Originally Posted by
PBSG
I obviously haven't made it to a major yet either, but last week when dining with a few XJT guys at the Soup Nazis in Terminal C, we struck up a conversation with a CAL crew, who said they were planning on hiring 45 a month starting in October. When they left the discussion of "Do you really want to go to the new United?" came up. Bitter pilots and employees, dragged out negotiations, inept management..... We came to the realization that, while working for a company that sells it's own tickets would be nice, it just isn't worth it until the contract is settled. And I'm not saying this to flame, I have a lot of friends over on the dark side who told me flat out "Don't come here, it isn't worth it".
As a furloughed UAL guy now working on the sCAL side, I can assure you that nothing about this place is as good as it was circa 2000. That being said - I would never, ever consider going back to ASA (XJT) even if I could get my old seniority back. There is just no comparison - just my opinion having spent years at both companies.
Just realize, the company that looks great now might not be doing so well in 5 or 10 years, and vice versa. It's all just a crap shoot as I am sure you know. If the hiring does start soon, and I think it should, I would definitely recommend getting on at the beginning of the wave, not the end. I learned that one the hard way...
