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AMR - Dallas Base - Very senior or what?

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Tweaker

BOHICA
Joined
Dec 1, 2002
Posts
736
How does DFW run as an AMR base? I would expect it is quite senior.

It is the only AMR base I would be happy living in, is why I'm asking. Anyone got any ideas?

Yes, this is not a near term proposition, chillax.

Thanks!
 
Hey Tweaker,

I don't have any info on AMR bases, but while you're appealing to people who would know... What about MIA? How junior is that base?
 
DFW = very senior. To put it in perspective - I am in my 14th year and can just now be a bottom lineholder/senior reserve MD80 F/O. I can also just barely hold 737 F/O, but deep reserve.

That said - when AA is in hiring mode, as it was in '98-'00, you could bid and get awarded DFW within a month or two of new hire class. Heck, in early '00, some of my classmates were awarded DFW 75/76 Int'l F/O within a couple months. So when we start hiring again, you should be able to get a DFW slot relatively quickly. But you will be on reserve a LOOONG time.

In shrinkage mode, DFW is the first to start displacing out of base. During the past ten dark years, there were guys bumped out of there that weren't reinstated for a good 7 years.

MIA = *THE MOST* Junior base we have. Even more junior than NY. Thatis where the majority start as new hires, and guys used to joke that in furlough mode you will do the "Miami Death March" where you slowly bump down to the most junior equipment out of MIA before you get canned.

I am currently based in MIA and it has pretty much the best flying in the system. Europe, Deep South, Caribbean and Domestic. All that's missing is Asia, hopefully that will come when we get more 773s on line. As a 14th year 75/76 F/O I am about 65% on the list in MIA, flying only Caribbean and S America Lite stuff (no all nighters.) Sweet bid status. MIA is slated to grow the most out of all our bases. It is a cash cow for AA and a great base to fly out of.
 
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Hey aa73:
Another former ACA'er and I were both surprised to hear MIA was the most junior. We would have both guessed for sure it was the iron triangle of (JFK,LGA,EWR) Any insight on why it is so junior down there. Is it a commute from hell ? Frozen inquiring minds want to know ;-)
 
No clue on why it's so Junior. I've wondered that myself. I guess there are lots of commuters (myself included) and, as good as the flying is, there's some flying that kind of sucks.

For example, tons of double all nighters down to EZE, SCL, MVD, GIG, etc. They tend to go senior but no thanks. We even have a MIA-Brasilia (BSB) flight on the 757 that is a two man crew and leaves at 23:35 and arrives around 9am - a 7hr flight in the dead of night with no breaks! UGH.

I am a die-hard Pilot of the Caribbean. Daytime stuff / same time zone only, thank you very much. Even Europe sucks for me - and that is UBER senior in MIA. I like to fly 2, maybe 3hrs max and settle down on a beach on my same time zone. All those gray haired senior cats can fight over the Deep South/Europe stuff all they want!

That said, MIA is kind of like a mini-DFW with how big it is. The difference is that DFW has relatively few commuters (most folks live in base) and the cost of living in DFW is WAY cheaper compared to MIA, hence DFW is more senior.
 
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Thanks for the input, aa73! That was what I suspected. I'm happy where I am, but I like to have teh lay of the land, ya know.

I'll wager that MIA is just a culture and climate that appeals to the fewest number of pilots. I know I would prefer it to the Anus Triangle! Interesting that it will grow the most. I thought it would be LA LA Land, as that would feed Asia.

LearLove, your sentiment is silly and not very welcoming. Of course, you are free to state it, just sayin'.
 
I would be all over the Cheeseburger in Paradise career myself, aa73! We don't have hardly any RONs in the Carib or Central America. Just fly down, buy some cheap booze and fly back. Great for a base living boy like me in a line with nothing but that. Lots of time off, and that goes very senior as well. Not very exciting tho.

I guess with these new pay rates, I'll just go down there on my days off, as I can soon afford it. Anyone want to buy a van? It's down by the river. Overpowering odor of fear and self-loathing comes free.
 
Turnarounds are great if you live in base. We do have quite a few of those out of MIA. Me, as a commuter, I much prefer the 3 day Carib trips. This month I've got UIO/SJU, SXM/SJO and BGI/STT. It's rough I know but someone's gotta do it. :cool:
 
How does DFW run as an AMR base? I would expect it is quite senior.

It is the only AMR base I would be happy living in, is why I'm asking. Anyone got any ideas?

Yes, this is not a near term proposition, chillax.

Thanks!

For folks coming from PHX it is veeerrrry senior. :D
 
Dallas? Senior? As a lifelong Texan I can't thing of a more horrible place to call home than Dallas. Well, Houston. San Antonio. Del Rio. Lubbock. Conroe. There's a lot of really f u c k ed up places in Texas!
 
Please explain, Denny. I don't know why you would say that, but I'd like to.
 
For the short term yes, long term no, thank God. Philly is Ghetto!

Not defending Philly or anything (I live 50 miles north and that is as close as I want to get) but it's not like the other bases AAA/AWE/AMR have tons of people being chauffeured around in a Rolls Royce Tug asking if you have any Grey Poupon while you do your walk around.
 
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Philly is not that bad—it's what you make of it.

I've spent a couple years living in Downtown Philly and 40 minutes Southwest in the country side. The people are remarkably kinder than NYC and it's kind of cool living where the United States formed it's roots.

The city of Philadelphia, like US Airways, has reach rock bottom—and it's solid. ;)
 
That trip tends to go somewhat senior. However I've seen it in open time plenty of times for both the FO and FB.

VVI is flown by the regulars who love that, ahem, style of trip... it is a 23:00ish departure from MIA-LPB and then a tag leg to VVI arriving around 8am. 3 man operation. On the next day it flies straight back from VVI-MIA and the FB deadheads back (flt time is less than 8hrs.)

Never done it and never plan on doing it: way too much work, what with having to don O2 masks for landing in LPB as well as the walkaround - all that after an all nighter? Ugh! However, the VVI layover is quite nice from what I'm told.
 
I just hit 40 and am flying at NJA as 7yr FO. Always wanted to fly at AA since the formative years at Atlantic Coast. We currently live in Dallas (and love it) however I'm beginning to wonder should I try my hand at AA again after 14 years? Is that FO scale going to change for new hires after the merger is completed? Don't mind commuting to MIA or NYC for a year.
 
Blueridge if you live in DFW and NJ isn't cutting it for you, I'd say go for it. The retirements alone at this place absolutely skyrocket starting around 2015, in fact I believe AA/US has the highest planned retirements out of all the US airlines for the next 15 years.

Throw in (competent) airline management that plans on GROWING this place and finally taking advantage of the opportunities a stagnant AA has, and I think this place will once again become a good place to hang your hat. It sounds like we should start hiring sometime later this year. The morale here is SLOWLY changing.

Regarding pay, once the merger is complete we will start working on a JCBA which should bring new hire pay up to par with DL/UA, amongst other improvements.

We are finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel here and it is not a train. I feel cautiously optimistic about the new AA, so does Wall St and most of the airline analysts. It's about time, the past 10yrs have absolutely sucked.

PS I would be glad to help a fellow Blue Ridger!

73
ACA '98-'00
 
Philly is not that bad—it's what you make of it.

I've spent a couple years living in Downtown Philly and 40 minutes Southwest in the country side. The people are remarkably kinder than NYC and it's kind of cool living where the United States formed it's roots.

The city of Philadelphia, like US Airways, has reach rock bottom—and it's solid. ;)

Clearly your bar is set quite low. I pick up trash everyday from these filthy locals. Then again my other houses are in LAS and SAN.
 
aa73 & LaGarbage Man thank you both kindly. I might hit you both up once I get my stuff in order. It would be fulfilling a career dream albeit later than I would have preferred since I rode IDE down. NJA is a fine outfit in it's own right but morale is in the toilet since we were served Section 6 with concessionary overtures. I'm looking to possibly make a move out of here.
 
Clearly your bar is set quite low. I pick up trash everyday from these filthy locals. Then again my other houses are in LAS and SAN.

Well, you are correct there. I live in University City and its amazing what lack of pride there is at times in keeping the sidewalks clean.
 
Thanks for the info on Bolivia trips. What seniority are trips to Santiago/Buenos Aires out of MIA?

SUPER Senior.. With a Capital "S".

MIA-EZE is all 777 now, 3 flts a day. The plum is the 1030am departure - day trip down, day trip back. I think both F/Os on that trip can hold CA anywhere in the system. ;)

MIA-SCL is a 763, 2 flts a day, also very senior even though they are both double red eyes. SCL is an awesome city, so is MVD, another very senior 763 trip.

MIA-Europe is also at the top of the list. CDG, MAD and BCN on the 763, with LHR on the 777.

Basically, any trip that goes to Europe or deep south out of MIA is very senior. For some reason, that type of flying appeals to a lot of folks. And they are all senior to me which is just fine by me... as long as they stay off the Caribbean I'm a happy camper.

Quite simply, my long term philosophy as an airline pilot is that the more senior, and older, I get, the more body-friendly flying I plan on doing. The way it SHOULD work is that you do all the long haul, int'l flying when you're young, and when you are near retirement you simply do domestic turns or staying on your own body clock, sleeping in your own bed every night.

Instead, it seems to be the other way around - you start off doing the easy flying when young, and the incredibly hard flying when nearing retirement. It is completely lopsided, and maybe explains why US airline pilots may have a shorter life span after retirement.

In my last few years, I plan on simply being a narrowbody CA flying domestic turns or easy 2 day domestic trips. All that 14hr long haul "super seniority" crap will definitely take its toll on you at that age. I guess I've already started that process by only flying same-time-zone stuff (Caribbean.)
 
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Well, you are correct there. I live in University City and its amazing what lack of pride there is at times in keeping the sidewalks clean.

Not to mention in UC, you have to be concerned with verbal assaults and threats from John Bernard.
 

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