After re-reading my post above, I guess I need to tone down the whining. Some good things are happening: Furloughees are returning, old guys are retiring, and new jets are arriving. If they start hiring off the street in the next year, it COULD be a great place to be in terms of seniority advances down the road.

The thing that I find most frustrating, and what would keep AA at the bottom of my list of hopefuls if I were starting to seek an airline job, is the apparent lack of a growth strategy by the company, and absolutely horrid labor/management relations. AMR seems content to take a wait-and-see attitude (and has for years) on everything. They used to be aggressive, industry leaders. And maybe APA WILL get an "industry leading" contract, but 5+ years into the process, the signs of hope are few and far between.

Then again, I could be wrong...