Denny Crane

It's gotta be a hard decision. Under the conditions you've listed, living in Atlanta and don't want to fly wide bodies, I'd probably stay at SWA. For me, having a more conservative leaning especially when it comes to my job, I'd probably keep the bird in the hand and the junior guys below me.

Denny

gloopy

That's not bad advice at all.

One thing to consider is the base itself though. ATL will always be a large base for DL as long as DL exists. SWA OTOH it may not be. How many crews are based there right now? How many were based at the SW/AT peak? How many SWA cities have a similar crew/plane overnight presence where they don't have a base there?

If the OP stated at SWA almost completely for ATL and it went away, or shrunk significantly, would that leave the OP regretting the decision?

A grand or so junior to you isn't anything to sneeze at. That's important. But you'll get that at DL pretty much every year or two, black swans not withstanding.

Even if the OP doesn't want to do international, not only is it very nice to have the option to try, but the fact that its there lures lots of senior pilots to it and out of the way of the domestic proletariat, force multiplying one's relative seniority. A single fleet narrow body only smaller base operation like SWA has in ATL will be much more stovepiped with no other options other than base changes into only slightly different situations.

IMO by far the most vital puzzle piece in all this for the OP in making this decision will be wether or not there will be regret and angst over a 1-2 year pay/QOL hit coupled with the psychology of starting over into a temporarily negative situation compared to today's. If you aren't completely and enthusiastically OK with that, even for long term gain, then maybe you don't want to put yourself through it. If you are OK with it and are more of a medium to long term thinker, then making the move is probably the better of the two very good choices.

m3113n1a1

Has Southwest ever closed a base? Not saying they won't, or that they don't shrink them etc, but just curious.

Roper92

Many people desire widebodies though, allowing for faster seniority progression on the narrowbody fleets if you want to stay there. Already mentioned as well, but the opportunities outside of being a line pilot are nice as well. It’s definitely a tough decision.

Denny Crane

He said he didn't want/care to fly widebodies.

Gloopys argument about the size of SWA's base in ATL vs Delta's is a valid argument for going with Delta. I don't know what the chances are of SWA closing the base. Essentially that's the dilemma. Can he move up in a narrow body acft in Atlanta quicker if he stays at SWA or comes to Delta? That's something he's gonna have to figure out.

Denny

Baradium

I believe the point was that if he doesn't want to fly widebodies, his seniority will progress faster on the narrowbody as people above him in seniority bid to them.

Han Solo

LOL, 12 pages later and this thread could've (should've) ended on the very 1st reply.

notEnuf

Nothing beats living local and ATL is the ultimate local for DAL. I've moved to a new base twice in my career because it opens up so much schedule potential and I was not a good commuter. It just added too much stress to my life and I gave up a day off each trip. If ATL is where you want to be, DAL is a no brainer. If you think SWA will keep the base and the relative size, you know your progression. DAL is so large and hiring indefinitely that the seniority hit is likely nil in 6-12 months.

Hindenburg

Simply out of curiosity.
Is DLA just allocating a new F/O to a fleet (aircraft type) or are you being asked for your preferences?
Same with a base, are you allowed to choose a base?
And if yes, at what point of the hiring process is this happening? At what point are you being asked?

TED74

An indoc class is given a collection of assignments (base and aircraft pairing) totaling the number of new pilots in the class. They then choose in order of seniority, where highest last-four of SSN is most senior.

This all transpires on the first day of indoc.