Delta Mad Dogs in NYC
 

I'm sitting at 85% on the NYC 800 and thinking about my displacement bid. If I get bumped, I imagine it'll be to the Mad Dog, so here's my question for the 88 pilots:

How is it?
Are ya happy?
Is most of your flying out of LGA?
Where do you go?

Ok, so those are four questions. If I were a smart man, I'd've fallen in love with a career in an industry that isn't always teetering on the edge of collapse.

I would not worry about being displaced. I think the NYC pilots will move up with all the 765 time coming to town, even with some NWA pilots bidding into some of those spots.

Agreed. Crew Resources sees a lot of FO's upgrading to CA on this bid in NYC.

Frank, I think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't
work hard enough on defence. And he says that lots of
times, you don't even run down court. And that you
don't really try . . . except during the playoffs.

It seems as if you want to get out of NYC, you have to AE not MD or VD, like those at the end of the ER list? Trying to get to DTW, yeah I live in MI (for right now) so it is a no brainer.

I'm not a NY guy but I'll throw my 2 cents in on the Maddog...Its a very good airplane. Lots of power, quiet cockpit, FMS and IRU's. Downsides- autothrottles are touchy, smallish cockpit, trips. It has no problem stopping (another bad rap) I know there is a lot of misinformation on this jet but I will tell anyone that its a good jet. If you have a chance to make Capt and its on the Maddog, DO IT!

11 yr MD vet
now CVG ER A (for now)

To answer the OP's question ... on this January bid, here is the breakdown for the MD-88 NYC.

5 % of the trips were EWR
76 % of the trips were LGA
19 % of the trips were JFK

Of the LGA trips ... only 14 of 159 trips had the chance of being commutable on both ends. I drive to work, but most guys will tell you that our trips aren't commutable. So a 4 day trip is easily a 5 and more likely a 6 day trip.

Also, folks don't like having to cover 3 airports. If you are a commuter, that can be a real pain if you don't have a local car to drive. It really sucks when you're at your crashpad in Queens on reserve and you get called out to Newark. You just won a non-refundable $85 cab ride ... one way. Good times.

What about the 73N trips? I'll still be on the 765, but with half the category gone, it may not be worth it. Thinking of chasing the airplane to NYC, but I figure if I am going to cummute, then maybe I should bid 73 captain.

The nice thing about the 88 is MOST trips are at LGA. As previously stated, not many of the trips are commutable on both ends. I commute on the shuttle, and they still aren't commutable.

I have to say the worst thing is the EWR trips. They are a harder commute for me, and they tend to have 6-7AM sign ins. They also usually get done around 10PM. Not only does that mean you need a crashpad on both ends, you also have to do the EWR shuffle all the way from your crashpad. (that can probably take 2hrs each direction from the LGA or Kew Gardens area)

Thanks for the insights, folks.

Regarding the 73N trips, they're mostly JFK - based, and many are commutable. It's a good life.