Delta AE

[JOPILOT]

another cfii,

I am in the same boat as you! Although, do not give up hope yet that we might be able to hang on to the bottom of SLC...I have a feeling the bottom of SLC lists (reserve slots) will stay relatively junior since-- why would someone living in the west be willing to sit reserve in SLC if they can be a line holder further east? As a former 8- year commuter I know I would much rather have a further commute to a line than a shorter commute to reserve. Also, I know that a large portion of the SLC FO's on the MD90 are commuters and if they qualify their displacements to stay in the top 75% or 70% (lately) to guarantee a line they will be leaving the base as well, only to be replaced by someone incrementally more senior from the North that is more inclined to commute to SLC than say MSP...either way, maybe I will see you in the crew room in MSP or hopefully we can continue to scrape along the bottom of SLC until age 65 kicks in and we get some cushion...time will tell. We can't undo the merger now, so lets get it on and build some circular driveways in ATL! It may suck now, but look at it this way--we may have lost the battle but we won the war, just look at the seniority list! LOL

JP

 

[Truckdriver]

another cfii,

I am in the same boat as you! Although, do not give up hope yet that we might be able to hang on to the bottom of SLC...I have a feeling the bottom of SLC lists (reserve slots) will stay relatively junior since-- why would someone living in the west be willing to sit reserve in SLC if they can be a line holder further east? As a former 8- year commuter I know I would much rather have a further commute to a line than a shorter commute to reserve. Also, I know that a large portion of the SLC FO's on the MD90 are commuters and if they qualify their displacements to stay in the top 75% or 70% (lately) to guarantee a line they will be leaving the base as well, only to be replaced by someone incrementally more senior from the North that is more inclined to commute to SLC than say MSP...either way, maybe I will see you in the crew room in MSP or hopefully we can continue to scrape along the bottom of SLC until age 65 kicks in and we get some cushion...time will tell. We can't undo the merger now, so lets get it on and build some circular driveways in ATL! It may suck now, but look at it this way--we may have lost the battle but we won the war, just look at the seniority list! LOL

JP

I think you are correct JP. I'm planning on getting booted to MSP, although hoping to stay in SLC. There are alot of different factors that may keep the 320 junior in SLC. Another factor you have is someone commuting to MSP is flying out of a base with 350-ish pilots in each seat on the 320. A senior guy who commutes from the west coast may still have a better QOL commuting to MSP where there is a larger pilot group instead of commuting to SLC where there will be under 90 pilots per seat. Getting commutable trips with a 3 hour commute is still better than getting uncommutable trips with a 1 hour commute. As far as MSP goes, all but the bottom 8 90B guys in SLC could hold 320B in MSP right now. I'd be willing to bet money that if you do get booted to MSP, you could hold onto the 90 and not have to worry about the -9. I'm just hoping that the increase in NB flying lets most people stay where they want to. If not, we'll just be commuting for a year or two, which most of us have already done once before. It could be much worse than having to commute for awhile.

 

[Truckdriver]

we may have lost the battle but we won the war, just look at the seniority list! LOL

JP

That is why I can't complain too much. Once Dec 14 2012 comes and the DAL-N retirements kick in, we are much better off with the combined list than we would have been without it. However, this may all be a moot point because the world will end seven days later when the planets align, solar flares cook the earth, and the Yellowstone super volcano erupts on us.

 

[ExAF]

SLC Bus

I don't have any hard numbers to back this up, but my gut (backed up by limited conversations with MSP based bus drivers) tells me that if you want to stay at SLC, you will be able to stay there. I just don't think there are that many DAL-N guys that want to go there. If you are willing to sit reserve there, then I definitely don't think you will have a problem. Good luck either way.

 

[Truckdriver]

I don't have any hard numbers to back this up, but my gut (backed up by limited conversations with MSP based bus drivers) tells me that if you want to stay at SLC, you will be able to stay there. I just don't think there are that many DAL-N guys that want to go there. If you are willing to sit reserve there, then I definitely don't think you will have a problem. Good luck either way.

SLC really isn't a very commuter friendly base. Once some of the west coast guys really look at it, it might not be as good as it seems. It's great if you life here, but alot of the west coast cities have mostly RJ service into SLC. When faced with 5 mainline flights per day to MSP vs. a bunch of RJ's to SLC, I'd know I'd be getting on a mainline jet and commuting to MSP where there is a larger pilot base with more options.

 

[another cfii]

For me, if i can't hold anything but the kitchen sink in either LAX/SLC, i'll do ultra short call if they let me (insert sound of cat being dragged with claws screeching the carpet). If i get MDed to MSP, I'll go for the -9 as top choice, as it's my best chance of holding a line, and then I'll just go for the dollar sign. I have no qualms of going back to MSP in frigid Mar/Apr for training. I'll just be sure to practice my instrument scanning technique flying my homemade flight sim before I show up to class.

Another question. MD bids are run from the bottom to up, correct? If i put in a percentage qualifier of top 75%, and I was awarded the new category within the top 75%. And then the next senior MDed pilot also put in identical % qualifier and was awarded. So essentially I will be bumped toward the bottom if there're enough guy in front of me that wants the same category, is that correct??

Thanks again.

 

[Truckdriver]

Another question. MD bids are run from the bottom to up, correct? If i put in a percentage qualifier of top 75%, and I was awarded the new category within the top 75%. And then the next senior MDed pilot also put in identical % qualifier and was awarded. So essentially I will be bumped toward the bottom if there're enough guy in front of me that wants the same category, is that correct??

Thanks again.

I think MD's are run in seniority order, but converted and sent to training in inverse order. So, the above scenario should not be an issue. However, since this AE/VD/MD system is virtually impossible to understand I could be completely wrong. I'm actually starting to think that a commute to MSP if I can hold a line on the 320 might be better than reserve in SLC. If one does that, you could get a line in MSP, then WS and GS out of base in SLC and life might be better than reserve. Just my latest thought that will change by tomorrow.

 

[Monster Buck]

That is why I can't complain too much. Once Dec 14 2012 comes and the DAL-N retirements kick in, we are much better off with the combined list than we would have been without it. However, this may all be a moot point because the world will end seven days later when the planets align, solar flares cook the earth, and the Yellowstone super volcano erupts on us.

Retirements in 2012? only 1000 mand. ret. between now and 2016. Could be worse I guess but not very many until 8-10 years from now.

 

[JOPILOT]

I think VD are run first and trained first, followed by MD awarded in inverse order and trained in seniority order and then superceded by AE in seniority order in the end???
I am confused too...I have read the newsletter and the contract a few times, all in all it is most important to be confident on the % you are OK with in the categories you bid...Sorry for all the outloud mental masterbation. JP

 

[Truckdriver]

Retirements in 2012? only 1000 mand. ret. between now and 2016. Could be worse I guess but not very many until 8-10 years from now.

Technically it's 2013 because the age 65 retirements hit in Dec 2012. 100-200 per year starting in 2013 is better than the 7-8 per year we have had the last few years. Even just 100 widebody guys leaving per year makes life for the junior guy noticably better. If we had 100 per year leaving the last two years we would be running classes with newhires right now. In 8-10 years I think we will hit crisis mode because we see some years with close to 900 retirments.