I predict newhires on the 777. You heard it here first.

We are a loooooong way from that maybe in 2020ish. But one day I predict your prediction will become true.

Always a possibility. We had it in the 90s when the freezes were such that guppy, bus, trimotor, 757 etc and other FOs couldn't bid to the 777 if they already had a freeze. The thing now is that any 757, bus, or guppy FO can upgrade to the 777 (if their freeze is an equipment training freeze and not one of the other two), so its not super likely we will see this.

I think the lack of the old style freezes prevents this from happening, although it is nice to see guys having choice, something that hasn't existed much over the last 14 years.

I predict we don't see it, unfortunately.

At the moment there is an odd dynamic in the 756 and 76T fleet in IAD. L-CAL types have some loathing, fear, disdain, or something else that prevents them from bidding L-UAL metal and a large number of IAD 76T folks were actually JFK transplants that have since returned to EWR 756. Prior history was JFK junior and IAD senior. IAD had a 73 base before United parked their 73s to make way for the merger and those 73 captain's mostly went to 777 IAD FO so I suspect there will be a fair amount of senior 777 FOs that will take the IAD 73 positions. I just have to laugh when I see CAL types not willing to take A320 Captain bids or 76T FO bids. They could dramatically improve their trips and/or pay but the anti-UAL bias is so high in the junior CAL ranks that they can't bring themselves to take the bid. No worries for me 'cuz it's making the EWR A320 Cap bids way more junior than the 73 EWR Cap bids and that's ok by me ;)

Does anyone know when the freeze starts? Buddy of mine will start training a few days before the bid closes... really wants the IAH A320 but looks like he'll get EWR 737 or 756. If he bids it, and seniority allows it, would they keep him seat locked after only a few days of ground school?

I don't think that's the reason. The 1st 3 years post-merger the guppy fleet was effectively fenced. So a lot of guys bid those seats and got in place knowing an SLI was coming, and so if they wanted to be a NB Captain, they'd have bid it a while back. I think this is just post-SLI balancing of seniority to flying.

Yes, we had guppies for 30+ years prior to the merger, and a lot of guys are going back to do flying that existed previously, but I don't think its fear of the UAL side, etc.

We need to have one side, us. And the other side should be management. Even if we have to deflate some footballs to win, we should do it. (Not that anyone would do that in real life)

This bid has a July effective date so I would bet his seat lock would hold. Good luck to him he may make it back to IAH on the 76T or 756 before 2 years. The last bid into those seats went pretty low.

So with that said, will a guy like me with a hopeful class date in late March be bidding on the fallout of the results for this displacement?

This is a Vacancy not a displacement. But yes you will be bidding on whats left (not filled)

I agree. I'm looking forward to returning from Mil Leave, and flying with LUAL pilots. As a commuter though, I can either go to IAH and be relatively senior, or commute to ORD and lose about 30-40% on LUAL equipment.

I can't agree enough with your last statement. (I like mine deflated and thrown underhanded)