Download the FlightView app, turn off codeshares in settings and search by route. Very easy way to see how many flights are available between two airports.

Check if FedEx has any flights between BNA and PIT, IND can be quite commutable with FedEx hub there from what I here.

Congrats on upgrade award time being down to two years. 11/29/16 junior Captain Award here date.


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That's correct, if you're measuring it from DOH to when you become aware of your upgrade award.

I think most people would like to measure upgrade time using the date that you will begin flying as captain and earning captain pay, and that occurs roughly 4 months later. i.e. the base listed on the 12/9/18 captain award is effective 4/1/19, and training will begin in March. I'm not sure what kind of delays there are in upgrade training, if any. I know upgrades have been getting simulator time priority over new hires, which is part of what has been contributing to a several month wait for new hires to get a class date.

Still, that would make it about a 2 year, 4 month upgrade time, which is an improvement from last month's bid.

Ok, so base bidding is tomorrow (I’m commuting from BNA)... I’ve changed my thinking a bit, someone please straighten me out if need be. I want several available flights daily for the commute, which takes out MCI, IND, CMH, and PIT. Next priority is wait/reserve time, which eliminates MIA, IAH, DCA, PHL, ORD, EWR. Which leaves me with LGA. A million flights a day, can get the base right out of training, and maybe no reserve time at all. I’ve heard tons of people say how much LGA sucks... with this logic, why shouldn’t I put LGA at the top of my list and then bid something else later?

How much it sucks depends on your perspective. I imagine that folks who live nearby and drive to work have much less to complain about than those trying to catch commutes on packed flights all the time. Commuting is where most of the aggravation comes from. But, you and a lot of us must still do it.

LGA is currently the base to choose to hold a line as quickly as possible, but, I'm not sure how commutable the trips are. Meaning, you might have to use days off before and after work days to commute in and out, whether it be due to an early report time, or to get you enough rest to fly the whole first day.

LGA now has Shake Shack. So when your go home day gets blown up with EDCTs you can eat your way to happiness. But in reality your line of reasoning is pretty good- you’ll be commuting no matter what, so pick a base with a lot of flight options and where you can gain seniority quickly so you obtain the ability to better bid your schedule for commutability and days off. See you in LGA and I’ll buy you a beer if you don’t try to kill me.

New hires 11/27 base assignments
Class of 32

9 EWR
9 LGA
8 IND
4 CMH
2 PIT

LGA now has new hire pilots sitting at least 2 months on reserve. Expect an update once Jan lines become official.

As a piece of data, almost 30% of IND FOs will be sitting reserve in January. Paradoxically, it looks like reserve times at junior bases are increasing due to a surplus of pilots, instead of a shortage of them. Should even out as the training pipeline dries up for a couple of months, and YMMV at other bases.