Well played, sir.

 

Apples to apples, what year are you? Where talking 1sr and 2nd year pay. For the record, I made over $100k on first year pay, with a few weeks of training pay.

 

Sold to the guy with the 97xx pick!!!

 

What you describe in your want list pretty much describes 73n flying.

The 73n is 10 700s, 73 800s and about 50 900s with new ones hitting the line all the time. I'm in atl near the bottom of the category on reserve. I don't sit much on reserve and seem to get used whether I volunteer to fly or not. When you volunteer (yellow slip) you often can get the trip you want in open time.
I've done tons of transcon, carribean and even Columbia and Costa Rica trips over the last six months of flying.

If you don't want to fly lots of legs, want a mix of destinations and want some longer layovers the 73n is your category. You won't move fast in atl but you won't care if you live there.

I am also military with no heavy background and I thought the training was great and that the 73 has been a great first airplane.

Every time I jump seat on a mad dog I want to crawl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb afterwards. God bless you all on the mighty mad dog!

 

Keep in mind that the good deals come and go pretty quickly.

It wasn't long ago that the 717 was fat and not flying greenies. Now it is. The 320 has been slower going, but with more coming on line, things will pick up there (and 737). The ER is always seasonal, but last summer especially short. Maddog is rarely fat on guys.

Basically, my advice is to take all the good deals on a particular fleet with a grain of salt. Someone hired 6-12 months ago is in a very different spot than a new guy and when the summer schedule is complete, things will slow down a bit.

I'd base my aircraft choice on these 3 thing (in order): ability to get to my desired base, ability to gain seniority, type or aircraft/flying I want to do. Everyone has different priorities though.

 

Ditto, Moonshot. I've only got 18 months on property and have seen WILD swings in each category. Get to your base of choice first and foremost! With the hiring going on, you're going to be happy with any plane you're on. I commute, so I think the Green Slip Mafia is highly overrated. To green slip as a line holder means you fly your entire monthly line, and then on your off days you agree to fly more for GS money. It's seldom worth it to me... I have a 10 yr old, a 12 yr old and a wife, all of whom I love more than GS pay.

For disclosure, I took an ATL 320 in Sep14. I did only two months on reserve and have been a line holder since. The #1 guy in my class took the ATL 717 because it was a "growing category." He literally spent his first 6 months as the 717 plug (the PLUG!!) because the category opened in NYC and grew there. In the past 12 months I've fallen almost 10% seniority on the 320, so I'm going to the ER (for several reasons). It's been a great ride so far and I've been very happy.

Had I taken the 88 out of training I'd probably be staying on the Mad Dog because my seniority would be so high, too. Again, my point is that you're going to be happy with whatever you choose, and if you want to mix it up later it's only a 1-yr seat freeze. You'll have even more choices at the 1-yr point.

I'd take advice from Captains and senior FOs with a grain of salt. Airline pilot hiring over time is never linear. We are in a big wave. Don't be afraid to be bold or contrarian in your choices. But again, get to your base of choice.

 

Yup...purty much.

 

I am on the 717. If you have access to deltanet, you can go the flight ops page then click on the "Crew Resources and Scheduling" button on the left side of the page. Then click on "Category and Staffing Lists". You can view a Category List that will break down, in seniority order, the list for each seat/base/fleet.

If you look on the seniority list you can find what the seniority number is for guys hired 6 months, 1 year. 1.5 years, etc and then plug that number into this website:
lakeside-graphics.com/pilots_relpos.php
and see what percentage they could be in each of the categories.

Happy number crunching. Just remember, initial seat locks are just 12 months.

 

I have attached what my relative seniority (July 2014) would be in ATL. I started there on the 73 and moved up to about 88% rather rapidly and only sat reserve for 3 months (and once because I screwed up my schedule bid). In the past year or so, the 73 in ATL has flattened out a bit because a lot of people done with their seat locks are moving there from the 88 (mostly NYC). Just a hunch. Anyway, the 73 does a lot of transcon, a pretty good dose of the Caribbean and mostly larger cities. Usually one or two legs a day. The 717 and MD-88 will do more legs per day and generally to smaller cities.

I like the 73 as a former USAF fighter guy. However, big warning, more redeyes on the 73 than any other "new hire" fleet. So beware if you don't like that sort of thing. On the bright side, most of the redeyes are in west coast bases, but ATL gets some too (maybe 10-25% of the entire bid package as a WAG). Feel free to PM if you want more info.

Welcome on board.

 

My 2 cents as a brand new guy. Take the plane that has the possibility of making your commute the easiest during the first year. By that I mean could you AE to your domicile of choice (seat lock not domicile lock) in the first year? Is it a plane you could hold a line on soon to make the commute better than sitting in a crash pad? Ie if you take a 73N but you know you'll be on reserve the whole first year it is a waste. Same first year pay and bad QOL. If you take an 88 and hold a line month 2 then it's a win. Same pay. Better QOL than a Crashpad and you'll see all the airports. The day you are a year in you can bid your desired acft and know what your life will be on it.

I took a 717 and was able to AE to my domicile of choice quick. If I were to take a 73N that wouldn't have happened and I would have been commuting to reserve for the same pay as my classmate commuting for a known show time on a MD88. First year will happen and pay will be the same hourly. Those less desirable aircraft will be knocking back greenslips and knowing their schedule almost day 1.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk