For now, the only A330 pilot base is in DTW....there has been no word on whether another base will open. Theoretically pilots would deadhead out to SEA/SFO/LAX and then begin the rotation of their Asia trip. 757 pilots are doing this now for Asia flying, flying over and back as passengers on the 744 flights to NRT. FAs would staff from those West Coast cities as they already have FA bases (not sure about SFO though......is that still a FA base?). Pilots will be qualed on the A330, which means they can do either 333 or 332. Pay is the same regardless of which they fly for the trip. The A319/A320, B752/B753, and DC-9-10/30/40/50 work the same way. B744 and B742 are separate quals and different pay scales.

When NWA was looking at the 777 and the A330 they conducted exhaustive comparisons of the two aircraft and which combinations could carry pax, cargo, distance, fuel loads, etc. I've seen pieces of the presentation and it's very detailed. The bottom line is that, yes, they did their homework and picked the aircraft to fit the mission. I believe there were some cargo issues with the 777 on the long hauls.

The DC-10 isn't slated to go away anytime soon. The fleet plan that I've heard still has 22 aircraft this year, going to 19 next year, and a few less the year after that. Those aircraft will still be flying a lot of the routes they are on now. MSP will be the lone DC-10 pilot base, and all DC-10 trip pairings will originate from there. I would guess that SEA, BOS, MEM might keep the DC-10 for awhile, but I don't know any specifics......Assuming 19 aircraft are in play: I can see 2 x MSP-HNL, SFO/PDX-NRT (for now), 2 x MSP-AMS, SEA-AMS, BOS-AMS, MEM-AMS, AMS-BOM.....and a few intra-Asia.....(where's IP?)

As for maintaining a spare aircraft, that's just part of the maintenance rotation. On any given night there is a bird in the barn getting the tires kicked, oil changed, and power steering levels checked.......routine maintenance....but it allows them to maintain a spare should one of aircraft go hard down. Next time you land on the south side of MSP pointing west (Runway 30L), take a look at all of the "spares" sitting down at the east end of the field.....