Nextcareer

Retiring mil, looking into some of the majors (Delta, SW, Fed Ex, UPS). Can anyone tell me how domiciles get assigned? Do you have the opportunity to wait until what you want has a vacancy, or is one assigned to you? What happens if you get the absolute worst place? Are you stuck there for 5 years or more? Thanks for any insight.

Claytonh4

I believe in most cases initially one gets assigned to you (not a good one either) and that's just how it is. Rarely do junior pilots have any leverage in their domicile. As you gain seniority, yes you can wait for what you want and bid for it. The good thing though about airlines is that unlike in the military, as I'm sure you know, you don't have to physically LIVE where you are based. If you fly for AA for example and live in Dallas (where you hope to be eventually based) but are initially based out of DCA or something, you can remain living in Dallas and just commute to your base at DCA. Granted this might take a day or so out of your days off but no moving pains!

Packrat

Normally, initial domiciles are assigned in training. You are ranked in seniority order in various manners. Some airlines use date of birth, some use SSN. Once you are ranked, you will be given the current domicile openings.

The senior pilot will have first choice and so on down the line.

After that, there are base bids when openings occur. Generally, you will submit a standing bid that tells the company your preferences in order of seat/base position. For example, your United preference card might look like this:

1. 777 Captain DEN
2. 777 Captain IAH
3. 777 Captain EWR
and so on down the line until:

35. 737 F/O DEN
36. A320 F/O DEN
37. 737 F/O IAH
38. A320 F/O IAH
39. 737 F/O EWR
40. A320 F/O EWR

You get the picture. Once they go through the entire seniority list sorting people's preferences, you will be awarded the highest seat/domicile position you can hold.

NOTE: NEVER BID A SEAT POSITION/DOMICILE YOU DON'T WANT. I knew a guy who was the senior 727 F/E in CLT. He was bidding lines that allowed him to layover every night in his home town which happened to be where his Navy Reserve squadron was also based.

When USAIR merged with Piedmont they had a system bid and as a lark, he bid every Captain seat on the system. All of a sudden he found himself as the Junior USAIR Captain bidding reserve lines in Syracuse on the F-28.

Lesson: NEVER BID A SEAT/DOMICILE YOU DON'T WANT. Because, sure enough, you'll get it.

CRM114

Great post! ^^^^^This!^^^^^^

I'd add that as a New Hire you'll be last in line and offered the position that every other active pilot has turned down. As you might imagine, many of the the initial assignments can be in less than desirable domiciles. What's less than desirable to me might be perfect for you, so don't get too wrapped up on the idea of good or bad. You'll be doing the same job no matter where you're based. To answer your question, you will be expected to train and start flying the line asap, so no, you won't have the opportunity to wait for your choice of bases. If you get the "worst base" you'll be stuck until another position opens that you have the seniority to hold (see below for what affects that timing).

Commuting is an option, some guys chase the money and commute for their entire career, others chase the lifestyle and like a 5 minute drive to work. There are so many subjective measures as to what makes a good base or bad base that it's hard to generalize.

Check out the domicile info on the APC airline profiles to see where each airline has pilot domiciles (there's no guarantee that a base will be there forever). Also, research the retirement forecast for each airline which will drive how quickly domicile and upgrade opportunities can be expected to open up to you.

T45Heinous

I am very interested in the domicile question as well. I looked up under the profiles which airlines had SOCAL domiciles (which is where I plan on putting down roots) but I could not tell which ones were getting staffed by new hires. Is there any recent database for that? or is it just word of mouth from recent hires? Thanks!

-T45

Nextcareer

That is all REALLY good info. Thanks for the time you took.

galaxy flyer

Mostly depends on what the line needs when your class is bidding. But, I'd guess SoCal is senior at the lines that have LAX domiciles.

GF

PRS Guitars

I'm at US Airways. We have a permanent bid every three months or so. One of these happened in my first week of class and everybody in my class on the Airbus was able to change to their first choice domicile for what that's worth.

I'm prior military like yourself and for me, I will always commute to this airline because life is too short to live somewhere you don't like (I'm not a fan of any of the US bases). I spent 12 years doing that in the Air Force and I'm done. We're moving back to where we grew up and will stay there until our kids are grown up.

And one other thing for the OP. You said you are looking into "some" of the majors. I'd recommend going ugly early and applying to ALL of the majors at the very least. I had my heart set on certain airlines a few years prior to getting out, but as my DOS got closer with no calls I cared less and less. I received precisely one call out of the 10 or so Airlines that I applied to over this last year.

ambitious1

Good luck to that. i have lived here all my life but the reality of that being my base will depend on who hires me. I know if I am hired with JetBlue I can forget it. The captians or FO are ALL top senority guys. i will be lucky to get Vegas or hope for some place close. East coast has the most travelers so......my guess is, you start over there unless you win the lottery.

Nextcareer

Thanks for the info. When you say "permanent bid every 3 months", are you saying every 3 months or so you have a chance to change domicile? I'm assuming you then bid what you want, and if nobody above you wants it, you get it?