Here's the question of the day that a lot of DAL FOs are wondering ...

How many NWA pilots are going to bid into DAL 75/76s. Lots of junior guys there now realizing that they are going to be displaced ... or very well could be.

1. Pays more than a 757 FO

2. Easy job...work till 10,000'...deadhead till top of descent.

3. Overnights are usually long. Anywhere from 24 hrs to 100hrs! Due to soft time pay and duty rigs, your pay during that trip is pretty much the same whether you are flying or not. Plenty of time to socialize, party, sight see and even cross-country travel on overnights.

4. Very friendly and laid back flights crews in ANC...at the same time professional.

5. On trips with deadheads legs...you can either sleep in the first class seats or bring your own sleeping bags.

6. No flight attendants...don't have to call and beg for coffee, food, potty break etc.

7. Don't have to sit in the seat all the time...you can walk around sipping coffee as long as you periodically glance at the panel.

8. You have your own desk to eat your food, write, read etc. It even has a wall outlet to 'charge' your phone, laptop etc.

9. Talking about food....you'll never go hungry on the freighter. We have a menu from which we order our food...usually pretty good stuff...several course meals even on domestic legs.

10. You can cram all of your trips back to back and get done with your flying with just one commute or break it into two 8 day trips.

11. Uniform standards are 'flexible'. I don't think you'll see a lot of people wearing the Delta hat in ANC!

12. No passengers...boxes don't *****.

13. The operations staff in ANC are great. They go out of their way to help you out. Same goes for the chief pilot.

So to sum it up...it is worth the commute for me...may not be for everyone though.

I just hope they keep freight!

Just a question, are there any guys on the panel over 65 or are they allowed.
When UAL had them almost all guys on the panel were over 60.

How can a NWA pilot displace anybody in an existing seat? I don't believe that is possible. It would be chaos if that was true.

NWA category shrinks, pilots have displacement preferences to 76ERs, junior 76ER pilot gets bumped.

We have a few who are +65, I think.

Not until SOC. They would bump 320 and -9 guys until then.

That cant be answered for either side. None of us from either side know what the plans are for aircraft and bases. Hypothetical-What if the 777 get moved to a NWA base would those current pilots bid the new base or bid off and stay in base? Same goes for our guys. If they move the bus around to a different base and close the previous bus base then what? There are way to many questions and what ifs to figure any of that out.

what if they move md90s out of SLC and move 320s in will those DAL pilots that want to stay in SLC bid our 320s? The base and aircraft shifting is the wild card for everyone.

That's a great point. I am considering, based on the supposed AE in the spring, bidding different equipment. And before anyone says it, I know I know bid what you want... But if I bid the ER nyc and then they move a bunch of ER's out of ny and move in airbusses.... Not a great career decision.

Im wondering if our MEC can pressure mgmt to disclose some planned fleet moves so we can bid accordingly. Or would all that be super top secret stuff? I know its never a done deal, but any kind of guidance would be better than guessing.

Ok, and last point... Someone somewhere (in the company or the FAA) must be working on the SOC project and knows about how long it will take. Is there any possible way we can get an "ET-SOC"? Or is that all double secret insider stuff too?

I have some decisions to make during 1st Q '09. Hard to make a good decision without the info.

The big rumor now is SOC will happen possibly in April. They want it done asap so they can unlock all of the synergies asap.