The November APA at NWA
 

The results of the November APA are as follows:

A330 - 15 Captains
B757 - 1 Captain
A320 - 31 Captains

and a bunch of F/O positions.

All are new awards. No displacements.

Subsequent flying bulletin stated that necessary 747-400 Captain awards may be delayed a month due to managing the expected outflow from the A330 to the 747-400.

This is one example of a thread dealing with NWA/DAL that is actually fact based.

Carl

Carl,That is good news.Do you know if and when the conversion to the DL manning formula will take place and is this part of that or hopefully expansion for any reason ?

The flying bulletin states that these upgrades are for filling vacancies left by larger than expected retirements and the gradual shift to the Delta manning formula.

The conversion to the DAL manning formula won't happen until bid period 5. We've heard bid period 5 will probably be around the time of the Single Operating Certificate.

My guess is that most if not all of the upgrades are due to retirements. I say this because the 747-400 have had a number of new Captains added for the last 2 months, yet every flight is still manned with the 1 Captain and 3 F/O augmentation scheme.

Carl

On top of that there were a lot of Reserves moved to Block holders which is also "upward" movement.

I heard that there were no 747 awards on this APA because the 747 training department is maxed out from the last couple awards.

What I've heard is that we are running thin and we can expect to be even more lean as the next ten months pass as they are not going to hire on the nwa side to replace our attrition. They're hoping that with higher monthly maxes, overtime and no more leaves they can staff the airline for the spring and summer. We'll see but if guys keep throwing their retirement papers in the numbers may not work. Their thinking is that they are fat (no offense to those challenged by size) on the Dal side so that when we have a SOC it will even out.

That's partially true, but the bigger problem is that they know that all the 747-400 Captain positions will come from the A330, and that exodus has to be managed since they're so lean on the A330 Captain side.

Carl

Carl,
Good news - Keep it coming!:)

Scoop

Sorry grabed wrong quote

Do you mean the February 2009 APA that was published in November?

Actually that's the March APA. Published in November, to be trained in time for March flying.

Trust me. If Carl had put March or February APA, the "Old Delta" guys would have been screaming bloody murder that we were publishing our awards 3-4 months in advance to get over on the in the SLI process. :D

Just kidding "Old Delta" guys. (I think) :rolleyes:

New K Now :D

Sharpshooters
 

Yes, but a lot of those were former block holders that bid to reserve so they could sharpshoot their vacation bids. Now that the vacation bid is done, they are returning to a block. Personally I would like to have seen some of them get stuck on reserve for a while so they could actually get that reserve vacation while still on reserve.

Is that a good thing? I was awarded MSPFO757R one year ago and have not moved 1 number.

Don't Know
 

I suppose if you want to do that sort of thing, it is a good thing. It is possible because (for now) there is movement on the A320. As long as there is a block position available when they want to return, it works out well for them. If they get to reserve to sharpshoot vacation and there is no movement for them to return to a block, they run the risk of getting stuck on reserve until a slot opens up. If you are on the bottom of the reserve list, you would never notice it if there are people senior to you vacating and filling these positions at the top of the reserve list. The smaller volume of movement on the 75 makes this scenario more risky on the 75. My comment was directed more at the sharpshooters. They bid reserve vacation and take it while blockholders. Kind of slimy in my opinion, but that is what their seniority allows them to do so it's all good. I'd just like to see them stuck on reserve for a while so they can "earn" that reserve vacation bid.;)