Great show, hope it comes back soon.

Good luck (honestly) but, watching loads, it would seem DTW is a lot easier to commute to than ATL, unless you drive in from the South side of town.

But you'll get a bid without a seat lock out of the deal if they convert the category.

ALPA needs to go. The negatives of ALPA far outweigh the positives. It's only going to get worse folks. We learned this lesson at NWA when Woerth was head of ALPA national.

Is there a quick way to see what cities the various fleets serve? I'm trying to decide what to "come back to" when I send in my 10year furlough/MLOA letter in the next couple days. It appears I'll be around 58% SLC73NB and 65% SLC320B... Trying to figure out what other things might impact which one to pick, like where do they go/overnight, etc... Folks seem to like the 320 as a plane, I read a lot of comments on that here in the last 2 weeks, but everyone I ask likes the 73N to fly and says "it's a boeing" etc... so now I'm looking at the trips. Reading the bid packs sucks though...


What I'm after is something like this:
SLC 320 serves/overnights in these cities:
SLC 73n serves/overnights in these cities:

I'm wading through bid packages and bid awards, but it's really hard to get solid numbers of where the trips go. Thanks!

Welcome back. If you have access to Icrew, you can view bid packages for each plane in SLC. It appears the 320 has more 5 day trips, which could be good for commuting, hence more credit for the 5 days you are away. If you don't want to be away that long, maybe go for the 73N. I would always go for which ever plane gives you a better percentage in base. That would be the 73N for you, right? The 73N also pays more per hour. I think I read you were considering LAX too from your home in PHX? SLC is a better choice if there are mainline flights, giving mainline jumps. I looked online and I saw both USAir and Southwest also fly between those cities. The higher percentage in category would give you a better chance of getting more commutable trips. Looking at the bid packages, looks like both planes hit every corner of the US. Good variety for both. Looks like the 73n does ANC from both SLC and MSP now, but that could change for the Summer. Also, which big plane do you want to eventually end up on other than the 777 or 744? Would you like to go to
the 757/767/764, or A330? If you do the 73N now, it may be easier to go onto a bigger Boeing, and obviously the A320 could make an easier
transition to the bigger bus. Sure, you could still do either big plane, but that might be something you might think about. Just throwing things out there. The 73N cockpit looks tighter up front than the more comfortable bus, but it seems like you "manage" the bus and "fly" the 73N(IMO). The 6 weeks of training would be done in MSP for the bus, and ATL for the 73N. (sims are in those locations) If I were you, I would go for the one that gives you a better percentage: 73N. Good luck.

Hey, thanks for the research, and the words! I'm leaning towards 73N at SLC commuting out of PHX right now (good memory!), and I THINK my AE counting/calculations are accurate as to where I'd fall in category... Just tweaked the last category lists for the latest bid, lots of counting folks above/below!

It looks like I'd be 79% on LAX73NB, but I don't know how much I trust that to hold a line, especially with LAX 73 having only 62 pilots and folks seem to bid in and out of there... but it keeps tempting me! With no Delta hops PHX-LAX though, and getting bottom of the barrel if I even got a line, I'm thinking SLC73N @58% is the way to go while I'm learning the ropes.

I guess I'm looking into the details too much maybe, like what's the flying like and where does it go... maybe that's all so far below category-seniority until you're in the top third that it's not a player? When I look at all the guys I know who get displaced from one jet to another, base to base, I guess I can always get my feet wet and some knowledge in my brain while at a decent-seniority/non-crappy location, and then bid a different plane/location later hey?

Just gettin' excited to be back... printed my retirement orders Mon, effective.... NOW! to the minute! I am hereby USAF Retired! ;)

Good for you! Yeah, I looked at the LAX 73N stuff too, and a lot of those trips seem to be allnighters, and not always commutable. Go for SLC and the better percentage on the 73N. That is what I would do. Just watch the weather and if big snow is coming, get on an earlier flight to commute. Give yourself breathing room, which means latter afternoon duty ins for trips, and early duty outs when trips are over. It looks like both the 73N and bus have that in SLC, but go for the better percentage, it pays off during the slower months of the year (sep, Feb, oct), you won't be close to reserve and you can manipulate your schedule with swaps for trips etc. It means everything for QOL, and that 737 pays more too.

Off topic, where do we input requests for training/CQ golden days? Didn't see it in the initial bid section. Does it only come up a month or so before you're due?

iCrew>Personnel>Training/VTS>Display/Update Recurrent Training Golden Days

The reminder comes up the month prior, but you can input your days anytime.

Will the OE planners call when they schedule you or are you supposed to call them. My schedule changes from NOE to IOE this week but there is no rotation info. I remember the ER OE planner would call and give you the info but that was three years ago.