If you look at the last vacancy bid, there was a lot of changes in the numbers throughout the snapshot period and the award was a bit different than what was advertised.

The first snapshot's out. So far (copy/paste, no names):
DCA 320 FO 3 AWARDS 48 UNFILLED
DCA 737 CA 15 AWARDS 0 UNFILLED
DCA 737 FO 10 AWARDS 7 UNFILLED
DCA 756 CA 15 AWARDS 0 UNFILLED
DCA 756 FO 21 AWARDS 57 UNFILLED
EWR 737 FO 4 AWARDS 49 UNFILLED
EWR 756 FO 11 AWARDS 34 UNFILLED
EWR 76T CA 10 AWARDS 0 UNFILLED
IAH 320 FO 23 AWARDS 27 UNFILLED
LAX 737 FO 4 AWARDS 0 UNFILLED
LAX 756 CA 12 AWARDS 0 UNFILLED
LAX 756 FO 19 AWARDS 0 UNFILLED
SFO 737 FO 24 AWARDS 29 UNFILLED

It is extremely likely that numbers will change before the final award.

Might be a silly question, but...when there are a certain number of unfilled vacancies, does that directly translate into where new hires have the choice to bid? Thanks!

Kind of. I don't know the exact process, but the company will decide which unfilled seats/bases it will open to newhires. Here's what the contract says:

8-C-8

You're going to have to wait and see what the final award looks like, and then the company will give at least some of those vacancies to newhires. Expect all unfilled EWR vacancies to be available.
I will be surprised if the SFO vacancies remain unfilled and will also be surprised if so many DCA slots remain unfilled. Remember, anyone in training today can bid for these vacancies. Suppose you've got EWR 320 or 737. If you want west coast, you'll bid the SFO 737 slots, and if I were a newhire with a 320 bid, I'd bid for DCA over EWR if it's an easier commute than EWR (likely). I know you can get hotel rooms in the DCA area cheaper than you can in EWR, so that would be enough incentive for me to bid out of EWR to DCA as a newhire.


Like I said in the previous post, all of this will change. Wait until the award comes out and that will give you a much better picture of which fleets/seats will go to newhires. And don't sweat it if you get EWR; you should be able to bid out of there in a reasonable period of time.



Edit: just wanted to add this, to explain why the final award will look different than the initial vacancies offered:
8-C-4 Awarding of Vacancies
Upon closing of a vacancy bulletin, pilots shall be awarded the number of advertised primary
vacancies. At the same time, pilots may be awarded secondary vacancies that have become
available due to the awarding of the advertised primary vacancies. Further, awards may be
made to fill the vacancies resulting from all subsequent awards. Secondary vacancies shall be
awarded to ensure the published minimum number of positions are maintained for all
Categories. These secondary vacancies shall not have been advertised, but shall share the
same effective date as the primary vacancies.

I want to address 8-C-4 secondary vacancies in a separate post because I didn't post which bases/seats people who are being awarded these vacancies are currently assigned. This is going to have a LOT of impact on future newhire vacancies.

As of right now,
2 EWR 320 FOs are bidding DCA 320 FO
9 EWR 737 FOs are bidding DCA 737 FO
15 EWR 756/76T FOs are bidding DCA 756 FO
1 EWR 737 FO and 11 EWR 320 FOs are bidding IAH 320 FO
4 EWR 756/76T FOs are bidding LAX 756 FO
13 EWR 737 FOs are bidding SFO 737 FO

Oddly, 1 LAX 737 FO and 3 SFO 737 FOs are bidding EWR 737 FO.


The point I'm trying to make here (probably very poorly) is that there will be a lot of EWR secondary vacancies as a result of this award.

Hi Andy,

I've been off property for quite a while..I can't remember..is there any limit on how many times one can lateral? There isn't a freeze incurred when you lateral to a different base, right? I'm coming back next month and would like west coast but I see EWR in my future. I really want LAX but if I can get to SFO that would work too. So if I lateralled to SFO I wouldn't be frozen there, correct?

Hope that makes sense!

No limit on laterals to different bases on the same equipment.

You should be able to get LAX assigned upon return as your assignment; you're senior enough to hold LAX 756, 320, or 737. But 89Piston is correct; you can lateral as much as you like.

Thanks guys..the problem is I have to take whatever the class drop is when I come back. Unfortunately I can't take advantage of the current vacancy bid. My timing is off! But hopefully there will be movement after the summer again.
I'm going to call Mike ( furloughee coordinator) on Monday and hopefully he can give me an idea of what the drops are going to look like for May.

Regards,

April

Curious about the vacancy bid relative seniority number. Right now it shows me almost exactly halfway in the category (numerically), but at 72% relative seniority. Can anyone explain the discrepancy? Thanks!

Are there vacancies in that Category? If so, add the vacancies and do the math again as if you were the most junior of the vacancy awards...that should do it. It's like a worse case scenario.