Airline Pilot Forums

Ok, so I am commuting to JFK from AUS and I decide to take the NW (aka Mesaba) flight through DTW since all the Jet Blues are booked. One of the nicest gate agents I've met was up to her elbows on delayed and cancelled flights and the resulting passenger carngage. She got me booked all the way through and even found the last real seat on the airplane.

When I got to DTW it was BLOOMING FREEZING!!! The wind was howling straight from the North Pole! Our jetway gate was occupied, of course (Just like JFK), so we had to park at one of the RJ get out and walk gates. OMG it was cold. The NW guys I saw said, "Yeah, it's cold, but Minnie is way colder." So why NW? Why not Caribbean or Hawaiian or Air Bahamas?

Nice airport though. On a side note. We are not integrated much yet. To get on a NW flight one has to get a paper ticket from the counter and cross flow for passengers is like the merger never happened. Lot's of work to be done.

Better get used to the cold. Because after SOC you won't be able to hold 7ER anywhere any more when Senior NW pilots move into better paying aircraft.

i was in and out of DTW and MSP all day yesterday and today and it is smurfing FREEZING! I cant imagine how the rampers stand out there all day. It literally hurt to do the walkarounds. The problem was the wind. -1f isnt that bad but when you add a 30kt wind to it then it gets bad. the windchill is crazy cold. reason 823 why i enjoy MEM ;)

Wait 'til January and February. :D

Better get used to the cold. Because after SOC you won't be able to hold 7ER anywhere any more when junior NW pilots move into better paying aircraft.

Step away from the crack pipe...How does a junior pilot displace/bump a senior pilot ?:D

Step away from the crack pipe...How does a junior pilot displace/bump a senior pilot ?:D

Sorry your majesty, I know you're perfect and don't make mistakes. It is now corrected!;)

Better get used to the cold. Because after SOC you won't be able to hold 7ER anywhere any more when Senior NW pilots move into better paying aircraft.
The 7ER pays the same as the NWA 757 now and any "senior" NW pilot could have held that for a long time now. Besides, the 7ER will likely be in DTW and MSP soon and "senior" NWA types will be bidding ATL 330 and 744 positions. However, if it happens after SOC then a LOT of "senior" DAL pilots, thanks to the SLI, will be getting the ATL 330 instead of following the 7ER to a different base.

When will they allow bidding to other aircraft? (DL to A330, etc?)

After SOC. Probably at the end of the year.

Ok, so I am commuting to JFK from AUS and I decide to take the NW (aka Mesaba) flight through DTW since all the Jet Blues are booked. One of the nicest gate agents I've met was up to her elbows on delayed and cancelled flights and the resulting passenger carngage. She got me booked all the way through and even found the last real seat on the airplane.

When I got to DTW it was BLOOMING FREEZING!!! The wind was howling straight from the North Pole! Our jetway gate was occupied, of course (Just like JFK), so we had to park at one of the RJ get out and walk gates. OMG it was cold. The NW guys I saw said, "Yeah, it's cold, but Minnie is way colder." So why NW? Why not Caribbean or Hawaiian or Air Bahamas?

Nice airport though. On a side note. We are not integrated much yet. To get on a NW flight one has to get a paper ticket from the counter and cross flow for passengers is like the merger never happened. Lot's of work to be done.

JetBlue/Austin flights are now been operated with the A320 which have 5 jumpseats. I hope this helps your commute.

See that is the thing most people do not get. When this cross bidding starts there will be guys MDed off jets they thought they were fine in. It goes one of two ways.
For the DAL guys on lets say on the 767 that have been here since before 9-11. When they move the ER to SEA if it comes out of ATL or the 777 to MSP, those guys that live here are going to bid the 767 domestic and the 777 guy will bid the ER. It is a cascading effect. Guys that do not commute will not want to start and will bid what keeps them here in ATL. That means that junior guys will get bumped to the 88 here or the real junior guys will get bumped to the 9 in ATL or the 88 in MSP, or god knows where else. With many of the DAL guys living in base (except NYC) the senior guys will bid the next junior equipment to keep from commuting. Displaced on a surplus award when a category is moved to a new base or shrunk.

Now with the NWA folks. It is true they cannot bump you, but and it is a huge but. When they shrink lets say the 9 category in DTW and MSP or move the 320 from MSP to DTW or shift the 757 cat to our ER cat and do not keep it in MSP and DTW, these guys are displaced off their jets. They then get to bid the entire non-fenced system. So in effect an aircraft like the 767 in ATL that has no openings will have displacements big time because pilots with the seniority are going to VD off the 9 and bid the 767 or the ER or the 765. They can as we can when there is a surplus bid. This is where lots of guys are going to get irked, or whatever you want to call it. ATL will get very senior, DTW and NYC junior as the NWA guys realize that the commute sucks.
Do not think that you cannot get displaced when they start to move bases. You can and will. Guys that do not mind the North will love it, as they will get to fly better schedules, but those that refuse to commute will be junior or on junior equipment for a few more years. Remember that after SOC all categories are OUR categories not ours and theirs. (Except the 777 and 744 of course)

JetBlue/Austin flights are now been operated with the A320 which have 5 jumpseats. I hope this helps your commute.

When I used to commute through dtw it was always a hold at the gate to get parked. There were times we sat out for 45 mins cause ramp was on "union break" LOL

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Do not think that you cannot get displaced when they start to move bases. You can and will.

Which is precisely why ALPA messed this up when they didn't get the NWA version of recall rights... Those of us who will be bumped will likely take YEARS (if ever) to get back when the Obama'd economy gets rolling...

6 months of recall rights is no recall right at all. You would think that even the company would want longer recall rights for cheaper training costs.

Do not think that you cannot get displaced when they start to move bases. You can and will. (Except the 777 and 744 of course)


Exactly why, after my MD to JFK, I'm moving to Chicago. One leg anywhere in the system and close to MSP and DTW. I have this sneaking suspicion, if I don't get furloughed, that my move back to the ER will be short lived and not my last involuntary displacement.

6 months of recall rights is no recall right at all. You would think that even the company would want longer recall rights for cheaper training costs.

OK.. my bad then... I had heard ya'll had essentially infinite recall rights if you got displaced. Why don't we get a movement going for that?

OK.. my bad then... I had heard ya'll had essentially infinite recall rights if you got displaced. Why don't we get a movement going for that?

ts,

We did have infinite recall rights and I agree that we should get a movement to get that back. When we had it, it was base and position specific. As in, if you were a DTW DC-9 A reserve pilot and got displaced you only have recall rights back to that base and reserve position.

Which is way better than what I think we have now. 6 months, right?

New K Now

Six months after SOC