Slinky, any word on the west coast? I am one of the luckies that will be trng this month and heard alot of wide-bodies, but not much on the "west side". Thanks.

Can you guess which company some pilot's hail from is generating a lot of discussion on the DALPA message boards?

He did not mention the west coast. But then again the last class was a shotgun of stuff all over the place. If you really want to get out to the west coast quickly, and if there are no SLC or LAX offerings in your class, you may want to think of some aircraft options that will give you the most flexibility in the future.

If you get the ER: you can bid both SLC 767 and 7ER LAX on the very next AE with no seat lock. This is nice to have because it allows you a free bid if your situation or the company's changes.

If you get the 73N: Same deal as the ER. Both SLC and LAX have the 73 and you would probably get there after being on the line maybe 2-4 months.

If you get the M88: you could bid the 90 to SLC but you get a 9 month seat lock. I would consider bidding either the 73N or ER out of LAX to give myself the most flexability in the future.

Just my 2 cents

slinky

This might have been covered before but if you are on the 88 as new hire and then bid the ER on the next AE you are seat locked for 2 years. But does that seat lock keep you from switching to 75/76 domestic within those 2 years.

I noticed that no one was offered the 75/6 in the January classes... If I wanted to get the 767ER but I couldn't hold it on my initial bid in class, but I could hold the 75/6 - would I be seat locked for 2 years if I bid the 767ER on the next AE?

Also, I'd prefer to be JFK based (I live in the area) and I would love to fly international. IF, on the slight off-chance, there were a few 777 slots offered, as well as 767ER slots - which one would you pick, and why? My guess is that with fewer 777s in the fleet, I'd fly to less places... But being junior, maybe I'd fly to just as few places on the 767ER? Would either aircraft provide a dramatically different schedule? (I'm aware there is a somewhat significant 2nd yr pay difference.)

Thanks for your advice! :)

No, it's a 9 month lock to go to the ER from the domestic 75/76.

Not that this is likely to be an option, but I hope you like Mumbai. The nice thing is that as a junior guy on reserve you'll have the same choice of destinations as the top captain...

A bunch of new hires recently got to LAX on the domestic 767/757 but how long this will continue is unknown - perhaps the February bid will shed some light on it. The LAX 7ER (767ER) filled up and I don't think new hires will be able to bid into it for some time. The junior equipment in LAX is the LAX 73N (737-800)category and this will be the quickest way to LAX for the foreseeable future.
Keep in mind LAX has recently expanded and a lot of new hires got there quickly on the 767/757, the February bid will most likely end this. As the growth in LAX slows/stops the quickest way will normally be the junior seat - 737 and even this will most likely fill up.

Good Luck.

Scoop

Its my understanding from what I was told that going from 767ER to the domestic 757/767 there is no training required, and thus no seat lock. If you wanted to go from 757/767/LAX to 7ER/LAX there would be additional training and a seat lock I imagine, probably 9 months.

If minor training, like from MD88/ATL to MD90/SLC there is only a 9 month lock, because of very little training required. If you were going from MD88ATL to say, MD88/NYC there would be no training and no seat lock.

iaflyer,

this is my understanding as well. i am under the impression that the only way you incur a seat lock is if you see the schoolhouse during your conversion. MD90 diff's or Intl Ops GS and sims is a 9monther...any new type is a two year lock.

however, StripAlert is smarter than I am, especially about this stuff, so I would take it at face value until proven otherwise.


the professor

They just very recently did away with the requirement of going to the sim for differences training when moving M88 to M90. Talked to a guy yesterday going to SLC who said all he had to do was a differences training CD and that was it. Not sure if this removes the 9 month seat lock or not.