Chakerik

Again, depends on age. A 50 year old new hire wont likely see wb ca, but younger new hires still should.

TED74

I don't know, man...37 yo hired right now, living in mid-level seniority domicile ATL? If he's going to have much time as a WB captain there I think it'd be at the very bottom of that category. Might work for some, but not what I'd want to be doing as I ride off into the sunset.

Big E 757

The ATL 737 does, or used to do, a lot of Caribbean day turns. 8+ hour day trips, a lot of local ATL pilots like flying 9-10 days a month and being home every night, those that can’t hold them yet, aspire to so I think that’s why it’s such a senior catagory.

Similar to MSP A320. I’ve been told that in MSP, the A320 used to be a catagory where going to work was like a mini vacation with easy days of flying and long layovers in JAC, PVR, and such.

Cosa Nostra

I think he's talking WB Captain throughout the system.

Chakerik

System wide is what I was looking at.

saturn

Something to consider as well is size of the pilot lists. DL has 14.5k right now, and it will surely grow in time. Perhaps slowly with our upgauging strategy. We’re on pace to hire 1k annually, with +-7k retirements the next 10 years. You’ll probably be at 50% seniority by then.

At SWA what’s the size, nearly 9k? I know hiring there has been something like 600-800 pilots annually. I hear your sim building is expanding, maybe room for future continued future growth. Wild card if SW ever goes longhaul. The retirement big wave will be delayed for years, but will happen. I think there was something like <50 guys under 30yrs old on property (avg older new hires), so you would likely retire at a higher %, especially since you already have 2 years in. To get to 50% in 8 years, you’d need what, 3k-4K retirements based off the growth?

I’m guessing system seniority movement is pretty similar. I’d guess upgrade on 737 at ATL would be faster at DL, since it’s generally Sr at SW. You’d have a great variety of options in general in ATL (HQ/SIM, small NB Jr planes, big NB, WB, etc).

av8tor1

I was at SW for 4 months and left. Have no regrets. The idea of flying a 737 for 30 years and the way they fly it was not applealing to me. There was a lot more to the decision to leave but am very happy I did when I did. When I left there was guys with 5-8 years there that were leaving. Why? Sure great company and great people but that’s not what I envisioned for myself growing up as a kid wanting to be a pilot. Is there opportunity to make great money ? Sure. The problem was I didn’t want to turn around and go back to the airport after doing MDW FNT MDW CMH MDW MCI kind of days. You only have 1 life, do what makes you happy.

flyguy81

Last thing I want when I’m 60 is to commute if I lived in ATL.

The only reason I’d bail living in ATL is the possibility of WB flying. If you want to be a FO when you retire, then sure you’ll see it. If you don’t want to commute, odds are you won’t see it as a CA if hired now.

JamesBond

Just curious, what are you basing your 'odds' on?

And what does 'widebody' mean in your definition?

Chakerik

I think we are on different pages. You said a new hire "there" wont hold WB captain before retiring. By "there" I was assuming you meant a new hire at Delta, which is why I was talking system wide. If you are referring to "there" as ATL with Delta, then I misinterpreted what you were saying.

That being said, again, even in Atlanta it depends on the age of the new hire and if you consider the 75/76 category a widebody. It also depends on what senior people do. There are a lot of senior guys who would rather fly an A320 to retirement vs a 777 or 330. That obviously allows more junior guys to get a 330 or 777 slot that they otherwise wouldn't hold. Too many variables to know exactly what a new hire now will and will not hold years down the road.

Just my 2 cents.