When all of the XLRs are finally delivered PHL320 will have the best mix of flying in the system IMO. You’ll have Europe, Transcons, Caribbean turns, and short hall domestic if that’s your thing too.

 

yeah but you're still in PHL so.....

 

I would never recommend living in or around PHL, but if you commute anyway it might have better trips than DFW/CLT/MIA.

 

Doylestown is nice

 

MIA320 flying is going downhill with that OBS optimizer. That and the nicer trips going to the 737, for whatever reason. If you’re senior enough and like say turns, then MIA rocks. Otherwise, we are CLT 2.0 now

 

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere, but…I start class tomorrow and have a question or two on bidding bases/equipment.

How frequently can you switch bases and is it easy to do? I’m looking for fastest progression to A) upgrade and B) have a decent schedule. (I realize the next class isn’t for several months so I use “progression” loosely here) I’m planning on LGA737 as it sounds like a base/plane combo few are excited about. However, I’d like to switch to MIA737 in November. Then either back to LGA or maybe some other base in April. Reasonable? I should add not to worry about where I live…I move around a lot, commuting isn’t an issue.

Also, I understand “I” is international and “D” domestic. Are they transferable; if I take “I” in LGA does that mean I’m also “I” qualified in MIA? And is the I flying ‘better’ than D? Wondering why someone would limit themselves to only D schedules?

I suspect they’ll tell us this tomorrow, but we’re expected to submit our bid tomorrow too. I just want to hear thoughts from those who are actually flying regularly and have the evening - and maybe a beer - to think about my selection.

Thanks! Looking forward to joining you all!

 

In theory you can switch bases every month through APA’s Mutual Base Exchange. The caveats are 1) someone has to be willing to trade with you and 2) you must not be the most junior pilot moving INTO a bid status. Your problem will probably be #2 since you are the last class for a few months and there may be nobody junior to you in the base you want.

That being said, we have vacancies posted quarterly which don’t have the same restrictions. MIA737 is historically a junior status so I would give pretty good odds you could hold it in the December vacancy. If you wanted CLT or DFW I would say odds are lower.

The traditional I/D delineation between statuses is slowly going away. I’m pretty sure everyone is now getting the ‘BQ’ qualification for international so it’s kind of a moot point. If you are qualified for international trips in any status you can take the qual with you.

Is the flying better? That’s highly subjective. I’m in a status with a large amount of international flying but I rarely pick up international trips because I don’t particularly like them. Some people only fly international trips.

Bid a status that you will be ok getting stuck in. You never know what’s going to happen. Movement is going to be slow for you for a little while.

As a new hire I couldn’t even hold MIA and got stuck in CLT for 4 months. Some people hired just 4 months after me had to wait 18 months to get into CLT.

 

Why not just try to get MIA737 tomorrow then?

 

That would be the best idea...

 

Choose where you can tolerate weekend SC for the foreseeable future. 737 typically offers the quicker upgrade (737 CA plug is 500 junior to 320 CA plug). You can upgrade to 737 CA from 320 FO.

I hope for you and me that they restart classes when they say they will. Didn’t go as advertised last year.