I know. I am from those parts. :D

Make it easy on yourself, and when you sign in for your rotation, book a back end devieation that allows for a little delay. When I book at the start of the rotation, I always seem to get that mysterious exit row window. :eek:

I have been flying and have not checked after the AE came out, but they told me 50 had put in paperwork prior the bid. I expect pilots to bid and then wait and see what they are going to get before putting their paperwork in. (Minus the MSP 330 a's that will not commute to a equal paying jet, nor the ones that will not fly the ER)

I suspect we will see a few more after the awards are posted. Looking at the 330 B in MSP, many of those pilots will probably just got to the 320A seats and that is where the waterfall may happen. If they want international, they will bid to commute. I know a few that live in the heartland that hare tickled pink to bid the 330 in atl. Suffice to say, bid what you want because the effects could be interesting.

Interesting indeed. Since new categories are open to all, the 330B in ATL could be a real wildcard. The computer function that lets you view the number of pilots with AEs senior to you is basically useless when there are so many senior people subject to mandatory displacements.
Those heartland boys better include a percentage in their bid or they could wind up commuting to reserve. Ouch.

Anybody read this yet?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/bu...1&ref=business

I thought about bidding the 330, but only for a minute. I do not mind the jet, and would not mind the pay bump. 12+ hr flights are a plus, but it is the MED destinations and the limited city pairs that had me think twice. The ER goes everywhere and I love that variety. If I can keep it, it is where I will stay. A small category like atl will have on the 330 leads to weird trips, and limited options.

Look at NYC's 777 and 765 seats for an example.

Yep.

Reality is, planes are packed, and people are paying. Frankly the run up at the pump is noticeable, but not as much as it was in 2007-08. We are used to 3.65 gas. Apple is still selling the I-pad at a record pace, and people are still finding money to spend. Fact is people are buying smaller houses and cars to keep their expendable income. Much like Europeans do! :eek:

More like people are stopping the payment of mortgages or simply walking away. The long term effects on this thought process will be devastating to the US economy.

The seeds of that devastation were sown throughout the last several decades regardless. But I think he's right in that the days of the whole country pursuing 3000+ sq ft homes and Suburbans and staying perpetually on maximum consumer debt are coming to an end. Self induced banker-political problems notwithstanding, we as a nation are slowly morphing into a more sustainable lifestyle mindset and thats a very good thing. Its still in our DNA to travel either way, so a more grounded fiscal foundation for the consumer over all will bode well for us, or at least less worse than the alternative (max debt until mass default, wash rinse repeat).

Same old same old... the date just changed, that's all..