ORD is Eagle's jr base, I would not be suprised if you held a composite line out of training. Four months would be the absolute max. I'm holding a line in BOS six months out of training. I expect the current trend of reduced reserve times to continue. I've had several requests for PVDs (personal day off) denied due to staffing, and we're better manned in BOS than they are in ORD. ORD is ridiculously understaffed.

Upgrade times are still outrageous, still seven years today, but will drop to four to five years overnight (no new hires 9/2001-1/2004; most junior CA awardee has 5/2000 seniority, and 285 pilots are junior to him to the 1/2004 class). Also, management has decided that one of Eagle's cost problems is all the CA's are too senior. They are actively trying to help the top 25% of the seniority list to go to some other airline - UPS, FedEx, WN, wherever... One thing about AMR management, once they set a target, they are very smart and/or determined to achieve that goal.

QOL at Eagle is quite good today. Pay isn't as abyssmal as some places, work rules are ok, scheduling isn't half bad, reserve is minimal, and there is light at the end of the tunnel for upgrades.