The goal is to build MCO to 150 crews right? What about ORD? Is it the same? Can't remember.

 

I thought P.R. (crew planning guy) said the goal was for it to be 100 crews, or maybe a little larger than Chicago. He has said in the past Chicago would grow to 100 crews, so I suppose Orlando might get up to 150 crews, but I think 100 is more the plan for now.

 

If you look at the Mock Bid - it is clear KDEN will absolutely be available to new hires.

I count 91 current FOs leaving Denver whether to upgrade out or just transfer out as FO, and 2 coming in. Net loss of 89.

The mock bid 'totals page' only shows a net reduction of 46 FO's for Denver by end of year.

This necessitates a backfill of 43 newhire FO's ...89 - 46 = 43 newhires will come into Denver as backfill between now and end of 2015

Granted it's a Mock bid. But assuming it's even only 50% correct, that still requires newhire back fill into Denver which will continue until every FO that has any inclination to upgrade has already done so out of Denver and the only ones left are the senior papas & mamas. That will be a while.

Now if you want to make the case for a drastic slashing of Denver to a shadow of it's size, then YES, no-one will ever hold Denver... But, the mock bid isn't indicating that, and furthermore if they did do it, where are they going to put all these crews???? Considering the rate at which we're hiring, this would require making ORD and MCO very big, and / or a 4th base. In the near-term Denver is simply the only 'well' which can hold all these pilots at this time.

In the long run Denver will be senior in both seats, but for now, with only 3 bases and breakneck hiring, I strongly believe all bases will be available to newhire FO's within a bid period or two. Where you hold CA however is an entirely different story. (as we all know)

...

 

^^^^^^^^+1

 

Thanks Aero.

 

I agree.

I think new hires will be able to get any base they want.

The company can 'naturally' shrink the Denver base by offering upgrade spots only in MCO and ORD. This causes FOs to bid to the other bases, and they offer a bunch of MCO captain spots and drain some Denver captains out of DEN that way. The company will have to fill Denver FO vacancies, and new hires will get it.

If the company wasn't hiring full speed ahead, I would be far more pessimistic about people getting DEN, but when the company is hiring as fast as they can, and they want to double the size of the airline in 5 years.... I think new hires will have their pick

 

I'm willing to bet the $.04 I made on the MCO pool that there won't be new hires in DEN after MCO opens - beyond MAYBE the first few classes hired immediately after MCO's opening, and MCO/ORD will grow A LOT quicker than most people think. I'm just trying to be realistic by following the facts at hand (moving expenses etc.). Shrinking DEN hurts me personally, so I'm not rooting for what I see happening to happen quicker.

For those interested - our contract calls for voluntary seniority adjustments ("I want to go to MCO!") followed by voluntary displacements ("I don't want to leave where I am, but if I have to I'll go to XXX"), and finally involuntary displacements (reverse seniority order "Here's where you have to show up for your next trip"). The union's position, and the company's past practice, says anything with the word displacement in it requires the company to cover moving costs, but that may become the latest battle over what the meaning of "is" is.

 

I was at the GO this week, and spoke with B.B. about staffing levels and current plans for MCO & ORD. He told me directly that the plan is for 85-90 crews in MCO by years end, and 150 by next summer. He also said they anticipated upgrading many of those 150 captains. ORD would also grow, but slowly, as MCO was now the operational focus of the management team for the next little while.

Expect 300 pilots in MCO and 200-ish in ORD by next summer, at least. New deliveries and "operational reliability" in MCO & ORD could easily drive those numbers higher.

 

Another question, how long from day 1 of new hire class does it take to get your company ID and entry into CASS? I am hoping to jumpseat home each Friday after class ends and back to Denver on Sundays. Just curious if I can plan on jumpseating home Friday of that first week. Thanks!

 

You can probably count on it. Our class was held up by some kind of delay getting badges out, but we still got them the afternoon of the first Friday.

You need to do (at least) 4 cockpit Jumpseat observations, and you can use them to go home if F9 flies that route. They're not "rides home," but if you happen to pick a flight that flies to your home...