Originally Posted by
forgot to bid
For Delta it may have been an outlier but compared to other major carriers like CAL and FedEx getting heavies as new hires and flying then internationally was or is normal.
The guy who soloed my made 764 Captain at CAL in his late 30s of a ten year upgrade. Well 764, 762, 753, 752 Captain. I know FedEx a year or less ago was putting guys in the right seat of the MD11 right off the bat. I know because the 18 year or so MD11 LCA was telling me about it. Delta guys would call you a liar for suggesting that was happening and possibly suffer a minor stroke that anyone would have such an opportunity given how long it took them to get to the right seat of the ER.
I know I know, it was out of seniority that I bid for an got ATL 7ER B when I barely had gotten off of new hire OE in JFK. Wait that's not out of senior... ah whatever.
The real crazy thing was new hire FO becoming a ATL 767 AQFO or whatever that called. That's nuts. That's crazy talk.
Yeah, those guys getting right seat at CAL were IRO's. Paid half pay to DH to Europe and then fly back. That's the other side to the story. Oh, and EWR is like our NYC, so double the fun. I've got a friend that can hold 777 A at FDX at only 15 years but is a MD-10/11 test FO who gets a 95 hour gurantee and flies maybe one test hop a month. He can also pick up open time at straight or premium pay if they don't need him to DH to SIN for a test hop. He grosses well over 300k and would take a pay cut to go to the left seat of the 777. EK hires DEC's, they should be hiring some of those this year with 30 plus airframe deliveries. I made 727 A at 8 years plus, but didn't go to the left seat of the ER until 18 years, and I have no compaints because there are many who fared much much worse than me. This industry will make you go crazy if you try and think what the next move is gonna be.