Originally Posted by
Gone Flying
probably not. unless we eliminate 5 day domestic trips and put a major cap on 4 days they will just continue to use those to cover any flying out of other cities.
In the last 40 years, delta has opened exactly 1 pilot base and closed it less than a decade later (MCO express). But they have closed several. In fact the only pilot base that remains from the ones we had 40 years ago is ATL. Our other 6 pilot bases were all acquired via one merger or another.
Don't forget about CVG, opened around 1989(?) at one time they had DC9s, MD88s, 727 and 767/75 based there and even had our MD11s landing there from FRA and LGW. After the NW merger with their big hub in DTW, Cincinnati was redundant and eventually closed.
A long time ago (around 2000) I was at a MCO base meeting where a crew resource guy (David Watson) was yapping about reserve utilization. He said, "If it were up to me there would only be 1 base, ATL, and all reserves would fly 70 hours a month because that's what we're paying them!"
I asked him, "If all the reserves are flying a full month every month, who's going to fly when there's a weather event with diverts and cancellations?"
He said, "That's what green slips are for."
This was when we had a 75hr cap, 6 years before PBS and 92hr lines.
Oh, and David Watson still works here, so if it's up to him I don't think we'll see any new bases anytime soon, at least until after he retires!