Timbo

I’m guessing they’re doing the math on layover costs, crew transportation downtown, hotels, etc. vs opening a base, which also costs them money in rent, if they’re going to have a CPO and a pilot lounge, employee parking, etc. Then there’s the “efficiency” argument of having pilots on reserve there, vs those W trips you mentioned above.

They already have a FA base and lounge there, maybe they’ll just add to that space if they ever decide to re-open BOS. I was based in MIA in 1985 and BOS from 1986-1996 when they closed all the smaller bases to save money. In 1985 my new hire seniority number was 3879, and Delta had bases in BOS, MIA, ORD, MSY, IAH, DFW and ATL.

Now Delta has nearly 16,000 pilots and none of those earlier bases, except ATL of course, but they picked up NYC from the Pan Am merger and SLC, LAX from the Western merger then DTW, MSP and SEA from the NW merger. They opened and closed CVG, MCO and PDX, and closed MEM.

I don’t know what “cost metric” they use to rationalize opening a base, I would think hotels and crew transport would be at the top of the list but only they know for sure.

There was a guy named David Watson who was in charge of crew resources years ago before 9-11 and bankruptcy, who said if it were up to him, there would only be 1 base, ATL, and every reserve would fly 75hrs every month. I asked him who was going to fly during a wx event if every reserve was already flying 75hrs. He said, “That’s what Green Slips are for.”

Bucking Bar

From listening to current management, the breaking of seat locks and training are the primary expenses the company is trying to avoid. If it were up to Delta, a pilot would bid one seat, and stay there.

fadecfault

The way they worded the rationalization makes it sound like BOS would need its flying to be less-diluted across fleets before a base makes sense. With the 717 now gone, the only other fleet at less-than 2019 levels in BOS is the 7ER... so it would seem logical that 7ER flying needs to be handed off to the other fleets before a BOS domicile could be revisited.

Bucking Bar

Waiting for the mass of A320's to go self-sustaining; a critical mass.

Maybe that is the wrong metaphor. They are bumping off each other already.

Let me think about this.

Ah' the issue is purity. Most of the neutrino action is from B737 atoms. We've almost eliminated the CL-65 and E190 contamination. A little A320NEO-XLR would really make a nice BANG! But so far, no love for those extra belly tanks and lack of cargo space.

Tropical

Well that is also a problem. There's still a ton of RJ flying in BOS. E175s everywhere. I'd say at least 1/3 of the gates have an RJ at them at any given moment and they're broken all the time and lollygag on the ramp when they actually go. That takes up space a mainline jet could park at. The Taj Mullin simply isn't big enough for an efficient base. If only we had a bigger terminal there.

FlexManFlex

Yep. When they say expect September for current pilots, that’s great. But it’s the “some may go earlier or later” that’s the thing. But if we really do have an AE July/August it’ll be bigger for those October/November classes is my guess!

Planetrain

XLR rumor… I believe that’s called “tickling the dragon.”

Bucking Bar

... the Dude laughed out loud.

Bucking Bar

Well, don't drop a heavy brick on it.

Gspeed

He sounds like an idiot. My former regional had the same mentality and it was always an operational dumpster fire. They even brought in a hugely expensive consulting firm who showed them that a system similar to what we had at Delta (pre-optimizer) would save them millions per year: protecting reserves and only using them when absolutely needed. It’s a bit more nuanced in the details but it’s still amazing at how inept airline scheduling personnel apparently can be.