GUM isn't a siberian labor camp but it's not a base like any other.

Commuting 7,000 miles against your will is fundamentally different than 700.

Yet you knew it was a possibility when you took the job.

Let me guess, ...never been in the military?

And heck, there hasn't even been active hostilities there since 1952 when the last Japanese soldier discovered the war was over although he wasn't actually captured for another couple decades...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi

Of course, the UXO risk persists...

https://www.usace.army.mil/Portals/2.../Guam_MMRP.pdf

Do that many people really commute? It sounds like an awesome excuse to go live the island life for a year or two. I've been to Guam numerous times and I would consider it based on the unique experience it offers.

This is a temporary pause. That's it.
The only way vacancy bids stop is if passenger demand falls off. And there's no sign of that happening. But you can find plenty of pilots who will cry wolf about 'the music stopping' over and over again. Eventually they are right.
Look at the passenger numbers: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/passenger-volumes
It's pretty much up 10% from 2023. United has to grow in order to keep up with demand. If United stops growing, all airline ticket prices (not just United) will increase considerably in order to suppress demand growth.
On the same note, we need Boeing to keep building those POS guppies in order to keep up with demand.
The FAA can try to stop United growth and Boeing from building aircraft, but the public blowback will be untenable.

Ive seen more than one class drop paper with the word “forced” on it recently. I’ve been watching them the past several years, and it had never shown up until the contract was signed. I think people are equating “forced” Captain spots with “I don’t like this, so it’s forced” so they then annotate it for some reason. It seems to be a recent thing, and I’m not sure the reason for even putting it on there.

The "any base that you want, so long as it's in the eastern hemisphere" crew hasn't hit the line yet ... but yeah, I can imagine someone with family issues commuting for 2-3 months before swapping.

But I mean, who cares? Call it forced, involuntary, too junior to hold anything else- it all means the same thing. You’re acting like “forced” necessarily connotes unfairness or anger at the system. There’s no value attached to it, it just means the guy didn’t have a second choice. Happens all the time in aviation.

Your assumption that demand is unlimited and infinite is pretty gullible. Financing airplanes when pax demand is high is easy. When you have too many assets not so much. Bastian is a CEO who really gets this, preaches optimistic but measured, strategic growth. Not growth for the sake of growth, highly leveraging the assets before acquiring new ones. Unlike drag queen CEO, which thankfully is being somewhat impeded by Boeing (he’ll thank them later).

Long time reader, first time poster. Since these posts seem to get off track, here is my attempt to get back on topic. I'm looking to see if anyone who received CJO's early-mid March have recieved class dates yet or might have info on when to expect them? I beleive no classes May/June, but i'm just trying to set my own expectations for planning. I received a CJO on 23 March, and still waiting on the pee test info. Thanks for the help!