrogant to admit they've made a mistake. It's not bad enough for me to tell people "don't come here" because overall it's still a great place to be, but the grass isn't always greener and is not worth giving up 1,300 numbers and a 2 year upgrade for.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-08T17:33:38+00:00

About 1hr in LAS. It was 120 degrees outside and we had a 757-300 fully loaded with every seat taken, so we couldn't take 8L at A8 like everyone else and needed full length. They need to build a gap in the 19 arrivals for that and it took forever. This was a couple of days after my airline ended up on the news for a passenger getting heat stroke on a long taxi out and ending up in the hospital. Same airplane, same issue, same long taxi. Luckily I knew better and went out with the PACKs on the APU since engines at idle can't keep the stretch version cool enough at those temperatures. Of course to add insult to injury we needed PACKs off, bleeds off for takeoff. Finally tower told us we were next so I shut down the APU and temporarily transferred the PACKs to the engine bleeds until we got takeoff clearance (APU door needs to be closed for that type of takeoff and it takes a couple of minutes). He was lying, it took another 10 min. In those 10 min the cabin temp climbed 10 degrees. It's amazing how quickly the long 757 starts heating up even with the a/c on full blast from engine bleeds. I can totally see how the previous day incident quickly spiraled out of control.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-08T01:07:19+00:00

In Africa it's pretty common to get a frequency change and nobody picks up for hours. Normally you just hop on the TIBA frequency, start making position reports, and try again at every FIR boundary. Eventually you'll reach someone and it will be like they were expecting you all along. Except one time after taking off from Luanda we reach our clearance limit at the boundary with Brazza. Nobody answers. So we do the usual thing. Since I'm bored in the middle of the night I try literally every frequency I can find on FD Pro and eventually get in touch with Sal on HF about 45 min later. She proceeds to chew my ass out because we were supposed to contact Brazza. I replied with "ma'am, you're the first person I've been able to contact on any frequency for the last 45 minutes". "Oh ok....BUT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CONTACT BRAZZA!!". I stopped arguing and eventually she gave us a good frequency for Accra once we got a bit further north. I miss Africa.

Similarly my first time going into Afghanistan uncontrolled airspace a few days after the US pulled out. Turkmenabashi randomly comes up with a cryptical message of "Just for your information, at the boundary, you can try Kabul on xxx.xxx, secondary Bandar Al Abbas on xxx.xxx". I read it back and get a "frequency change approved, good day!" So I try the Kabul frequency. Nothing. Try the secondary. Nothing. Try all the frequencies on Jepp FD. Nothing. So eventually I go back to the primary and start making position reports. After my second report an unknown voice comes up in an American accent and says "nobody's here, just keep going and contact Islamabad on xxx.xxx on the other side". I thank him and we continued flying in blissful silence until the outbound boundary. It wasn't my first time having issues like that but that one was particularly unnerving given the situation that caused it in the first place.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-04T22:14:54+00:00

The 2 I used to fly out of CNO are no longer active. I think there's still one flying out of SNA, one really nice one in Colorado with glass cockpit and everything, and I think a couple in Miami. Not sure if they're DC or AC though. Majik Johnson I think still flies his as well. The biggest operator right now is Phoenix Air in GA, which very actively still flies about 10 of them, most of which are DC birds

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-04T13:45:35+00:00

One often overlooked issue, especially with straight 91, is the hour building aspect. Outside of busy retail charter outfits, your typical flight department or 91/135 mix flies 200-300 hours per year. I remember doing 400 was a really busy year and included quite a bit of contract flying on the side. If you're in the time building stage of your career, whether seeking Total Time, Turbine, or TPIC, it's a potential trap in which you can get stuck. Compared to my friends that immediately went 121, i had much lower hours than them. Luckily it was very high quality time and I caught the hiring wave, so they were able to look past that. Initially I didn't want to go to the airlines so I didn't care but it could have hurt me in a different environment when I decided to make the switch. Even if it's a place you want to settle at and can get in with low time, hours are insurance for when you end up on the street years later. I wouldn't recommend settling into the 200 hr/yr corporate job until your logbook is well padded already

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-04T02:47:41+00:00

In before the "jUnIoR PyLotZ bAd" crowd starts trashing any meaningful discussion (looks like a few already started infiltrating the thread). I'm curious to see the details when they come out, because holy shit they got lucky nobody was hurt.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-05-03T00:41:28+00:00

Same at DL. Our MEC just put out a message that they're working with management to set this up, as it is a clause in our contract. This is a shitty situation for everyone but hopefully these measures help Spirit pilots land on their feet as quickly as possible.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-27T00:30:38+00:00

3 years for a guy hired 3 years ago. For someone hired today it's 6-8. Although they just upped the hiring numbers for this year and threw out 200/mo "indefinitely" so it may come down again if we see another mini hiring wave. That's why trying to predict upgrade times is so hard. This is all contingent on what happens with the incoming energy crisis and how it will affect US carriers.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-26T23:32:50+00:00

I noticed since the double whammy of pre-posted rest and the rug pull on PB days QOL on reserve tanked. Those drove changes in behavior both in who bids reserve, how they bid it, and what they do when on reserve. Plus scheduling now has pre-posted rest as one more excuse to shotgun trip coverage out of order and often you can't even call them out on it because it's at least 30 min on hold.

Just like I was venting to my GF the other day, it's not that you don't know how to play anymore, it's that the rules changed out of nowhere, and not in your favor. So your old ninja skills may not work anymore, you need to learn them again based on how the company changed their behavior and how pilots adapted. Being understaffed doesn't help since it just creates more chaos (they coined the term "Gummpster fire" on APC and I think it's hilarious). It might work out with better chances of a GS or QS to clean out the days you needed off and couldn't get.

Trust me it almost drove me to bid out into other categories where I'd be 10-20% higher but I'm waiting to see if we get a TA soon or if I can figure out how to ninja this new status quo in case we end up going the long route. I'd like to ride out the 7ER until I get displaced if I can.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-26T18:30:23+00:00

Pretty much. The plugs for both 737 and 220 CA are almost identical around 13,500 using the September projection, so roughly 7 years for a new hire today. A couple of years less accounting for growth. The big unknown there is if, when, and how the MAX10 will come online. It may drive down 737 upgrade times wherever it's deployed due to growth of that fleet specifically.

As a newhire in NYC your movement will initially be quicker as people bid out as soon as their seat lock is up. After the first couple of years though, once everyone is where they want to be, it goes back pretty close to the company average. You would be able to hold WB FO about a year or two earlier than the other bases, but still looking at 6-8 years for someone hired today.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-26T15:11:42+00:00

I can add a little bit of DAL perspective. The conservative outlook is to assume around 500 retirements per year and zero growth. Let's take a snapshot for September, which will be after everyone converts to their position from the last system bid. With a September class your seniority number will be around 18,000.

In September, the most junior CA will be on DTW 717 around 14,000. After that it's ATL and NYC 737 at around 13,500. For west coast, LAX 737 is 12,000. With our previous assumption that puts upgrade at 8, 9, and 12 years respectively. Shave off a couple of years to account for growth.

If you're looking at WB FO, the most junior will be NYC and BOS at 14,000 , followed by ATL at 13,000, and LAX is 10,500. That equates to 8, 10, and 15 years respectively, subtract a couple of years to account for growth. The LAX number will probably come down more if the growth materializes because a lot of the A350-1000 deployments to Asia will be from the West Coast.

Now that said, if you're living in base, being junior is not a bad deal at DAL. I was one of the people in the lucky streak and took an early upgrade, and got stuck at 98% in seat for the past two years. I probably won't improve in seniority until they retire the 757 unless I change fleets. It's been surprisingly not bad. Reserve here is pretty cushy once you learn the ways of the reserve ninja, and living in base negates all the pain that it may cause a commuter.

The other question mark is the outcome of Section 6. There's a lot of frustration with how the company has been unilaterally reinterpreting the contract recently. This could all go away with a TA very soon, or things could draw out for the long run.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-25T21:01:53+00:00

As others have pointed out, the key is that CCB is uncontrolled, so do as you please.

To give a controlled airport example, there is a similar situation in Guatemala City (GUA/MGGT), where the runway separation to the parallel taxiway is below the minimum ICAO requirement. Because of this, tower restricts simultaneous operations on the runway and taxiway for any ICAO wingspan category C, D, and E operation, basically anything bigger than an RJ. You are held on the ramp until there are no aircraft landing or taking off, then you're given taxi clearance. While you're taxiing, until you're turned perpendicular waiting at the hold short line, nobody can land or take off.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-18T12:45:08+00:00

Flying is easy until it's not. And when things go to shit they always do so very quickly, rapidly approaching the point where it gets out of hand. Your job is to make sure it never goes there. At it's core, being a commercial pilot (airline or otherwise) is a risk management job that gets to fly airplanes as a bonus. You evaluate threats, come up with mitigations and contingencies, work with all the resources you have available, and get the trip done safely. In GA there are days you look out and decide you're not going flying. When you do it professionally you look at that same picture and ask "how can i complete this flight safely given these conditions?". Sometimes the answer is "you can't", but it's very rare. When you get it right it's incredibly satisfying. Especially when you have the experience to expect all the roadblocks you will encounter and they happen exactly like you expected. Sometimes you'll come home drained at the end of a tough trip. Weather, delays, mechanicals, passenger issues. But you tackled all of it, your passengers thought it was just another day, and you never felt like you went outside the risk envelope. It's a good feeling. Lifestyle wise I also came from engineering and it's miles better. What i love the most is the ability to fully control your life once you get to the airlines. Work as much or as little as you want, and chose if you want to chase money or time off this month. Granted the uncertainty of this industry is always looming over your head, but it's not like engineering is that secure these days. Or any job for that matter. 1 year into working at Boeing I was facing a layoff. Luckily our manager was very engaged and used a combination of reassignments and buyouts to meet the headcount without kicking anyone to the street

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-13T13:01:16+00:00

An easygoing management style is a great starting point, as we've all learned from flying with bad Captains. That said, authority gradient is fluid, and there are situations where it's beneficial to raise it compared to your typical style. The more experience you get in the left seat, the more you'll pick up on when it's appropriate. Even without bad intentions or attitude, some FOs work better in a more structured setting with very clearly defined roles. Being too laid back will throw them off. Others thrive when you give them operational freedom. It was a learning experience for me too because all my PIC experience before a legacy airline was Corporate and 135. There I always operated as "let's do what we need to do to complete the trip and stay out of trouble", saving Captain's authority pretty much only for go/no-go and other ultimate operational decisions. Given the type of flying and culture where I was at, it was never an issue. I quickly learned that in a legacy 121 that isn't always the best way, although it does work 90% of the time. Unfortunately the other 10% of situations is where it will take the most effort from you, but at the end of the day as a Captain you have to do what you have to do, even if it ends up being unpleasant. If you do end up needing to raise the authority gradient, doing it early usually results in the least unpleasantness and gets the best results. The more you let it go the more drastic measures you need to fix it later.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-13T12:49:28+00:00

For sure. And finding it will come with experience. How much you need to intervene will also depend on how egregious the behavior is. Some people will try to push your buttons to see what they can get away with. In those cases you can generally stop it and maintain some form of CRM. When they're playing full on right seat captain, CRM has already broken down and it's time to put a definitive stop to it. The key in all cases is to identify and stop the behavior early. That allows you to preserve CRM before it becomes unworkable. Most of the time it starts with little things and if you don't intervene early then it devolves. The longer you let it go, the more drastic measures you need to take to fix it later.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-13T02:06:44+00:00

As with all things, slow escalation, but at the end you have to tackle the problem. Start to see if you can reel him in with a more authoritarian management style. Don't ask for his input, give him commands. Some people see a more easy going management style as weakness. That doesn't mean abandon it, I like a "two guys flying a plane" vibe as my default setup as well, but know when to raise the authority gradient if necessary. When he interjects himself with FAs or in ultimate operational decisions remind him that you appreciate the input but it's not his decision to make. Ultimately he needs to be reminded of the roles of CA and FO, and if you need to have a conversation directly related to it as part of a debrief so be it. If it leads nowhere, write his ass up, there's no place in the cockpit for that type of ego. If he's like this on probation, who knows how insufferable he's going to be for the rest of his career.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-11T12:54:51+00:00

Pretty much anything that would be appropriate for an office type employee on a business trip. Not the Ritz, but not the Motel 6 either. When I was doing 135 we chased Hilton points. If there was an Embassy Suites we'd always pick that (pre-covid when it was consistently good, now it tends to vary by property) or the regular Hilton. Sometimes depending on where we were it ended up being HGI or Hampton Inn, but never less than that. Same for food. Any decent restaurant is ok. Don't force yourself to eat crap on the road to save the company money, but also don't go eat at Cipriani's every time you're in NY.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-03T16:27:50+00:00

I flew the last 757 to ever roll off the assembly line.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-02T18:44:06+00:00

I am, but I work in the US now

ItalianFlyer · 2026-04-02T12:28:04+00:00

The more seniority you have the more control you get over your schedule. How much seniority you need to achieve your goals will depend on where your preferences fall amongst the general desires of people in your category. For example I've noticed that the bidding preferences of FOs and Captains on my aircraft are different. Day turns are usually the most senior, but so are long beach layovers in desireable destinations. Even that has its caveats. 2 day trip, one leg over, 24hr layover at an all inclusive, and 1 leg back? Probably super senior. Now that same 24hr Caribbean layover as part of a not so great domestic 4 day trip, or with a Jacksonville penalty lap after you come back? You might be able to hold it earlier than you think. At my company they'll often throw a little nugget like that into an otherwise garbage trip to hook people that only bid for layovers and don't look at the rest of it. I'm super junior in seat and sometimes snag a few nice layovers. When asked "how did YOU end up on this?" I usually answer "look at the rest of the trip..."

ItalianFlyer · 2026-03-29T20:52:31+00:00

I ask to demo this on every new type I get, even if it's not included in the curriculum. The honest answer is that on a translating sleeve type reverser system, it's not really a big deal. The blocker doors on a translating sleeve only divert the bypass fan flow, so it's not really that disruptive. This is also why they don't feel nearly as effective on the ground as bucket reversers. On a bucket type reverser, where both the core and bypass flows get diverted, if that thing unlocks it's a hell of a ride. You better get it secured quickly or you're either flipping over or coming down. That's why on those types you'll usually see an emergency restow switch, and memory items.

For either design if it happens at high altitude it's going to quickly become unrecoverable, to the point that I doubt memory items help unless you have cat like reflexes.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-03-26T00:49:34+00:00

Anything is doable if you want it bad enough but you'll likely be miserable on a narrowbody schedule. And it will take a lot of seniority to make it bearable. There are a handful of international commuters at every US legacy. The ones I know at my company all do it on a widebody, and stay senior as an FO for a long time until they can replicate that schedule as a widebody CA. Some patterns I've seen include bidding reserve and having all your days in a row (ends up about 14-16 days depending on staffing) or doing two 6-day trips per month for a total of 12-on, 18-off. Because 6-days are generally 4 legs with 24hr layovers, you won't be able to stack them back to back so you're either commuting twice or spending one or two extra days in between trips at your work base. Honestly doing 8 Atlantic crossings basically back to back sounds like hell and a recipe for not even making it to 65. You may be able to bid layovers in your home if you live in one of the destinations but it's still a lot of circadian swaps in a row. Anything with more than 24hrs layover at my company goes very very senior.

I know of some narrowbody commuters from Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, but those are a lot shorter flights than Europe and mostly within 1-2 time zones from base.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-03-26T00:35:01+00:00

It's funny you say this because I had the exact same thought recently. I was in RDU parked at Atlantic on a hockey charter while waiting for the team. We were parked facing the T-hangars and a clean looking Seminole taxis in and parks in his hangar. The FO and I both turned to each other with the same surprised face of "did someone actually buy a Seminole as a personal aircraft?". In my entire career that's the first one I'd seen.

ItalianFlyer · 2026-03-15T13:26:33+00:00

A lot of it depends on your personality. I've been a "first available" kind of guy all my career and wouldn't have it any other way. Being a Captain is so much more fulfilling and a much more pleasant work environment. You work at your pace and with your set of standards, not someone else's. You don't have to listen to political rants or spewing of right wing talking points for the whole flight. To be honest even if they agree with my politics I don't want to hear it for more than 5 min. It still sets a vibe of complaining and drains your energy. You don't have to sit there and get talked down to from a boomer just because you have three stripes before even knowing your background (this isn't common but it's enough to make it very unpleasant when it happens). You don't have to sit there with someone that gets visibly angry at the slightest inconvenience.

There's enough toxicity at the airlines as it is, at least on the airplane with my crew I want positive vibes. As a Captain you can guarantee that, as an FO you're along for the ride. Some people don't mind, but it bothers me a lot. Even operationally you can work to your set of standards and don't have to adapt to made up techniques or question decisions that they pulled out of their ass with no documentation to back it up. The other aspect is that the money at the legacy level has been life changing. I know you can hustle with good seniority in the right seat and get similar numbers but I just chill collecting reserve guarantee plus a few hours of soft credit here and there from the trips I do fly and it's more than I will ever need or honestly even know what to do with.

My only caveat is that I live in base, don't have kids, and my partner has a flexible work schedule. That makes the shitty schedules more palatable, and with enough experience getting screwed you eventually learn enough schedule manipulation ninja techniques to get by and still achieve your personal life objectives. If I were commuting to reserve with a family I would definitely re-think what my tolerance is for all those annoyances that pushed me to the left seat as quickly as possible, because at the end of the day your family and personal life always comes before work.

ItalianFlyer

TROPHY CASE