Originally Posted by notEnuf

That's an exception and not the rule because of the undesirability of NYC. I did some checking. The junior line holding captain on the 717 in NYC is an '07 hire. That puts him on 10 year pay. The fact is to have any kind of control over your schedule at Delta as a captain you need a minimum of 10 years. Many bases are much more. The captain ranks will get more junior, but for the average non-NYC commuter, you'll make captain at 12ish years of service. By the time the retirements really kick in it could work its way down to 9ish but the norm will never be much below that. The increased pay from a new contract will push it back up again.