It tells you something about the distribution of people upgrading.

You are correct that each everyone's case is different. So there is no "one size fits all" model here. But looking at the distribution you have an idea of how many senior folks are still getting on the upgrade train and by inference have an idea of when you are likely to hold a line etc....

I just don't really think the median number tells you anything about holding a line in a junior base. Recently it was like 12 years before you could be the plug captain in SLC. You are better off looking at the bid info and finding out the seniority of the junior guaranteed line holder in the base of your choice. The median number is going to be all over the place month to month depending on the number of upgrades and what bases they are going to. If you had a month where there were 50 upgrades, but all in DTW, you would see the median very close to the junior award.

Any rough ideas on how long it would take to hold a line in ORD? How long is IOE on the CRJ side?

IOE was two 4 day trips, and then you'll need 2 OOE trips on the other variants at some point in the first couple months. If you want IOE to schedule faster tell them you can do it out of base. Currently ~5 mos reserve and that will probably drop with AA and summer flying. If you want a line sooner bid DTW and commute. Good luck and merry christmas man

Agreed median really tells you nothing at all. It doesn't matter what the most senior or most junior upgrade is. It matters the seniority of the upgrades in your domicile. Even then it matters more to some than others. The definition of good QOL is different for everyone.

Reserve isn't very long for first available new upgrades. I was only on reserve 4 months in ORD, and took the first available.

Anyone know how long the CTP course is? Starting mine the 24th of Jan and want an idea how long I'll sit before class on the 13th of Feb.

Is there a jumpseating 101 guide somewhere on SkyWest online?

CTP is 4 days of ground (8am-5pm) and 3 days of sim (time varies but my understanding is that it's 4 hours). I'm doing CTP Jan 9 and class date Feb 13 as well so I'll see you there!

There was one on the SAPA website, but because there is a SAPA president election about to happen it is down for the foreseeable future.