Looks like they are probably happy with what is going on, and waiting to see which way then wind is blowing before they start to commit training slots and bodies to fleets.
FWIW, it is DAL-S general practice to keep the school house at min staffing on the summer months and make people go fly.

SOC sooner than you think..... (Should have put a ? after this) Sorry to get ya excited.

You always do stuff like that!! I think you like stringing us out. ;):D:D

You still have to wear a headset below 180 with a boom mic. A hot mic system would still be very nice so you didn't have a half clamp that is piping a loud voice into one ear with cockpit noise in the other. Most of the hearing loss actually comes from the ear with the headset because you have to turn the volume up louder than normal to hear it over the rest of the noise in the cockpit. The 757 might be quiet, but a hot mike would still be alot nicer than no hot mic.

"SOC sooner than you think"

I'm thinking no sooner than originally planned, and possibly later...but with all the juice DAL has...probably on time but not earlier.

ACL has a good reputation and track record on here. I'm not a betting man, but if he says it, I wouldn't doubt it.

I am betting on later as well. Having been through a merger and helping work the details through the system with it I think they are optomistic with the current timeline. Lots of training just for the pilots and with the compliance I have been seeing on line I expect the FAA to step in on the "training by bulletin" that is currently utlized.

Just my $.02 worth

Hey guys we had a 90.5% Load Factor this weekend. Em great loads.

I was just throwing stuff our there. Giving you some possibles.

Fact is that there is no reason for us to have big AE's right now. The plan for the first post SOC AE is getting real close to being finalized. You will see more positions than you want to on those for the next few years.

Any one want a house for about 330K here in ATL? ;)

As for SOC, we are on lightning speed. Did our first joint mtc stuff last week. OCC is done and we are moving in. Couple book changes and we are on our way. Know they do not want the big bang, but guess what. If it means SOC sooner, RA is not going to care how uncomfortable it is for us. That's the fact!

FWIW, the majority of the joint training is to be completed by the end of Q3 09. That is your Indoc. 767 Training is going to be done soon too. I was not stating it as fact. I was just throwing it out there. Nothing official, yet, good tremors though.

How are they planning on staffing the MD90's without hiring? I guess if they get them over the next 18-24 months they will have no choice but to hire, yes? Unless the 742s get parked, then I suppose we would have enough bodies to take care of them? I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud here.

And I would buy your house, but I have NO idea where I'm going to end up over the next 3 years! ;):D

The DAL-S side of things is a little different than the DAL-N side of things. With the 88 there are a few ways around displacing.
First, our VP of Ops stated last month that he wanted to displace as little as possible. He figured there would be some displacements b/c of the 10% reduction of international this fall. That said, our loads are well above projection. There is also some resilience to our yeild. That is where the rubber meets the road. He sees a need to displace, but if our loads continue this way, there may not be a need.
Add to this, the fact that the 2010 2Q and 3Q staffing requirements have remained unchanged. It layman's terms, they do not need the cuts that are required for this fall. They could just SIL the excess this winter, and that is the best option.
Now how do deal with the 88. Flt Ops has always stated that they would prefer to hire than displace due to the costs associated with displacing. They have been told repeatedly not to hire. So we displaced, a few months later than planned, but we did it anyway. They could also deal with it, by dropping the ALV for the winter months. Best guess is possible hiring next year.
I have figured looking at all the data that they need displace about 50-60 FO's to the 88. That would drop the TLV within limits for the year. We could also have a LOA with better incentives that are currently offered. In a nut shell it is being worked on. Whatever costs the least and has the minimum impact on the operation will be what is chosen.
As for DAL-N there are lots of plans for your jets in 12-36 months. No need to move people only to move them again.