Originally Posted by
atr42flyer
I am in indoc at Fedex now, I made a good decision to leave my previous employer. The systems they have in place here to support the pilots is pretty good. In my class the airbus went junior, the MD11 guys were handpicked and started a day earlier than everyone else. There is only going to be one more 777 spot for the year based on the current training letter for new hires. CGN and HKG have no openings so you would plan on the 767, 757, Airbus, all Memphis, or if you have the quals they could pick you to fly the MD11.
Congrats on getting hired. The training letter is an extremely fluid document and there are rumors of at least one giant bid, possibly two in the near future. There will be openings in almost every seat and almost every domicile that a new hire could either potentially start off in or bid for. The pilots in CGN and HKG continually cycle in and out due to staffing and contractual reasons. While the opportunity for a new hire to to be assigned a 777 seat will be a rare event, with the upcoming retirements and potential for growth from the TNT deal, if you are desperate to fly the 777 (with its associated international pay bumps) you will probably have an opportunity to do so fairly quickly, albeit as someone who will stay junior in that seat for a very long time.
Short story long and as backwards as it sounds, don't base future staffing needs on the current training letter. The company will be offering foreign domiciles to new hires, and if you are willing to be junior you will have the opportunity to go just about anywhere in any seat (the exception being LAX MD-11) in short order.