A few of the seasonal TDY bases have shut down until next summer. I finished IOE 5 weeks ago and was kept around in LAX/LAS and will be headed to my domicile in 3 days. This was my first time bidding and I have a mixed line with a few people junior to me. As far as the TDYs have been going, there is now a "HOM" domicile where each month you bid for where you would like to be TDY to, they have a listing of available places and what is needed. There are several people who are actually bidding this, possibly helping keep people from getting non-vol'd. If you are single, no kids kind of thing, the positive of going this route is saving money...they will always provide a hotel and in most cases a car that generally is shared with another crewmember. One guy in my class is doing this so that he can see all the bases and decide where he would like to end up. The company has really screwed up with not hiring before now and there is a huge lack of pilot coverage, particularly with the reserves. That is quickly changing as we have already added 80 or so people below me in seniority and I started in May.

Now, for those of you who are thinking of coming here, there is a great deal of truth to what is being said. The work rules suck when compared to other places...the company is very flighty about following them and they are constantly in a panic-mode trying to get everything done. This company is run for the stockholders, make as much money as they can (and we are, hand over fist), pay a nice dividend and keep the investors happy. Contract negotiations don't seem to be working out very well as MG will delay until the last possible moment, but it's a long, drawn out process to get to the strike vote that several are hoping for. Compensation is not on par with everyone else, but you will fly a good bit and there are ways to make the extra money. The training shop has historically been quite sketchy...that is being worked on very seriously by the people actually doing the teaching. So far, the pilot group has been good, standard minority of dbags, and the FAs (so far) haven't been psychos.

I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker, one of the few military retirees, and the transition has been flawless from the AF...management really doesn't give a crap, you will give and not get, but if you know that and can deal with it, then this place can actually be fun when you are flying. I have to say, it is nice being able to show up at 0600 or so and be done with my day between noon and 3. Yes, I haven't been here long and been bent over like many of the others, so I can't speak to their experiences, many of which are certainly negative. Despite some's need to burn the place down, there are some good things happening here, though you cannot be naive and think that it's going to turn into sunshine and rainbows, even within a year or two. There is a trade-off to the rare overnights and (mostly) being home at the end of the day...it comes down to whether or not you are going to be able to deal with it. Eyes wide open...