I wish I was as lucky as you. It does not happen often, but every few months I have them tack on a SC later in the day, just had it happen a couple weeks ago. As you said usually by 3 pm they are done, but a few times I have gotten calls later in the pm for morning stuff-most of the time because snow or storms are moving towards mecca.

The last year or two we have been overstaffed which has led to more open time to be covered by white slips and therefore less need for SC's. This summer I am expecting a revival of the great tradition of working us reserves to the bone. Not too long ago I remember getting off a redeye to find min rest and another trip later that night. And few things suck more than commuting home, checking the "1>2>2" before leaving the airport and having to get on the exact same jumpseat back to ATL.

When I saw the video where they talked about more flying, they weren't specific on where it was coming from. It just had "they are seeing increased demand for summer flying". Is your wife able to hold more desireable trips than normal? (that would imply more international, since more international would "raise" the quality of what everyone could hold)

Do not bet on that. I have had them many times add a SC to my schedule as late as 2300. 10 hrs the start of the period, as the contract states. Many times I have had them add a SC at 1900 for a 0500 start. Do not think they will not do it. They need 10 hrs to assign you a SC period and 12 to assign a LC a trip, so they will use a SC for tomorrow and give you a 10 hr notice for the start of the period. Of course you are considered as commuting in for the first two hours of it if it is preceded by an X day, but they cannot do that unless you answer your phone.
You see this a lot on the second day of your reserve period. I expect it to increase this summer as we are way short and they need bodies.

It is safe to say, I will be in position if I am on reserve.

I don't know what interest rate they could get, they did send out EETC's last year on 777's and I think they paid around 7% for those. Brand new 777's are pretty marketable aircraft so I think we could still get a decent interest rate. There are also a bunch of upfront fees when you do a EETC because we wouldn't want the poor starving investment bankers on Wall Street to go hungry. Avoiding those upfront fees would be a strong incentive to use cash if you have it.

When you make a capital expenditure you are just exchanging one asset for another. If you have cash then you lose $100 million in cash but you have an asset that is worth $100 million so your net worth is the same. If you finance it, then you exchange $100 million in debt for the asset. That is why capex doesn't affect profit or loss and paying down debt doesn't either. You change your net worth by making or losing money running your business.

There are things such as asset writedowns that can affect the net worth of the company and thus they are included on profit/loss. Post-Enron it is getting tougher to play too many games with those and not end up in the pokey. It could happen, but the disincentives are much stronger now.

Another thing to look for in the 8-K is the relationship between depreciation and capital investment. Depreciation is a business saying my stuff is now worth less than last year because it is older. Capital investment is replacing that old worn out stuff. If a business is spending less on capital investment than they are depreciating they are burning the furniture to survive. If they are spending more on capital investment, then the business is growing. At Delta, we are about even this quarter which makes sense because we are upgrading our existing equipment but we already have extra jets, no need to buy more.

I liked it when the ER didn't have any domestic time. If you had three days left of reserve and didn't get a short call for that day you were done as there were no trips less than three days. 12 days off could become 15 easily. Now I see guys with 2 days left getting short calls. I hope this is not a trend.

That is key. Now go look at other airlines 8K's.

You know better. It is the trend. It is a heck of a lot cheaper for you the NYC7ER reserve pilot to sit reserve and fly, than it is for the hotel rooms for the ATL 767 domestic category to fly the NYC trips. I love those transcons but they are eeking out efficiency every way they can. This is a huge expense for them in NYC. You pay the rent, and they do not :eek:

Considering that the domestic category is slowly mixing into the ER category, I think that will be the new normal...

Any Delta shares as a result of the bankruptcy or merger will remain in the your 401k account after the transition. You can hold on to those as long as want, or sell them at any time. However, you can not purchase additional shares.

I know, I am not that naive. I don't see how we will be short, though. There are over 60 reserves available most days this month. How many more trips a day does it take to eat into that?

We are adding what, 3 or 4 destinations from JFK this summer? Throw in added frequency and you get maybe 10 additional crews a day. On the other hand, I may not know what the heck I'm talking about.

FTB, that is not a cue for you to make a witty remark!