HVYinRESERVE

Any rumors as to what movement will be next for Delta, to go along with hiring? I am coming off an extended Military Leave and trying to figure out what base/category to return to.

What will we see in the next AE? I had heard rumors about the SEA A330 base moving east but that doesn't make sense anymore since they didn't do it at the same time as adding the 7ER base (too much training turmoil and most of the 7ER guys would get MD out of a SEA base again).

Will the four corners expand a bit more with the hiring, or will most of the additions come on the West Coast? I live on the West Coast, so any info about what the plan might be for later this year out here would be great.

maddogmax

At the last LCP meeting in ATL the closest we got to any future base openings was that the A330 would be migrating East and the ER to the west. We saw some of that on this AE

acl65pilot

I think it depends on what is open when you return as well.

HVYinRESERVE

I don't see how they can move the A330 base East now that they've already moved the 7ER base. There are a lot of junior guys now able to get into the SEA base that will get bumped right back out by a Mandatory Displacement if you move the A330 base (which is very senior) in the next year. That would create a lot of unnecessary training IMO. It doesn't make sense to do it if you don't do it at the same time...unless I am missing something.

Right now my plan is to commute to a 7ER base so that I can move over to the SEA 7ER (home for me) if they add any slots there (the bottom guy is from my new hire class but above me), so I'm looking for any info on what the plan is out here as we move forward with expanding the Pacific and International routes again. I'd hate to be too optimistic and end up with a terrible commute for two years waiting for my chance if it's not going to happen.

RockyBoy

I could see them slowly pulling down the 330 flying and moving it east. They could do 20 or so seats per bid or just not backfull any positions that may be vacated on bids. The ER went very junior on the first bid which will probably mean senior guys will try to get in now that they can see how the cards fell. The other big question out west is what will happen to the 767 and 73N categories in SLC. One of those categories will probably be gone and the 330 SEA will be gone within 5 years. The only hope we have is they grow the ER category and whatever categories in SLC stay by the same number of positions that are lost. If they don't, the west will be a tough place to be for a few years.

Nosmo King

The rumor is ... they delayed moving the A330 east (ATL or JFK?) because the second simulator was not up and running. Since then the second sim was certified by the FAA and we now have much more training capacity.

There is also no confirmation that A330 flying moving east would all come out of SEA. IMO it would make more sense to close MSP since its a very small A330 base and all the departures there can be covered by flying crews on inbound legs and having them layover. They could do the same thing with SEA but its a much larger pilot base. They could also reduce DTW330 and open a new 330 base, since DTW is doing a LOT of deadheading to/from ATL.

Another factor is the pay cut. 7ER is a paycut for anyone currently on the 330.

Commuting to 7ER (domestic and int'l) will likely be less attractive for reserves and junior lineholders that fall off the 330 since SEA330 is 99.99% international.
There are a LOT of SEA330B that do NOT want to fly domestic and don't even want the remotest possibility of being rescheduled to domestic flying.

But there will be those that live in the Pac NW that will bid it as a fallback. There will also be some that commute from the east of the Mississippi that follow the airplane.

Like I said, if it were me I would close MSP330, that almost guarantees that MSP is safe

Rogue24

Nosmo, I agree. I do not think they will pull the SEA 330 flying down as much as ppl assume.

Nosmo King

I don't see them closing SEA330 until we can cover SLC-NRT or LAX-NRT or whatever west coast to Japan flying we have without pulling a pair of airplanes needed on another route. Most Asia routes from mainland USA require 2 aircraft per route due to transit time. There is also cargo capacity to consider.

That said I think it will take about 3 years to see any stability in our basing and routes.

RockyBoy

Let's hope it stays in SEA.....along with a new 320 category...and a 777 category in LAX.

GunshipGuy

Crikey!!! $100,000+?!!! Any idea if that was mostly from fines or from lack of former payment of dues. If it was from lack of paying dues I'd like to know how he managed to get away with it.