Originally Posted by
Packrat
Normally, initial domiciles are assigned in training. You are ranked in seniority order in various manners. Some airlines use date of birth, some use SSN. Once you are ranked, you will be given the current domicile openings.
The senior pilot will have first choice and so on down the line.
After that, there are base bids when openings occur. Generally, you will submit a standing bid that tells the company your preferences in order of seat/base position. For example, your United preference card might look like this:
1. 777 Captain DEN
2. 777 Captain IAH
3. 777 Captain EWR
and so on down the line until:
35. 737 F/O DEN
36. A320 F/O DEN
37. 737 F/O IAH
38. A320 F/O IAH
39. 737 F/O EWR
40. A320 F/O EWR
You get the picture. Once they go through the entire seniority list sorting people's preferences, you will be awarded the highest seat/domicile position you can hold.
NOTE: NEVER BID A SEAT POSITION/DOMICILE YOU DON'T WANT. I knew a guy who was the senior 727 F/E in CLT. He was bidding lines that allowed him to layover every night in his home town which happened to be where his Navy Reserve squadron was also based.
When USAIR merged with Piedmont they had a system bid and as a lark, he bid every Captain seat on the system. All of a sudden he found himself as the Junior USAIR Captain bidding reserve lines in Syracuse on the F-28.
Lesson: NEVER BID A SEAT/DOMICILE YOU DON'T WANT. Because, sure enough, you'll get it.
Great post! ^^^^^This!^^^^^^
I'd add that as a New Hire you'll be last in line and offered the position that every other active pilot has turned down. As you might imagine, many of the the initial assignments can be in less than desirable domiciles. What's less than desirable to me might be perfect for you, so don't get too wrapped up on the idea of good or bad. You'll be doing the same job no matter where you're based. To answer your question, you will be expected to train and start flying the line asap, so no, you won't have the opportunity to wait for your choice of bases. If you get the "worst base" you'll be stuck until another position opens that you have the seniority to hold (see below for what affects that timing).
Commuting is an option, some guys chase the money and commute for their entire career, others chase the lifestyle and like a 5 minute drive to work. There are so many subjective measures as to what makes a good base or bad base that it's hard to generalize.
Check out the domicile info on the APC airline profiles to see where each airline has pilot domiciles (there's no guarantee that a base will be there forever). Also, research the retirement forecast for each airline which will drive how quickly domicile and upgrade opportunities can be expected to open up to you.