Been here 3 1/2 years. I was awarded 777 FO under three years. Could have held 737 CA at 2 years.

Got it. Thanks so much for the insight

captain was just awarded at 2 years 8 months by the time pay effective or training almost 3. So it’s increased a year after the guy above by about 8 months

The timeline is definitely getting longer for both. I don't really think it’s helpful for people hired today to look at how long it’s taking ‘21-‘23 hires to hold either seat. Two years won’t happen again any time soon. I’ll probably be able to hold the award on of the next two vacancies which will put the effective dates around 3-3.5 years. For someone hired today I would say plan on 5 years.

NB CA plug is 13499.
WB FO plug is 13090.

As of today our lowest system seniority number is 17208. The 3700/4100 retirements required to reach those seniority levels will happen during the 2030 calendar year.

I got super lucky and MBE closed was a week after I got hired, finished training almost 3 months later and the MBE was effective the week I finished. So, potentially you never commute if you hit it the first roll, but probably an outlier.

So you went from New York to Dallas pretty quickly?

On the flip side of this, I got hired the Wednesday after a vacancy closed (5 days prior) and then they stopped hiring into my base of choice for four months. Couldn’t MBE due to being the plug before the next vacancy closed 3 months later. Awarded my base in that vacancy, and now locked out of MBE due to pending status change even though they started hiring into the base again. For me it was 8 months from DOH to base of choice and ended up commuting for four of those post-OE. I also had like 6 weeks off between indoc and sims…no idea what the wait is these days.

That’s probably about as long as it would possibly take at this point, maybe 9 months if you are super unlucky. Just sharing my example to point out there could be an outlier in either direction.

I’ve been here for 2 years and still can’t hold it.

Our bids are quarterly and six months out, so our next vacancy will be on March 1 for September 1 training date.

That said, at our current rate, I might be awarded it 3 vacancies from now. If that holds the I might be in upgrade class June 2027. The Fall awards (September) tend to have a lot of backfills though, so it’s hard to say.

Also, the above only applies to LGA 320/737 maybe MIA 737 and PHL320. YMMV.

plan on 10 years and you probably won’t be disappointed. 👀

So- I’m an Aug 22 hire.

Currently there are 300 NB CAs junior to me. By Sept 1st, there will be about 450 junior to me (already awarded/awaiting training/etc.).

right now there are only 60 WB FOs junior to me. By Sept 1st there will be 64 junior to me (already awarded/awaiting training/etc.).

The first time I could have been awarded 73 CA was for DCA was on the July 2024 results (OCT, NOV, DEC 2024 class dates). I think the next two or three bid cycles went senior to me at all bases.

I guess what I’m saying is that seats move at different paces and different directions.

You really can’t use anyone else’s experience to manage your expectations.