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jetstream

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Posts
279
Looking for advice from current Delta pilots.

Specifically I'm a 44 year old regional jet captain at a stable airline. I'm obviously not making what the majors pay but I have job security and a decent quality of life. Though with two kids and college in the future it sure would be nice to make more $$$.

Now that Delta has announced plans to hire next year I'm considering trying to make the move. However, I'm nervous about starting over at my age,being on the bottom of a senority list, and where I would have to be based. Also, with all the early retirements I'm not even sure if I would ever get to upgrade before I hit age 60.

I'm looking for advice/input on whether going to Delta would be a wise move and what kind of future I could expect if I did go.

Thanks!!!!!!
 
jetstream said:
Looking for advice from current Delta pilots.

Specifically I'm a 44 year old regional jet captain at a stable airline. I'm obviously not making what the majors pay but I have job security and a decent quality of life. Though with two kids and college in the future it sure would be nice to make more $$$.

Now that Delta has announced plans to hire next year I'm considering trying to make the move. However, I'm nervous about starting over at my age,being on the bottom of a senority list, and where I would have to be based. Also, with all the early retirements I'm not even sure if I would ever get to upgrade before I hit age 60.

I'm looking for advice/input on whether going to Delta would be a wise move and what kind of future I could expect if I did go.

Thanks!!!!!!
Click to expand...
You work for a "Stable Airline".
 
Go for it. It appears the industry, at least for the Legacy airlines, has hit bottom. With the exception of some churning as a result of mergers, I think we'll see improvements for pilots working for the Legacy carriers.

The return to profitablity will empower ALPA to grab a piece of the action. Even though there are contracts in-place, airline managements can be counted on to screw it up and come to ALPA for relief. That will come at a price.

You'll have 15-years at your new airline. Will you earn more there than at your current employer? All else being equal, the choice is pretty simple.

Good luck!
 
At delta, you'll make more than you make now as a 3rd year FO, upgrade or not it is a profitable decision. No one can make the QOL decision for you, however.
 
jetstream said:
However, I'm nervous about starting over at my age,being on the bottom of a senority list, and where I would have to be based.

You would most likely be based in ATL or NYC on the MD88 or 737-800. First year pay is $48. 2nd and 3rd year on the 88 is $67 & $78/hr respectively. On the 800 2nd and 3rd year pay is $74 & $86/hr respectively. You also get a 9% defined contribution in your own name plus 2% 401K company contribution.

Also, with all the early retirements I'm not even sure if I would ever get to upgrade before I hit age 60.

The early retirements will only have an appreciable effect for the next 4 years, so the early retirements should have little to no effect on upgrade to the left seat after about 4 years.

The average age of a newhire at DAL in 2001 was 35.5 so you would be a little older than most but you would definitely upgrade. You could expect about 4500 retirements in the next 16 years plus 500 or so SLOA, which would put your final retirement seniority at about 2000 or less. This is just a rough wag at the numbers, but probably in the ball park. The most junior MD88 captain in the last bid was about 5000 on the seniority list so you would definitely upgrade and you would probably finish your career in the left seat of a wide bodied aircraft.
Click to expand...
 
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Wither you stay or go to DAL, you will know in five years if you made the right decision. There is a long list of pilots who left SWA, FedEx, etc for the "majors" back in the 99-01 time frame, who may have second thoughts about there move. Personally, I think senority means a lot in the this business. E. Gann worte about how numbers effect a pilot's life back in the 30's
 
15 years is a long time. Follow your dream.
 
Also, this first batch of newhires is going to do pretty well in some respects. They will basically walk into seniority that is equivalent to a 5-year pilot. New hires should be able to be lineholders on the MD88 pretty quickly and even hold the 767 in their first year. Junior Captain here is a 1998 hire and if we ever get "100-seat" airplanes that number will certainly go more junior.

Reserve here is very easy also...I've been on it for a looooong time. :) Mostly by choice though.
 
I agree that you should give it a shot. An alternative to regional flying would be Netjets where you could fly until 65, health permitting. Netjets has improving compensation as well.

Good luck!
 
Not to change the subject, but can a retired Delta Captain also recommend someone. He has been out of about 10 years. Thanks.
 
jetstream said:
Looking for advice from current Delta pilots.

Specifically I'm a 44 year old regional jet captain at a stable airline. I'm obviously not making what the majors pay but I have job security and a decent quality of life. Though with two kids and college in the future it sure would be nice to make more $$$.

Now that Delta has announced plans to hire next year I'm considering trying to make the move. However, I'm nervous about starting over at my age,being on the bottom of a senority list, and where I would have to be based. Also, with all the early retirements I'm not even sure if I would ever get to upgrade before I hit age 60.

I'm looking for advice/input on whether going to Delta would be a wise move and what kind of future I could expect if I did go.

Thanks!!!!!!
Click to expand...
A regional job is stable with job security? Since when? What happens if the major partner pulls the plug on the regional???
 
I spent 30 years at Delta, been gone about 10 years. To answer the above question..Yes a retired guy can recommend someone...will it do any good? I seriously doubt it. To answer the first question...No one has anything but a guess as to whats gonna happen. My own opinion is as follows, if you are working for a stable company, and you think that things look good there, I believe I`d stay put. My own son is a Delta pilot with ten years there. He has too much invested in his job to leave, but is planning for the worse. If a merger comes, or if the oil prices take off again, I think Delta would be in a world of hurt. On the other hand, if you were a young guy with no ties or no family, (which you aren`t) you might want to go for it. What ever you decide, I wish you the best of luck...
 
Run, don't walk! Get out of the regional, you have plenty of time and the regional life will not get better, only worse! Good luck! And remember, if you stay at the regional for the next 15 years, they promise to put you "at or near the top of the regional airline industry" unless they decide not to!
 
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Do you work for ASA or Skywest? If so, are you willing to bet that the next 16, possibly 21, years will be favorable to ASA. Skywest might be a different story.

The Goat
 
Retired guy,
Man I envy you! I hope retirement is treating you well. I remember the guys retiring from my previous carrier. I felt bad for them, now I realize how lucky they are! They escaped before they lost their pensions. Lesson learned, always take the cash and run!
 
At your age, you are fast approaching the point where switching over to a major would be detrimental to you. It would take several years to 1) get your pay rate back up to what it would be if you had not made the switch, and 2) making up for all the lost pay. Try a simple experiment. Go to airlinepilotcentral.com and find your current airline's pay rates, extrapolate what you will earn over the next 16 years, total it up, and then do the same for Delta (or whoever's) pay rates. You may find that it will take so long to make up the difference that the loss of seniority and QOL may not be worth it.
 
"Try a simple experiment. Go to airlinepilotcentral.com and find your current airline's pay rates, extrapolate what you will earn over the next 16 years, total it up, and then do the same for Delta (or whoever's) pay rates. You may find that it will take so long to make up the difference that the loss of seniority and QOL may not be worth it."

A VERY SMART MAN.

I turned down a chance at NWA in 1998 based on the above REALITY.

I was told I was "Stupid".

FORGET 9-11 and it's effects.

I would STILL be Farged. Regardless.

The 5 OTHER guys, in my Seniority Level (and ABOVE ) that went to NWA on the SAME offer...ARE COMPLETELY F..CKED.

Run the NUMBERS. Conventional Wisdom is WRONG. Decide for YOURSELF.

YKW


__________________
 
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Whine Lover said:
"Try a simple experiment. Go to airlinepilotcentral.com and find your current airline's pay rates, extrapolate what you will earn over the next 16 years, total it up, and then do the same for Delta (or whoever's) pay rates. You may find that it will take so long to make up the difference that the loss of seniority and QOL may not be worth it."

A VERY SMART MAN.

I turned down a chance at NWA in 1998 based on the above REALITY.

I was told I was "Stupid".

FORGET 9-11 and it's effects.

I would STILL be Farged. Regardless.

The 5 OTHER guys, in my Seniority Level (and ABOVE ) that went to NWA on the SAME offer...ARE COMPLETELY F..CKED.

Run the NUMBERS. Conventional Wisdom is WRONG. Decide for YOURSELF.

YKW


__________________
Click to expand...







I don't follow your thinking. If you had been hired at NW in '98 you would have never been furloughed, and would have had almost 7 years of decent pay, five of them at or above 100 bucks/hr before the first paycut. Even now,you'd be a 320 reserve FO or a DC-9 Lineholder with better work rules than at most regionals. Your salary would be somewhere between 75 and 85 bucks an hour now. What kind of job do you have? Barring a future merger (which you couldn't have predicted), if you turned down that NW job to stay at a regional airline in 1998 then you were, indeed, stupid.
 
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800Dog said:
At age 44, I would only leave for FedEx,UPS or LUV.
Click to expand...

Jetstream,

At your age, I would pay close attention to the advise above. You don't know what is going to happen to Delta in the next 5 years. You're talking about leaving your "stable job" for an airline that hasn't even emerged from Ch. 11 bankruptcy yet. There is a reason why so many furloughed guys are bypassing recall. Think about it.
 
Lifes a journey....

rayford steele said:
Retired guy,
Man I envy you! I hope retirement is treating you well. I remember the guys retiring from my previous carrier. I felt bad for them, now I realize how lucky they are! They escaped before they lost their pensions. Lesson learned, always take the cash and run!
Click to expand...

Rayford,
I am always fascinated when I hear pilots daydream about retirement. Life is truly a journey, not a destination and even at 37 I feel like every year ticks by faster and faster, kids get older, I get slower. I wonder if any retiree pilots wouldn't mind going back to 27, despite the loss of pension. Money is just a part of life and as I get older, I realize that it is actually a smaller part of the total picture than before.
Mele Kalikimaka
Love
 
As someone mentioned, take a careful financial look. Right now you're at Cpt pay, but you don't say what that rate it. That's important. Remember, all your contributions compound, so you need to look at how fast you would exceed your current pay at the new carrier.

Also, in 6 more years you will be able to contribute "catch-up" money to your 401k, so look at the current plans at the carriers you are considering. It's likely you'll be able to work till 65 so you'll have to see how that effects upgrades at the carriers you are considering.

Good luck.
 
jetstream said:
Looking for advice from current Delta pilots.

Specifically I'm a 44 year old regional jet captain at a stable airline. I'm obviously not making what the majors pay but I have job security and a decent quality of life. Though with two kids and college in the future it sure would be nice to make more $$$.

Now that Delta has announced plans to hire next year I'm considering trying to make the move. However, I'm nervous about starting over at my age,being on the bottom of a senority list, and where I would have to be based. Also, with all the early retirements I'm not even sure if I would ever get to upgrade before I hit age 60.

I'm looking for advice/input on whether going to Delta would be a wise move and what kind of future I could expect if I did go.

Thanks!!!!!!
Click to expand...
For starters, do you even have a interview yet? If so, dont even worry about until you actually get the job offer, and then sleep on it a couple of nights.
 
It's hard to believe that Delta can hire very many pilots with hundreds still on furlough. Also if Delta were to merge with another carrier, your newhire status may be tenuous as the integrated seniority list is determined. Delta is a great company but until the merger situation is resolved, I would be cautious.
 

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