To Leave Nwa For Cal
 

What would you do if you had around 8 or 9 yrs at NWA? I live at a CAL base.

wow. that is a hard question. what do you think the chances are of NW successfully restructuring without totally destroying your life?

whatever happens, i think CAL will be a player.

Prayer or Player? Thin line they are on my friend.

Killbill,
I think my life is already destroyed with the 40% pay cut and contract changes. I am worried about the future with NWA and their pension. We will eventually terminate the pension whereas CAL will be fully funded in 2 yrs. I could also not have to commute. Tough position to be in when by May of 2006 there will only be 500 bodies below me and CAL will hire 50 - 60 bodies a month thru Apr 2006. We can all do the math.

Work where you want to live. An old Capt. told me that once, still a little too early for me to know if that was great advice but so far, it is.

You're deluding yourself if you think any legacy carrier will have a defined benefit pension that's not (at least) frozen 3 yrs from now. 8 years is a lot of longevity....but commuting definitely sucks. If things continue on the unsustainable path, then CAL will be in trouble w/in a couple of years.

The sky is littered with people who've jumped ship and regretted it; of course it's also full of those who've moved and are loving life! Some help I am, huh? Trust me though, you don't want to take career decisions from me!

Thanks SWAAZE
I get your drift and your point is prudent........but commuting really sucks the big one. I hear you on CAL's future. I was also thinking the same thoughts about JB. It is really hard to guess......I guess I will still weigh the pros and cons for a while but just didn't want to wait too long to watch our CEO liquidate the company, which I feel he plans to do.

I talked to a guy at work today who jumped ship from AirTran in '99 when he was a pretty senior Capt (former ValueJet) for UAL and all his reasons seemed reasonable and well-thought. He would have been the #1 guy at Airtran for the last several years of his career. He hit the streets in 2003 and just got hired at FedEx. True he'll have a pretty good career here, but I think he regrets leaving AirTran.

are you talking about continental? what thin line are we on? the "one of only two majors making money" thin line?

Well, whatever CAL looks like after UAL buys them will be a player :D