It’s not 2.5 to the property, but to wherever report is at MCO. So it doesn’t even sound feasible even if everything else were to line up. I’m assuming the train doesn’t run every minute, either.

I will be starting in late September and trying to figure out if it is realistic to think that I can be home based in MCO within the next two years. I am pretty young and think that I will be at the bottom or very near the bottom of the list in class. Say that I get the 756, would I still be able to bid for the 73 in MCO or LAS in October since it is still within the 6 months of being a new base? Thank you for the insight.

NO you will not. If you have a choice make sure its 737

Ok, thank you

I’m sure I could dig these answers up but I am not APC savvy from my phone. Apologize in advance.

Coming out of wide bodies elsewhere. While I love WB flying, being domestic and driving to work might work best for my family. Commuting means a 50 minute drive to the nearest airport, time sat waiting and stressing, and then a minimum of a 45 min flight to a base, but I can get anywhere pretty easily. I’m 2 hours on the nose from the parking lot at MCO…further for TPA. I have somewhere in TPA I could hang out and somewhere at a midpoint to MCO if need be but would prefer to be at home ready to go if I’m sitting on reserve. Is this doable under the new contract? Any further info on how they are going to handle the TPA co-base thing? If it’s the same time requirement as getting to MCO it severely limits the number of pilots that would still be interested, wouldn’t it?

Now that MCO has been going for a few months, what are the trips looking like? Do some end up back in MCO for overnights mid trip? Not that I’d try to go home, but the fam could come over and spend the day at the theme parks. How about destinations? A lot of EWR/IAH/ORD/IAD shuttling back and forth or is there some Caribbean and some variety in there?

Much appreciated. Your cabin crews and flight crews I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with have been top notch and pleasant whether I’m in uniform or not.

You have 2.5 hrs to report time which sounds like if you leave your bag packed in the car you grab your iPad on the way out the door and go. Lots of us have made reserve work like that. With the co-base of TPA we are waiting on final TA language but current precedent is they give allowances for cross town driving when making assignments. In ewr and given a lga assignment it could be 3 hrs stuck in traffic some days but an honest effort getting there and you will be treated honestly. On probation I would do your best to go above and beyond but I think you will find it really won't be an issue. The quality of the flying in MCO is a varied but might change with the new TA language. It is a little bit of everything right now. The great thing here is it is like goldilocks. If you don't like the home base narrow body you can go do something else until you find what you like. There is almost too much variety in the flying and positions to wrap your head around. People find what they like and 20 yrs later they are still doing it.

That all sounds pretty good to me, and going back to WB sounds good too if the shoe fits better. Is MCO likely to run a bit junior for the foreseeable future? Saw a comment earlier in the thread that it could change in a couple months when people aren’t able to use it to jump to the base they want? I’m not sure how all that works so sorry if it’s a dumb question.

Edit: Also, I know this should prob go in a dif thread, but how important are internal letters of rec at United? All my good friends are at a competitor…I’d be trend-setting.

What are the chances they’ll (Union) will be able to keep this way?

Zero. It was held up with the contract negotiations. That’s done now.

MCO isn't really junior. It's tied with DEN as the most senior 737 FO base. But.... the junior pilot in each base has been here less than a year, so "junior" is a relative term. You can likely get there before you are done with OE and almost certainly get there within a year.

Nobody really knows that answer. Prep companies will tell you that internal recs > external recs. We also know that recs from management carry more weight. I had my app in for 6 months with multiple internals, but recieved an invite 3 days after a Chief Pilot meet. YMMV.