This should keep your spirits up:

Yes, assume a start in EWR for everybody, for awhile. However, here's my A-320 new hire case as an example (this is the good part).

I just finished my first and only three days of reserve in EWR...my only three days...ever. I start in SFO next month (days off until then). I live in Sacramento, so it is a drive-able commute, albeit a nasty one at times as it took 4 hours to get home tonight from OET class due to the ridiculous Friday afternoon traffic.

The key here was that a vacancy bid came open while I was in the indoc class and I was awarded the lateral from EWR to SFO. It had an effective date of 1 April, but pilot planning moved the date up 1 month to 2 March. Pretty darn awesome...no complaints here.

That is awesome to hear. Are you planning to drive that every trip/rsv stretch?

Would I be wrong to think that for those in the 17th class that want to be out West and we get the 756, we can plan to be easily 1.5 years in EWR/DCA until we get out West?

Welcome to UAL and the Airbus from a long term Airbus guy. Don't sweat that drive to SMF at its worst. As you pass the 3 hour mark getting home on a bad day, a commuter somewhere has been waiting around even longer....only to get bumped and stuck for the night anyway. I speak from personal experience. You sir, are in fine shape. Enjoy!

I'm 38 and first pref is the 737. I'll be hoping for an out west base down the road. See ya in class

That could be a fairly good assumption, unless you could get to IAH on it.

Is IAH going to guys with less than 1.5 years on the 756 as of right now? Thanks!

See ya then Bama! You know of anyone else in the class?

Keep in mind that we have a lot of Post-Merger churn going on still. So what is currently happening is not necessarily a predictor of future staffing/bidding. The current defecit in EWR is a result of many formerly EWR based pilots who had other bases available to bid, so they left EWR. That created a staffing hole in EWR that was filled by furloughee recalls. Those furloughee recalls have been slowly leaving back to the bases they were originally in.

For example: The company said last summer that the next 12 months of new hire classes would be all in EWR, yet here we are with IAD and IAH being assigned in Indoc.

Every vacancy bid, each position goes more junior, so at some point we are just going to have more vacancies everywhere (except probably DEN).

Two things are most likely, there will be vacancies in EWR for a long time, and other bases will have openings as well. But its really hard to say it will take 1.5 years to get to SFO on the 767 fleet just because that's how long it took the guys right now.

Also when the 787 fence falls in December a lot of guys will certainly bid over for better pay and seniority and that will shake things up as well.

At least that's my observation after watching the last 19 years of staffing happen.

Some from the February 3 new-hire class bid out. I know of a 320 guy going to IAH and a 756 guy going to DCA. Not sure about the rest. One of our 737 guys wanted something on the west coast but I'm not sure if he was able to get that.

I'll be heading to class the 17th as well! Counting the days. See everyone there.