Just to make sure im studying the right stuff. The gouge people are referring to for the Delta test (The old test anyway), is the list of questions someone wrote out on the WFFF website under Delta interviews, correct?

WFFF is a good place to start. Also, there's immense amount of delta gouges on the web, or just ask your buddy, and they'll point you to hours of extra studying for the same subject, over and over again. To be honest, it was much less math oriented than before, but more new subjects that are covered than the canned "old" gouge. So i think it's a more comprehensive test, but not harder necessarily.

If you pass your ATP written, and you have a broad working knowledge of various systems of a jet transport a/c works, you should do just fine. Spend more time prepping for your panel interview, if you think you have too much free time.

SLC is not a junior base. A 8th yr. FO can just barely hold a line on the 737-800. The wide body aircraft are very senior and th MD90 is quite senior also.
LAX cover several airports and is the junior base along with NYC which has the same situation.

HVYinRESERVE & Skywriting,
Thanks,
So when bidding time comes, if I want to commute and hold a line the quickest, I should pick LAX then SLC, if I want to stay West Coast?

What happens if after 6-12 months I decide commuting sucks and decide to do the smart thing and move to SLC, LA is too expensive for me; am I committed to LAX for a time period, or can I just wait for the next bid?

How often are bids? I was told the next one is end of Feb.

Thanks again,

If you stay in aircraft type, there is no lock on the base. Therefore one may bid say NYC M88, and on the very next bid choose ATL M88 with no problems. If you choose LAX 7ER. You will be locked in the ER category for two years. You could move to the regular 76 in 9 months.....I may be incorrect on this one. If I am, someone will quickly correct me......

Your best bet may be to bid LAX 73N and then move to SLC when you can hold it.

Slinky

All. I am in the Feb 4th indoc class and am trying to plan my life as much as possible. 2 questions... 1) I had heard that new hires were flying jumpseat the weekend in-between. Are they still doing that? I dont want my wife to fly out Saturday for the Monday night dinner while I am overnighting in Omaha or Fargo or something. 2) Anyone have an idea on the standard wait between indoc and training? I have read thru this thread that is has been 1 or 2 weeks, depending on the aircraft but I know that the training pipeline is alway pretty fluid. Also, what is the length of trng for the aircraft? Thanks in advance for all the info.

BTW, this thread was invaluable during my search, and prep for the interview. Thank you all for the info.

I was in the 7 Jan indoc class. We all flew an out-and-back jumpseat in our assigned aircraft type (but for most of us, not the same crew both directions) on the first weekend of indoc. They will not allow you to overnight, so depending on your aircraft type and how early you want to depart in the morning, you could possibly be done shortly after noon. As far as the wait between indoc and training, our class ranged from starting the NEXT DAY to as much as slightly over 3 weeks. Each aircraft is different, but the MD-88 classroom/sims is scheduled for about 4 weeks. After that, we have 40-50 hours of IOE depending on whether we go to the shuttle in NYC or some other base. Not sure the timeline of the other aircraft. Hope this information helped. Congratulations and welcome to Delta!

MudHen

You'll probably be able to schedule your jumpseat (you actually book it over the phone) PRIOR to having to finalize you frau's travel plans (they arrange the flight for her, but you give them basic gouge to work with in terms of what time she wants her flights), so you should have a good idea of your schedule before she commits to a flight.

If not, I don't know of anyone who got back past maybe 7pm (and they took late am/early afternoon flights out instead of early ones). If she gets in earlier than you get back on Sat, she can take the shuttle to the hotel and get a key from the desk to wait around for you. (Just make sure you hide all your porn before she roots around your room while you're gone!). You pick your own jumpseat flights, so as long as you can find at least one leg on the jet you are assigned to earlier in the day, you have say in your schedule on Sat.

737 training is fragged at about 4 weeks as well. I started 5 days after indoc.

Cheers,
T-Bone

Thanks Slinky,
How often can I bid to change locations if I stay in the same aircraft?

There's a bid end of Feb, when's the next one?

Thanks,

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