realize that just because there are openings posted doesn't mean they will be filled immediately.

There have been tons of 88 openings for a while, but they haven't been making up the majority of new hire classes. For one, the training department can't handle 60 new hires a month in the 88. They have to spread the wealth. There's only so many cockpit trainers, sims, and instructors. In 2008 so far, seems to be about 1/3 of the new hire slots have been 88s to NY (shuttle), a third 7ER to NY, and the rest a spattering of other things...73s to NY/LA/even CVG, plus 88/90s to SLC. Note that even though there are a ton of ATL 88s open, there still have been NONE given to new hire classes lately. Another thing--and this is just a guess, since I have no credentials whatsoever to say this--is that the 88 (and domestic in general) doesn't really make the company money. I'd guess if they had to leave anything short staffed (so to speak), it would be the 88, so they could fully man the ER and all the money making international stuff for the summer.

Don't hurt yourself trying to figure out what your drop will be. There's no real way to tell and you'll just frustrate yourself. Just have a good idea how you would rank order your choices. The list will be thrown up on the board the first AM of indoc and you'll probably pick by noon, so you only get a couple hours to think it over. Give some thought to all the other bases, too...LAX/SLC/CVG. There have been several of those lately. Might be easier for you than NYC, but who knows if they'll be in your drop.