Expert: D. Norkus - 11/13/2006

Question
ok what i was saying was you sayed you fly certin groups of aircrafts how do they group them?
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could you tell me the group of aircrafts you would fly if you flew for delta and also us airways
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ok so as you were saying with southwest you would fly -300 -500 -700 ok now if you flew for southwest what airport would you fly from?
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so you can fly both NG and the older models
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so if i was to fly for continental i could fly all the 737 such as 737-300 400..500..700...800...900?
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If you were to fly for a us airline do you fly every aircraft in that airlines fleet?
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They could but it would take several years if there were a lot of different ones (like 777, 737, MD-80, A320 ect).

When hired, a pilot is assigned a specific aircraft. Pilots within the airlines are divided up amongst the fleet by type. The pilots on each aircraft list only fly that fleet type until they are awarded a slot on another. A pilot must put in a request to tranfer to another fleet type if they wish to fly another kind of aircraft. For example, if a 737 pilot wishes to fly the 777 they must place a request or a "bid" in with the company to do so. Only if there is an opening in staffing for a pilot on that fleet type will they get awarded that aircraft. Additionally, slots are awarded based on seniority or "tenure" with the company. A more junior pilot may bid repeatedly for a different aircraft and never get it awarded as pilots more senior to him or her who have also asked for the transfer will get it first.

Going between fleet types also involves long term training (8-10 weeks of school plus simulator sessions) and a FAA checkride (an oral exam and a flight test in the simulator). So, jumping from one plane to another is something that happens quickly or is as simple as jumping from one cockpit to another.

The exeption to this is the Boeing 757 & 767 at some airlines. They have a common "type rating" (FAA check out for pilots on a certain make and model aircraft), so pilots can be used on both fleet types.

If you mean every individual aircraft by registration number, it may be possible depending on the airlines fleet size. For example Southwest only flies 737s (currently about 475 of them). Over their entire career, a SW pilot may fly every 737 registered to the airline before they retire. At a large airline with multiple fleet types, this would be an almost impossible feat to achieve.
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"i was to fly for continental i could fly all the 737 such as 737-300 400..500..700...800...900?"

No you wouldn't because Continental does not fly 737-400. If hired by CAL and assigned the 737, you would fly all the rest though. They currently operate the -300, -500, -700, -800 series and now have orders for the -900.
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Yes. Pilots are not assigned to an aircraft series, like 737-300 or 737-900, but a model like 737, 767, 777, or A320 ect. If you fly 737s for XYZ Airlines, you can fly any plane in that model fleet type- regardless of series.


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While you would eventually fly through every city in the system as a Southwest pilot, they only have pilot domiciles or "bases" in these cities:

Baltimore-BWI, Dallas-DAL, Houston Hobby-HOU, Orlando-MCO, Chicago Midway-MDW, Oakland-OAK, Phoenix-PHX and Las Vegas-LAS (opening in 2007).

Pilots would begin and end their trip sequence (no matter how many days long it is- 2,3 or 4 days), in one of those bases. It would be the same base each trip as pilots are assigned to a base/domicile and must request a transfer to go to another city. In case you are wondering, there isn't a specific "route" one would fly either. Their trip sequences take them all across the SWA route network.

For more on how pilot scheduling works, visit my site and the airline pilot careers links at the bottom:

http://www.geocities.com/av8trxx99/FAQ.html

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Here is the current fleet for Delta Airlines-

737-800
757-200
767-200,-300,-400
777-200
MD-82,-88,-90

http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Delta%20Airlines.htm

and US Airways-

A319
A230
A321
A330
737-300, -400
757-200
http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/US%20Airways.htm

US Airways also now includes the fleet of America West as US Airways was bought out by them and is in the process of being merged.

A319
A320
737-300
757-200

http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/America%20West%20Airlines.htm


Answer
"... you [said] you fly certain groups of [aircraft], how do they group them?"

Group them? I am afraid I do not understand what you mean. Airline pilots fly only one type of aircraft at a time. As I mentioned Boeing 737 pilots will not fly the A320 as they only bid for flying within the aircraft type they are assigned.

Fleet types may be classified as widebody (twin aisle in the cabin) or narrowbody (one aisle), but pilots are not grouped by these types. They are grouped by specific aircraft.