Remember, those 20-50% folks (and I think everybody would feel it, all the way to the top) already paid their dues and worked weekends and holidays for years. Why should the top folks have to work 1-2 weekends NOW??? They already did that...

I'm not opposed to GDO's in general but two/month is probably too many. You can easily do the math with some rational assumptions (such as 90% of GDOs would be selected on weekends) and see how it would shake out.

Ah, good. A “pay your dues” guy. Let’s make 1st year pay $8/hr again, too.

True. Then when they are senior they will complain about vacation passes....

I'm wondering this too. The only thing I could think of that would change the dynamic is to have more pay similarity among different FO seats given the fact that the hardest working are currently paid the least and with fewer days off. Combine that with very good reasons to upgrade to NB CA (not just pay) and maybe that would reduce the number of WB FO lifers?

Money is only part of the reason people stay on the WB, but it isn’t the biggest factor. When compared to the NB grind, 1 and done, long layovers with good food and drinks, productive 3 days, more days off, and spending at least 1/3 of your duty day in the bunks is like crack. There’s nothing healthy about it, but it’s hard to give up. They’d have to raise NBCA pay to completely unrealistic levels to drag people off of a heavy. They’ll fill more vacancies by fixing reserve rules so junior people who don’t know how good WB flying is will bid captain. I’d bid back to the right seat of a WB tomorrow if I could handle the fatigue. Being that I’m not wired that way, I’ll just embrace the suck and count the days until I can retire.

I'm currently at Spirit and am debating on trying to get on with United or to stay and just wait for the JetBlue/Spirit merger since by the time it happens I'll have 2-3 years of seniority there. I have 20 years left and quality of life is my main thing right now after leaving the military. I've got a few questions though about United:

1. On reserve in ORD for the most part I am able to get weekends off by waiving my guaranteed days off to 1 day instead of 4 and then requesting weekends off. Can you do that at United on reserve?

2. Once you have a line you can swap or drop trips. Right now I'm just trying to get weekends off but in general I can work the schedule to fly however I want to and from any base if necessary. Commuting is relatively easy for me since I live in a major hub. Just wondering if you can trade or swap trips like that at United?

3. With 20 years left I'd assume that wide-bodies might not be the best idea. Basically by the time I held wide-body Captain with a line I'd be getting ready to retire?

Apologize if this was answered somewhere else.

There’s no proof that an ORD base is going to survive after a JetBlue/Spirit merger. JetBlue has what, one gate and Spirit has 6? JetBlue is just as likely (or more)to abandon ORD to consolidate in DTW and give the gates to Frontier (which is stuck in the international terminal at ORD).

If you want the best chances to be ORD based for your entire career, go to United. You’ll 100% lose schedule flexibility that you’d enjoy as a line holder at Spirit but you’ll be able to hold most weekends off on reserve in 6-9 months.

For someone getting hired today, I believe it would take 20+ years to hold widebody captain from what I've gathered. I don't think holding a line in that amount of time would be possible without major international growth (i.e. exercising the option for 100 additional 787's). Someone else can confirm though

confirmed ….

Alright I’ll bite. Confirmed how? Because when I look at ORD 78 Capt the junior line holder for the month is sitting at 80-83%. Probably a rough line but a line nonetheless. Based on the retirements alone 100 of the 170ish captains retire by Jan of 2028 with about 2,000 total off the seniority list as a whole. Sure people will move over in that time but 20+ years… I dunno about that.