Given the recent hiring craze there the last little while, I was wondering what the outlook is for a new hire there, especially now that things are slowing down there. If the outlook is still good, as far as getting in, through training in good time, and to the line, with minimal time on reserve, what would the interview process be like for someone with 121 time, ie....in the -200? thanks for any info....

ps--I am considering a lateral move, eliminating a commute, and living close to where I grew up.

 

I'd be very careful with lateral moves right now. With airlines starting to reduce flying, parking airplanes, asking for voluntary COLAs, you might be better off staying at your current employer. I wouldn't want to be at the bottom of the seniority list right now...

 

Agreed! Suck it up and stay where you are if you can. It's gonna be a rocky ride for the next year or two with oil prices, merger possibilities and a recession (whether real or percieved). You don't want to be on the bottom of a seniority list and become furlough fodder.

 

It would also matter on where you want to be based. MSP tends to run more senior, and if that's where you want to be, it might take longer to get there, the lower on the list you are.

 

how long to get MSP?

 

depends on equipment, all 200's are based there so thats a given, the saab will be a while, i would guess longer than a year considering i have waited over 6 months and have yet to be awarded it. the 900 i would guess a long time as well as there are many new hires who are dtw or mem based just waiting to get msp

 

The MSP-900 might get surprisingly low this next award. Very possible that people from the Jan. 14th class will get to MSP. Got within 4 people the last award and there are 10 spots on the next vacancy. The majority of people from the Jan. 14th class haven't even hit the line yet.

 

One would assume that Mesaba will take on more 900’s with NWA accelerating the retirement of their DC9’s. I would imagine this should open a lot of spots in MSP. Any word on them taking additional deliveries?

 

900 hiring is getting close to being finished so if you got hired today and started class in two weeks, you would be close to the most junior person on the 900 and have to wait a while for msp, for those who are on the line now, msp may not be so long, but again, if you are yet to be hired, msp will be w hile

 

Parking DC9s at the end of the summer is old news. They're currently reevaluating the fleet plan which could include parking more of them sooner. The current plan is to operate 68 of them. The ones they're parking are the oldest -30s which seat 100 seats. The ones they're keeping are the -40s and -50s at 110 and 125 seats respectively. The 900s and 175s were not acquired to be direct DC9 replacements. One could say the 900s were acquired to replace the Avros Mesaba flew. The bottom line is that 72, 76 seat jets are not going to replace a 100+ strong fleet of 100-125 seat a/c. NWA is currently evaluating a 100 seat replacement a/c, which is most likely the EMB195 or Cseries from BBd.

Having said all that... I wouldn't be surprised if NWA took options on the 175, 900 or both. However, the NWA current scope only allows for 90, 76 seaters to be operated meaning NWA could only bring on 18 more 76 seat a/c.

THe fleet plan for XJ is to operate 17 200s, 36 900s and 49 saabs. With that we'll need somewhere in the neighborhood of about 1100-1200 pilots. With our current seniority list about 1050 and classes filled through June, it's very likely hiring for the growth will end at the end of the summer. Hiring will however, likely continue to backfill for folks leaving for greener pastures, assuming that happens. If you got hired now, honestly, you'd be on the bottom of the list. Not a comfortable place to be when you enter a period of uncertainty. I wouldn't make a lateral move at this point. However, if you MUST get back to MSP, Mesaba is probably the best option.