I'd have my bags packed and be on the ready. Some guys were asked to fill an empty slot or two on VERY short notice.

Tom

BCDurbin,
Thanks dude!:D

Good luck to you on Monday!

G. Dude

Great point Tom. The dude that got the job offer with me did ask the question specifically so he could give his current employer a two week notice. I am sure the "21 day notice" is a SOP for the Pilot Hiring Office in a "perfect world". However, push come to shove a new hire dude/dudette should be ready to go on short notice.

BTW: BCDurbin & Tom, thanks for the heads up on assignments. Great info! I am hoping for ATL. Are crash pads easy to find in ATL?

Guard Dude and others,
Congrats on getting the job. Spent 25 great years there. Had to retire early for pension reasons. But the people and flying were always always first rate. Also what makes it fun is the diversity from narrow body to wide body to domestic to international. Lots to look forward to, not just getting in the right seat of a narrow body and the only thing to look forward to is upgrade on the same aircraft.

If you don't mind a small piece of advice from an old dog, don't give up the Guard or Reserves. One: small protection from possible furlough. Two: Continues to be a great way to network. Three: What I thought was going to be beer money from the reserves at age 60 has now turned into a major part of my retirememt (Tricare and money). It can be a pain to bid around reserve weekends, but in the end, worth it, IMHO.

Guard Dude,

Thanks, it was exactly the information I needed.

Thanks for the info. I live in NYC and after commuting to CVG as a regional guy, really want to be EWR/LGA/JFK based. QOL is huge.

Crash pads in ATL are plentiful. You can do it with or without a car. IMO you'll have better QOL if you have wheels. If you don't have a car there are a ton of crash pads within walking distance, about 1/2 mile, from the training center. As far as getting to work there are three hotels, well, two hotels that will let you ride as long as you tip a buck. The Comfort Inn & Suites and the Wellsley (sp?) Inn. We ditched the Holiday Inn express and they are somewhat bitter so they won't let Delta people ride UNLESS you are staying there. The hotel shuttles run to the airport every half hour or on request. Within walking distance of the crashpads are plenty of restaurants and you might have to hike a slight bit, but there is a grocery store also. You might also try crash pads. com. Many people have commuter signs posted in front of their homes. Good luck.

Tom

Eagle, you would have a great QOL by virtue of living in the NYC area. It's, for the most part, our junior base. Not having to commute gives you a huge leg up for bidding puposes. Additionally, a new bid came out yesterday for 20 more 767ER captains and 40 more F/Os at JFK.

A couple of new hires just got 767ER F/O positions. These are real F/O positions; DL doesn't use a dedicated relief pilot. In other words, you'll get to land the airplane. I think that even the junior guys would agree that the ER flying is good. Our worst trips are the London trips: JFK-LGW-JFK with a 24 hour layover, flown with only 2 pilots, and worth 15:15. Expect to see alot of that if you're junior.

If you are on the MD88, you'll may see alot of shuttle flying (LGA), but, as a local, you are also in a prime spot to get the numerous Florida turns (from JFK and LGA?) that most commuters don't want.

I'm among the throngs commuting from CVG to JFK for the ER and can understand your desire to not do that commute anymore- it sucks!

Guard Dude - any chance you could PM me for some specific "Guard related" questions? Thanks for the info and insight. Good luck to all!!!

PUKE

Just got a letter yesterday assigning me 88 in JFK. I don't even start orientation till Monday. That's pretty quick on the assignment! I'm already in ATL, so I'll be bidding back here or CVG (later obviously) to get out of JFK. Hey, CVG767A, you said the commute sucks to CVG, is it a lot better to ATL, do you know? I'm excited to hear all of the cheerleading this week. It's pretty exciting post emergence.