SWA MCO base question

[CoopDog]

Hi guys,

Anyone know what the current junior man is in MCO? Just trying to figure out how long it might take to get there after basic indoc with the projected hiring for '04 (350-400?)

Ball parking it with number of classes from DOH will be close enough.

Thanx

 

[Snoopy58]

As of the latest vacancy bid results (i.e. where everyone is in September), the bottom pilot in MCO was in the first class of this year. The next pilot above him was from the class before him (i.e. only one person from the Jan 03 class is in MCO -- not everyone from that class who wanted it).

Or, put another way, there are about 145 pilots on the SYSTEM seniority list below the bottom pilot in MCO. That's about 6-7 classes worth of people.

Usual caveat, this is a snapshot in time. At one point, guys were getting MCO straight out of newhire training. At another point, guys who had been there for over a year were getting displaced off the bottom of the list there as the base shrunk. They're all back now, obviously. Things change over time. By the time the next class starts, some bases may expand more than others, and guys who upgrade may or may not be coming from all bases equally. Also, those 145 pilots who can't yet hold MCO may ALL want it, or very few may want it. Your milage may vary, etc etc etc.

But you already knew all that!

Snoopy

 

[CoopDog]

MCO, here we come!

That sounds like only 3 to 4 months after basic indoc based on next years projected hiring. I can dig that!

Snoopy, if one had 300-350 numbers below him, would he be a fairly senior block-holder in MCO? (based on today's snapshot in time, of course) I don't want you to go to the trouble of dialing up Miss Cleo or anything like that, but if you have the info in front of you, I sure would appreciate it.

Coop

 

[OakRBust]

Hey Coop...


300-350 sounds really nice but it really just depends on how many people come in under you in MCO.

A new crew base could make us all really really happy!!!


OAK

 

[Snoopy58]

OakR is correct: the number of pilots under you in the SYSTEM determines less than the number of pilots under you in your BASE, at least when it comes to schedule stuff. As things stand right now, going from the last guy in MCO up to about the 12th guy from the bottom spans almost 200 seniority numbers. That is, bottom guy has 146 beneath him in the system and 0 beneath him in MCO; Mr. X has 12 beneath him in MCO and about 325 beneath him in the system. At MCO, in July, that Mr X can hold a hard line, although he's flying a lot of weekends.

At a more "commuter" base, at 12 from the bottom, you're holding reserve, reserve, reserve. At the bases with more pilots who live there, reserve tends to go more senior... get paid to hang out at home, and pick up open time on your days off. I was surprised how LITTLE reserve went to the bottom of the seniority list in MCO... mostly blank lines, which can be hard lines, if lots of guys have vacation or training that month, or reserve, if not.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask!

Snoopy

 

[PTinbound]

Coop,
My buddy in MDW is has about 350 pilots below him system wide, but he'd only have 8% of the MCO FO's junior to him if he went there. That's not getting Christmas off, but at least you'd be there.

 

[MLBWINGBORN]

Another thing to think about..

MCO and BWI seem to be joined at the hip alot of times..

People that get pushed out of MCO tend to end up in BWI for commuting purposes...
Then as MCO re-expands, even though it may seem like alot of numbers moving around,there are usually alot of folks waiting in the wings in BWI to move back to MCO..

Several of my friends have been disappointed because they thought they had a shot at MCO only to find that all the slots were taken by guys coming back from BWI..

For planning purposes it may help to look at the bids of the guys around your number at BWI to see if they are trying to get into MCO when you get a little closer..

Snoop and others are right..It changes from month to month based on the whims of crew planning..


Mike

 

[intel33]

Does anyone have an opinion what a new pilot base would do for the mix? Would a new base tend to go very junior, because few would be living there yet?

Based on what I have seen, I would guess there might be a new base (Vegas??) before too many more bodies get in the senioruty line.

 

[ivauir]

my guess

Vegas does look like an obvious choice and there are plenty of floks who already live there. From the Captains I've flown with a new base will almost definatly displace the most junior folks initially. That being said the current pilot population is LAS coupled with the lack of state taxes might keep the number of involuntary displacments pretty small. The bottom line is if we grow like we're supposed to in the next two years it won't matter, people will be moving up in senoirty so fast they'll get were they want to go fast (except Dallas I suppose).

You wanted an opinion, there is mine.