Originally Posted by
DAL73n
Actually, I wish it were only 16.5 years. I expect to spend 22 years at DAL, never crack the 50% mark and never sit in the left seat (I don't intend to be an M88A in NYC on reserve just to make CA). Never saw C2K pay (furloughed), haven't cracked even a 100K (on 11th year 73n F/O pay). This next contract better be good - I've paid my dues (literally and figuratively). I hope Tim's definition of significant improvements is somewhere near my definition (I did fill out my survey).
You cannot base your career progression expectations solely on retirements. It is a cyclical industry. Consolidation was/is occurring, and there will be more growth. When the politicos stop monkeying with the economy with their inane policies, and let business do business, there will be a big growth spurt. I have seen this movie, and I have the t-shirt. I was hired at the end of the big hiring boom of the middle/late 80s/early 90s, and at one point I thought I would be a 727 FE for 10 years.. based on retirements. Then there was a growth spurt in the mid 90s, and I moved up fairly rapidly. It happened before, it will happen again. Those of you that are shaking the SWA pom poms, better go into that knowing full well that they are at an end of their growth spurt due to both the merger and more importantly, the morphing of their business model. And make no mistake about that.. they ARE changing the way they do business. IF they don't get rid of the 717s, and correspondingly furlough over there, those guys are not gonna move with any rapidity for awhile. And.. as an added bonus, with a second aircraft type, their costs increase.. hence more and more like a legacy every day. Hubbin and spokin out of LGA and ATL... hehehehehehe