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Is US flying CRAF flights?

CRAF flying for April has not been offered for bidding so I assume that it doesn't exist currently, but it might be in the near future. 1-800-327-0117 option 1, then press the option for charters by base. For those who are interested and not too familiar with bidding...you can bid on any charter (CRAF included) by selecting the charter bidding option. You can bid for a charter that operates out of any base. You will get space positive to get there if you get a regular charter, and you get a must-ride if it's a CRAF. Picking up a charter releases you from all trip obligations for the month--call scheduling to drop one or all of your trips for the month. You will remain responsible for monthly flight time. Charters/CRAF are posted as soon as we get them and can be bid on immediately. The cut-off time to bid is by 1100 EST two days in advance of trip date. And of course, you must be qualified to work on the specific aircraft. This was a problem during the last CRAF since many senior mamas could not hold the 330 and 767 because they never had initial training.
 
I'm not sure if CRAF flying will even be possible in the next 6 months (at least with East A/C) with the upstart of all the Seasonal Flying by the first week of May. All of the widebodies and ETOPS will be utilized for scheduled flying and we all know how tight that already is.
 
If the Govt says we need your plane, US doesnt have a choice.

I remember when we converted the 767 into a flying hospital during the first gulf war.
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I sorta remember US getting 1 million per round trip from the government, and when our seasonal flying started, we sold the CRAF flying to charter airlines because we could make so much more with our regular Trans-Atlantic.
 
USCREW said:
I thought so.

Our seasonal flying is irrelevant.
Click to expand...


Interesting....didn't know that. Could prove to be another fly in the ointment for summer travel to Europe if indeed CRAF flying is needed by US.
 
USCREW said:
CRAF flying for April has not been offered for bidding so I assume that it doesn't exist currently, but it might be in the near future. 1-800-327-0117 option 1, then press the option for charters by base. For those who are interested and not too familiar with bidding...you can bid on any charter (CRAF included) by selecting the charter bidding option. You can bid for a charter that operates out of any base. You will get space positive to get there if you get a regular charter, and you get a must-ride if it's a CRAF. Picking up a charter releases you from all trip obligations for the month--call scheduling to drop one or all of your trips for the month. You will remain responsible for monthly flight time. Charters/CRAF are posted as soon as we get them and can be bid on immediately. The cut-off time to bid is by 1100 EST two days in advance of trip date. And of course, you must be qualified to work on the specific aircraft. This was a problem during the last CRAF since many senior mamas could not hold the 330 and 767 because they never had initial training.
Click to expand...

Where would you bid and can you bid if you're on reserve?
 
During one CRAF trip, we had absolutely no troops to transport so we sat on the tarmac at a base waiting. The round trip is paid in advance and we were required to wait up to 5 hours. During this time, the military brought us 15 buckets of KFC, 30 mini pies, and a whole lot of side dishes. There were chicken bones everywhere. After 4 hours and 45 minutes, out of nowhere came a planeful of marines. I have never seen an entire AB 330 board up in ten minutes flat. I was still eating when we pushed back.
 
Iheartflying said:
Where would you bid and can you bid if you're on reserve?
Click to expand...
Any F/A can bid with the usual number. Follow the promts for charter info, then call back to bid on the charter bidding prompt. You are calling people in admin who handles charters. This is not the same as crew sched. Remember that the very latest time is by 1100 EST two days prior. If you are in the middle of a trip and are awarded a charter or CRAF, you will have the option of getting off your first trip. You can review the whole charter/scheduling/pay/CRAF in the contract.

CRAF trips require a special briefing, like international even if you remain state-side.
 
USCREW said:
Any F/A can bid with the usual number. Follow the promts for charter info, then call back to bid on the charter bidding prompt. You are calling people in admin who handles charters. This is not the same as crew sched. Remember that the very latest time is by 1100 EST two days prior. If you are in the middle of a trip and are awarded a charter or CRAF, you will have the option of getting off your first trip. You can review the whole charter/scheduling/pay/CRAF in the contract.

CRAF trips require a special briefing, like international even if you remain state-side.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. It's good to know this stuff for the future.
 
View attachment 7438

There's also two other people that travel with the crew. A weight and balance specialist since we need exact numbers and all troops are individually weighed with their gear on. We also had a mechanic who stays onboard the ENTIRE TIME! I mean he doesn't get off the plane at all, I think that's five days straight for the round trip. I always got the same guy, a PSA West coast mechanic who's from Hawaii. He said that only foremen could work the flights. It had to do with the mechanic's contract. Probably against the rules to not be able to shower for days. Anyway, this mechanic wasn't able to fix anything for us like coffee pots and such...He said we couldn't trust anyone in the Middle East to fix our planes. Plus he was the guard dog while we had those nice 48 hour lay-overs. We did buy him goodies occasionally.
 
USCREW said:
View attachment 7438

There's also two other people that travel with the crew. A weight and balance specialist since we need exact numbers and all troops are individually weighed with their gear on. We also had a mechanic who stays onboard the ENTIRE TIME! I mean he doesn't get off the plane at all, I think that's five days straight for the round trip. I always got the same guy, a PSA West coast mechanic who's from Hawaii. He said that only foremen could work the flights. It had to do with the mechanic's contract. Probably against the rules to not be able to shower for days. Anyway, this mechanic wasn't able to fix anything for us like coffee pots and such...He said we couldn't trust anyone in the Middle East to fix our planes. Plus he was the guard dog while we had those nice 48 hour lay-overs. We did buy him goodies occasionally.
Click to expand...

I flew for a charter outfit while I was furlouughed and it was pretty much the same when we transported troops. We always had a mechanic with us and I felt so bad for them that they were away from home for so long.
 
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