FLY6584

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in seeing this, but I ran overall system seniority for a guy hired at Delta today vs a guy hired at Southwest 10 months ago. Both with approximately 33 years left of flying. I then compared that system seniority to what it took to hold each aircraft and seat in ATL compared to what it took to hold each seat in one of our junior bases (HOU) and senior bases (MCO) at Southwest.

I was surprised to see that narrowbody progression at Delta in ATL closely mirrors our career progression at one of our junior bases here at Southwest. It also appears that widebody flying will make up a small part of your career at Delta if you are unwilling to sit at the bottom of the list. Keep in mind this is only in ATL though. NYC would be totally different. And also keep in mind this assumes 1% growth per year at Southwest and obviously doesn't take into account another merger/acquisition. I also realize the Delta calculator doesn't take into account front end hiring and is based off hiring for retirements alone.

Hope this helps anyone else trying to figure out what to do!

FLY6584

Well that didn't come out like I had hoped. Does anyone know how to post a picture that will actually come out clear on here?

Proximity

For someone with 25+ years SWA may very well work out. SWA retirement wave hits later, and SWA doesn't hire as young as the legacies do.

If you believe they will keep to their "no furlough" promise and fix their retirement, then a younger guy might be better off.

FLY6584

Thanks proximity!

JamesBond

Nice work, but....... we have a 15 month captain at DAL. If you don't consider that, the statistics cited here are not worth very much. It is only going to get better at DAL for upgrades, and I wouldn't be that surprised if we hire off the street captains for the CSs.

You should remove the MCO information or include NYC info to be fair.

boog123

What does that tell you about NB life and the current contract.

JamesBond

It tells me that bigger pays more. Nothing else. More pay isn't going to change the fact that that airplane is going to do 5-8 legs/day (probably) You can read into that all you want.

marcal

That its great if you live in base. Don't just assume WB flying is all roses. Every type of flying has it's pro's and con's.

In my experience you can fly narrow body, work harder, and feel good, or international, which is much easier workload, but feel crappy all the time.

The best part of flying for DAL is that there is something for everyone.

David Puddy

Apples to oranges given the choice of flying available at Delta IMO. That choice is key.

What about the wear-and-tear of 4+ sectors per day (on average) on your body over 30 years at SWA? What is that worth to you? I know several Delta widebody FOs who will never go back to multi sector domestic flying...

FLY6584

While I agree, I feel that commuting to work with Delta will be far tougher than driving to work with Southwest regardless of the flying I do.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to fly 9-12 days a month on a 777 out of ATL with all weekends off, but after running the numbers I've realized that would make up a very small part of my career. If I'm going to primarily be on narrow bodies most of my career I assume just stay with Southwest and drive to work.

I flew MD-11's internationally before Southwest and while it was fun at first the novelty eventually wore off. I love flying 2-3 legs a day at Southwest on 3-day weekday trips, but to each their own.