Any UNA should have been able to read the tea leaves and see that the flood gates were going to open up. I have no sympathy for anyone that jumped into a seat lock on the very next bid for something they didn’t already want to be in for a few years.

I very correctly predicted in August 2020 that junior captains in 2023 hadn’t even been hired yet. I was mocked tirelessly, yet I feel the upcoming wave was so obvious. I don’t understand everyone’s angst about the AEs, too many pilots and posters on APC love to make mountains out of molehills for things that are simply not there.

The choices for UNA on the initial “bring everyone back” bid were few. The next month’s (April 2021) AE had every narrowbody fleet in every base available.

Most UNAs didn’t stay put on that initial bid. Most bid on the 2nd to get to a base/aircraft they actually wanted. It was a calculated decision by the company to seat lock as many as possible.

seniority demographics were weird for the first few bids in 2021. My class all came back on the March AE and by October most of my class had a seat lock. On the April AE I could have held almost every base but it was either on the 73N or 320 but usually not both.

If I had wanted ATL above all else and I was awarded NYC73N in March I would have either had to bid 320 or ER in April or wait for another AE. Same with SLC and the 220 and LAX and the 320.

also plenty of people bid the 717 to get DTW or ATL in March but happily took the chance to move up in pay to the 320 or ER in April when that became available.

Exactly this. I’ve been in narrowbody hell since then, watching new hires get the 330 and 350, and now that my seat lock finally expired, we go to these anemic monthly bids.

Even more frustrating is seeing how complete trash our operation is these days. The company literally does not care about running a reliable operation. It’s pathetic and embarrassing.

Yeah I live in SLC and bid NYC220 first March bid thinking that would get me here sooner. Should have bid NYC320 over it. Long story short - Seattle 220 opens 1 month later. Offsets growth in SLC. Bid LAX320 with 40 openings. Thinking I’ll bid LAX over having to commute across the country to NYC where I can’t even sit LC at home. Bid closes with about 28 senior bidders to me LAX320. So I assume if I get none of the SLC planes, I get LAX320. Nope. They award 0 LAX320, don’t even backfill. For some reason I put LAX7ER next, I really just wanted to be WBB. I get LAX7ER.

the bids were not so simple at the time and even what they advertised they didn’t award. What they didn’t advertise they did award. They posted SEA7ER displacements then award SEA7ER. It was wild. As they always say BWYWWYB!!!

blessing in disguise that I’ve enjoyed the 7ER, flown a lot of Hawaii and international and now am very senior and won’t bid back to the 320/73N with the QOL I have now. So it all worked out in the end. But a lesson for those off seat locks. New hires. Etc. check every airplane in every line and make sure it’s what you want. You just can’t trust anything other than what you put down on your bid. I rarely look deep into the AE numbers anymore really because it all seems like it can change from this week to next. Anyways…

I’m in the same boat as you but it’ll all work out sooner than later I think! Are you like me and bidding every single base/Airbus widebody? At this point I’ve got such FOMO I’m going all in lol. I bet by the end of the year we’ll see some 11,000#s get a widebody award. That would be the early 2020 hires for those wondering!

Damn man. I wish I had the balls for that but I’m gonna stick the course and wait to get the bases I want. But you’ll enjoy it, no doubt. I love any international trip I have. It’s a different airline. Sleep and rhythm will take some getting use to. Different strategies for everyone. But I enjoy it so much I plan to bid over to pure intl like 330 or 350 and stay on that for a long time.

Speaking of sleep and rhythm, is crossing the pond really much worse than a coast to coast redeye? I'd love to try WB flying but my biggest fear is that I can NOT nap to save my life. That being said, I can get by just fine with a redeye between sleeping in late, coffee, supplements (Vitamin D3 is a game changer for staying awake).

It is so much easier than transcon redeyes. The domestic redeye is a long time at the controls with no relief, whereas crossing the pond you get a chance to mentally unplug or sleep. Even if you don't sleep having that break makes a big difference. My best advice would be to try it and have first-time upgrade as the escape hatch if it just isn't for you.

FWIW I can't nap well at all on off days but sleep like a champ on crew rest. YMMV.

Europe redeyes are so much easier. But we do have some Europe/Africa that lands later in the day (not 7am but more noon) and those are a little tougher but still you have a rest break.

I really don’t find transcon redeyes that bad either but probably because I’ve done so many Hawaii redeyes and those are by far the toughest imo. Only done 1 Asia flight and that was 4 man both ways, so 5 hour break made that cake.