Although right now you can hold a line on DTW 320 at about 84% where as with MSP M88 it takes about 65%.:eek:

I hate to rain on your parade, but worrying about which category you can move up in the fastest as a new hire is really only valid during a sustained and prolonged hiring cycle (the couple hundred we are taking on now doesn't count as a prolonged cycle). If you are not yet in class, basically no matter what plane you go to, you will be on the bottom until we start hiring again as rumored next year. From my understanding, even the few classes we have remaining to be filled will have Compass/Mesaba flows in them who wil presumably slot in above you if you are off the street.

With that said, in successive Advanced Entitlements, it is more likely that pilots senior to you would be bidding for the A320 holding you down on that list in terms of relative seniority as opposed to the 88 where openings are more likely to be filled via new hires. In the end though, the key is that you have a seniority number and it will move up eventually. I just have a feeling that you will be on reserve for a little while and I wouldn't get my hopes up for zooming up the list unless we really start a big hiring boom.

I know I will be at the bottom, which is why initially it doesn't really matter what airplane I will be on because I'll be at the bottom of any list. I'm just trying to figure out what option would best benefit me for the future. Not worried about it, just trying to make an informed well thought out decision.

Following DelDah's advice and accepting that I'll be pretty junior for pretty long (especially since I'm not expecting to start till next Summer), what tend to be the easiest "off" days for junior Reserve to bid? I'm assuming weekends are tough, but would it be feasible at a Jr base like NYC to hold Mon-Wed, or Tue-Thu pretty regularly?

Yeah you probably could, but keep in mind the max allowable days on for a domestic category is 9 so you could end up with a stretch of 9. You may also be able to do 4 on 3 off if want. Not every commuter likes that because if you do a stretch of 9 you can minimize your commutes. It all just depends on what guys above you are doing, and you'll get the feel for it after a few months.

A quick look at the upcoming retirements will show that we're on the verge of a big hiring boom. (Unless the world ends, we all grow tails or we start beaming people places of course)

Middle of the week is probably the easiest to consistently hold as days off while junior and on reserve, for obvious reasons. I've been bidding Tue-Thu off for the last few months, and have been awarded it each time. I was awarded it for next month as well, and that's as the most junior 320 reserve in MSP.

Since more people would prefer days off around the weekends, it works well for me for a couple of reasons. I can be home with our twin boys during the week while my wife is working, and I prefer to avoid anything more than 4 or 5 consecutive reserve days.

Don't be too quick to count your chickens...... While I do believe DAL is in as good of a position as any other major things can and do go downhill fast in this business.

not counting chickens, just watching numbers ;)

Numbers are good but when I was hired there was a lot based on numbers. Back then the talk was 5 year captains....... For me it was over 12 years before I could hold the most junior PIC position and at 15 years I am holding a reserve line on our wide body aircraft.

I am not saying things will not go your way, but in this business it always seems there is a curve ball here and there.