Originally Posted by
Avroman
Yup, where the current guys are leaving from is as much a factor of where the new guys are bidding to. I'd be looking at where most of the current Delta "poolies" are currently sitting as a bit of a clue where the openings will come in the next year. By now, most of the guys that have been here a year are where they want to be (at least in current seat) So where the openings will come will largely be where the attrition is (unless you want to buy into that CRJ-700 rumor)
You got a year before -700's. Expect something different beforehand. Bid where you want to be by base, don't worry about -200 or -900. Both are jets, both go fast, both are fun to fly, one is a Miata, the other is an Expedition in car terms. Go for the base you want. If you get DTW or Msp -200 first for the base, you can bid the -900 soon and it's an easy transition. Don't look at the first aircraft. It'll be fun and you will learn something.
Quick story, in 2006 I started at what is now endeavor. First day of class the guy from planning came in and said "hey, there are 30 of you, we have spots for street CA and FO in all 3 bases (Msp,DTW,MEM) so unless all of you want 1 base you should get what you want". We put our bids in that afternoon. Next morning, "hey, guys senior changed bids, all of you are going to DTW FO". That sucked. Next vacancy, exactly where I wanted. Commuted for 2 months.
Moral of the story, seniority rules. Start, get your Sen number, and let it work for you in time. It won't take long. 1 class in a merger, personally, was a 500 seniority number split, so every class date matters.