Delta's not even ten years now I don't think.
Southwest Pilots have a TA
- Thread starter SlumTodd_Millionaire
- Start date
Delta's not even ten years now I don't think.
SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
Derg said:
Nope. Guy I know from Pinnacle is heading to class for 88 captain this month. He was hired there about the same time I was hired at AirTran, so just over 8 years.
stuckingfk
Well-Known Member
I've seen that, and I'm sure those guys will be junior for quite sometime, but it's a positive trend for the industry. Having said that, it's no indication that the current Delta upgrade will be that way if I get there within the next few years. Southwest could change, but the age of their average CA is much less that I'd prefer it to be, so my main focus is on three others.
Rocketman99
Frozen Guppy Manipulator
I don't. When I was in UPT 15 years ago, SWA was the crap place the mil guys went to to bide their time until they could get hired at a real airline. Then 9/11 happened and not long after suddenly SWA had fantastic pay (because they never took any cuts while the rest of the airlines took massive paycuts in the bankruptcyapoloozas) and people wanted to be there. Fast forward to today, the legacies are fairly back to where they were and now SWA is back to their old role. Not to mention that they have gone far from their successful niche in the industry which raises significant questions as to how they fit into the future.
It "depends" on the contract.
I was the last guy on the list in DTW as 320 captain when I first got there last year and I had a sweet commutable line.
Reserve, generally, is fairly cush and goes fairly senior depending on the base.
I heavily suggest not sitting around a regional with the "weekends and christmas off" mentality thinking your comrades that escaped to mainline are getting their rumps kicked as new hires because they're most likely not.
Hell @Jimflyfast was bitching a few months ago about not being able to hold reserve on the 330.
I like chocolate layer with fondant.
I love wedding cake but I hate having to cringe and watch some unfortunate soul's Bridezilla run amok. Bridezilla is in autocorrect. Interesting!
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Honest question -- once you're at a major, what's the difference?
I understand the want/need to get to the left seat at a regional for the career prerequisites (PIC time to move on to the majors) as well as the pay, but once at a major the pay, work rules, schedules, fleet options, etc, are all going to be very liveable on the FO scale.
I say this as an older dude who won't get to a major until my mid-40s. I want to move up eventually to the left seat, but at this point I don't really care how long it takes to do so.
SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
Hacker15e said:
Being an FO sucks. Especially after you've been a captain and know how much greener that grass is.
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Are you referencing shops that used to be the most desired job destinations when the legacies weren't hiring, and thus had their pick of the litter of pretty much every applicant, who are just coming to realize that they're no longer those most desired destinations?
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
How greener?
I've all ready spent 15 years as the guy in charge in the airplane/formation/mission in my previous flying career, so I've seen that grass from a conceptual standpoint for a long time. I just don't get the thrill of it compared to what's going on in the right seat in a 121 airliner. In some ways, it is more fun to be back into a position where the burden of responsibility is on someone else's shoulders.
What am I missing? Upgrade time (especially given the fact that what is true today probably won't be true 10 years down the road) just isn't at all a motivator for me in looking at places I want to work in terms of career destinations. Money....time off...diversity of iron....diversity of schedules....those are interesting things for me.
SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
Hacker15e said:
The difference between dormant Bermuda grass in January and vibrant Kentucky blue grass in summer. It's an entirely different job. Doesn't compare.
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Don't take this the wrong way, but were you ever a Captain at AirTran? Not an accusation...I just didn't follow your career arc tightly enough to remember.
I ask because I've seen the show at the regionals, and <shrug> beyond the desire to get PIC to move up and out of the regionals (plus the improvement in pay), I just don't see what the big deal is. What are you basing this description of this better life on?
SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
Nope. I was top 25% FO, so I was about 2-3 years away when the merger was announced. I would likely be a captain today had the merger not happened. That's one of the reasons that I never sent out another application after getting hired at AirTran. Flying widebodies never mattered to me. Quicker upgrade and being based in Atlanta did.
It's not about "better life." It's about better work life. Sure, you'll get more days off, holidays off, better trips, etc. as an FO than you will as a junior captain. But you're not running your own show. You're having to be a chameleon and adapting to the style of each new captain you fly with every trip. And believe me, it can get to be pretty damned frustrating when you're flying with someone who isn't very good at his job. When you're a captain flying with a weak FO, it's a minor annoyance. When you're an FO flying with a weak captain, it can make for one hell of a miserable week at work.
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
I disagree. Except for those days when I'm flying with a weak or nonstandard Captain. Then I agree whole heartedly. 
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
You say this like it is something unique to a 121 cockpit. I was never running my own show in the military, either, so all of those things you list are ones I've all ready had to learn to operate with and be happy with in two decades at my previous life. Only, I also had the added pain of that weak or annoying leader being my supervisor/boss in my off-flying desk job, and who controls many aspects of my career and life progression, for years at a time. Dealing with an occasional • for 5 days at a time just isn't comparatively that big of a deal.
I understand your point, but it still just doesn't really compute why upgrade time would at all be a factor in determining which major carrier you'd like to be employed it. It'd probably be nice from a money standpoint at a major, but I can think of a dozen other factors more important than that to me. Until then, I'm happy to let that burden sit on someone else's shoulders for a while and just be a good little foot soldier to support them.
SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
I've never been in the military, so I can't speak to that. I spent 14 years in the airlines, most of which was in the right seat, so I can speak for that. Being an FO sucks.
Your opinion will change after the first few years in that right seat. I'm confident of it.
mrivc211
Well-Known Member
Try $19.02/hr
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Speed Bugs, Surf, Sunshine
AND WE DIDN'T GET PAID IN TRAINING! RABBLETry $19.02/hr
