hockeypilot44

You are not even close to holding NYC 88 captain. The crystal ball is worthless. Trust me. Most people have the NYC A as a 10th bid or higher.

JungleBus

Yeah I figured, I heard most people's bids were quite complex rendering everything after 3rd bid worthless for crystal ball purposes. Still it was still quite entertaining seeing NYC M88A go junior to MSP M88B for crystal ball purposes!

Check Essential

Be careful with complex AE bids if you are new.
You wouldn't be the first guy in there begging Crew Resources to let you out of a bid you didn't really want.

The "percentage of category" and "regular line only" bids can be confusing and they don't work so well anyway for the new hire categories where a lot of people are coming and going.

Denny Crane

At Delta ya gotta live by the old refrain:

Bid what you want.............................................. want what you bid!

Denny

CGfalconHerc

I think there were new-hires who upgraded to the left seat of the 73 on Delta Express in MCO back in 99-00? Pretty good deal, and you're off probation as soon as you upgrade to Captain!

I went the 72 route..upgraded to the right seat from the panel my first year, so I don't think there's a seat lock for upgrades during probation.

Who knows..NYC88A is junior for a reason..maybe new hires have a shot!

But like Denny says, bid what you want... want what you bid.

wardjoh

Just got my letter for Indoc. They recommend we bring a tablet or laptop for "personal" use. Do we really need one for indoc and or aircraft training. I use my phone heavily and understand we will eventually be trained on the companies MS Surface 2s. I'd hate to go buy another device just for indoc. But if needed I will.

LeineLodge

I'm sure a recent newhire can clear this up, but you DO NOT need to go buy a tablet/laptop. There are plenty of computers at the training center for use. I believe they will even issue you a laptop to do your distance learning (aircraft systems) as necessary.

Systems are done via CD and it would be useful to have access to a laptop so you can study at the hotel. You will also get all the aircraft manuals though, so there will be plenty to look over at the hotel. Most guys will do the distance learning on the CD, and then switch to our flight manuals for procedures (these are hard copies for now and don't require a computer.)

All that said, I wouldn't go buy anything unless you want a laptop anyways for something else. Definitely don't buy a tablet, as it won't run the CD, and they're going to be passing out Surface Tablets pretty soon.

Bucking Bar

Well, yes. The Computer Based Training is handed out on CD (they talk about moving to memory sticks) which you can run on computers in the training center, but you are probably not going to want to hang out there for a few days going through all of it.

But, if you do, congratulations. You are just the sort of cheap rascal who excels in our profession. Welcome aboard.

If you are like me, you save $200 looking for coupons and EBay deals while missing a $20,000 trading opportunity.

LeineLodge

Actually, Bar just jogged my memory. The systems for the last few airplanes I've done have all been on USB sticks (M88, 717, DC9), if that makes any difference in your decision. The 73N and 320 were both CD's but that was also several years ago, so they may have gone to the sticks by now too.

Our Quarterly CQ (Continuing Qual) training is still passed out on CD's, but they will supposedly be available on the tablet at some point in the future as well.

tomgoodman

Now you tell me! I thought it was "bid the highest seat you can hold, lest a junior pilot get it before you do, then beef and grouse about your schedule."