Haha, I don’t think either was a one size fits all message. One mans trash is another’s treasure. Tom’s tools has the 73 captain seat going to a new hire not even done with bus training. Seems unlikely but these upcoming bids might get almost as interesting as UAL’s last bid.

 

Any word on what bases these "seat locks" could be going to? I could speculate that the new birds are going to Florida, and everyone wants to go there. Except for some of us from the cold climate and would love GRR/ FNT. Who gives a rip what aircraft it is right?

 

Boeing bases are FL for now anyone assigned to the 737 should plan on living there 2-3 years minimum. It's possible the company would suspend the equipment lock (it's not a "seat" lock) on a case-by-case basis to allow a pilot to bid the Airbus (and get out of Florida) before the equipment lock runs it's course. No guarantees of course.

 

How about PIE? still a domicile? Airbus or boeing?

 

PIE and SRQ are a joint base right now. However that could change in the future based on the aircraft plan. Later this year PIE will begin a transition away from the Airbus to the 737,. SRQ will remain all Airbus.

 

What are the chances of getting ABE as a new hire. My social security number starts with a 1, if it makes a difference.

 

Hello, new hire with a class date in March.

Bottom Junior reserve in Vegas, PVU, FLL or IWA.
Trying to fly as much in order to offset first year pay.

Looking for the best base to fly between LAS, IWA, PVU and FLL knowing that I would be at the bottom. Would I still get used ? Or would it be a hiding spot ?

thank you

 

As I mentioned before if on reserve you will not get used enough to go over the minimum guarantee. It is possible to pick up a trip on a day off to make some extra as that is paid above the guarantee. This will be hard being New. IWA and LAS seem to be about the same seniority LAS maybe a bit less. PVU is smaller and outside people living there it turns over a bit at the bottom, you would be PVU flying is a lot 4 leg days but again being junior the first year it's hard to get extra pay. It is hard to guess which base would give you the faster opportunity to hold a line of flying. I would not plan on getting more than min for at least 6 months and it could well be over a year. If you end up on the 737 you will be in Florida and at least at first it will be hard to get extra flying with all the training that will go on, it will be possible to get to a line faster on the 737 but not a sure deal.

 

im assuming fnt and grr are pretty junior? What’s the flying like out of there? Would it be worth it going to one base over the other even if it’s a little bit of a longer drive?

 

FNT predicted to have spots remaining for new hires with current bid (maybe), GRR not. They may be junior now looking at average longevities, but how junior for a new hire depends on attrition within the base or any growth of the base. Neither can be accurately predicted. I think GRR has better flying since its further from Florida and also has more west coast flying, higher credit hour days...