SkyWest flys west coast -> central time zone redeyes.

 

I’m not terribly worried about this NPRM…because I doubt the FAA released it on a Saturday…and it isn’t available on the federal register or regulations.gov. Also, the few articles that mention it don’t link to any actual source…and they say Ambrosi released a statement from ALPA.

 

Based off the just-released vacancy bid, NH's can expect to see a lot of the following offered to classes which start indoc in the back half of April, beginning of May:

NYC 7ERB
NYC 73N
ATL 73N
ATL 320
DTW 320
DTW 717
MSP 220

It bears repeating, based on continued ability for NH's to change bases on their very first vacancy bid (AE) once on property, CJO holders should strongly consider preferencing equipment over base. There are never any guarantees, but in many, many cases nearly every AE has base changes to the company plug, at least to something other than initially awarded. For example, the last AE the following were awarded to the bottom 100 pilots in the company: 73: MSP, DTW, SLC, NYC, LAX, ATL. 320: ATL, LAX, NYC, MSP, SLC, DTW. 7ER: ATL, NYC 220: NYC 717: ATL, DTW

Past performance does not guarantee future results, YMMV, etc. If you are on property the day an AE closes, you are eligible to bid. Good Luck!

 

Does anyone have the drops for this week?

 

4/7:

Nyc7erb
atl73nb
ny73b
dtw320b
dtw717b

4/14:
Nyc7erb
atl73nb
nyc73nb
msp220b
dtw320b
atl717b

 

Does anyone have info on the seniority progression of ATL717B?

Is this a good category to choose for turns? Avoid red eyes? Not switching time zones? Captain upgrade time?

 

717B has the fastest seniority progression of any fleet in Atlanta.

You won't be senior enough to reliably hold turns. That's true for any category.

There are no red eyes on the 717. It only flies eastern and central time zones.

It is the most junior upgrade (DTW717A), but it doesn't matter for bidding first officer. A new hire is realistically 8+ years out from upgrading.

 

What are turns (Kidding)? If you are senior enough to hold day trips, they are 4-leg days. With everything going on right now, most day trips are going to be sub-30 % in the bid-packed just to be dropped and/or swapped out.

Some charters turn into red eyes, but not many.

Stay in 2 time zones.

If you were to get hired today (Current Fleet and seniority progression), you would be looking at between 6 and 8 years to hold a left seat.

 

CJO holder here eagerly looking forward to starting and trying to figure out my plan for bidding while I wait. Looking for advice.

I live near MSP and want to be there as fast as I can, but I'm also interested in the ability to gain seniority as I'm a bit older than most new hires and opportunity to gain seniority is more limited. So my general thought is bid 220 since that is the most jr fleet at MSP and therefore represents the best chance for seniority growth. (I have been looking at widget seniority to try to get more detailed than that, but it makes my head hurt. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

I've read previous posts and think I understand that I can bid a fleet and then transfer to MSP if MSP isn't offered during indoc and its offered in a subsequent AE. But these two class drops represent a situation I've been concerned about. Let's say I was in 4/7 class and there is no 220 AND no MSP, so I can't bid 220 somewhere else and then transfer to MSP. In that case it sounds like bidding 73N/320 would be best and trying to get to MSP afterwards. But is there any other way to get MSP 220 faster since it was offered in the next class? Or is that just how the cookie crumbles and I'd be seat locked for 1-2 years on the 73N/320?

There's obviously a longer conversation about the ability to gain seniority among the NB fleets at MSP, especially after upgrading if/when that time came. And fwiw, I'm currently on the 73 so there's an allure there for ease of transition. But the 320 has a draw for increased comfort. Really anything is on the table.

Can anyone recommend what a good approach would be for the near term? Thanks!!

 

Is the 8+ year out assuming no growth in the company and going only off of retirements?