I could post this in either thread go to AA/ leave AA. When I applied to USAirways (fall 2013, waiting DOJ approval on the merger) I was told by many people not to apply, because of the crappy pay and previous merger mess. I was also told by nearly every airline pilot I know that American also sucks and would be a miserable place to go.

The one exception was Albie (ECIC) who said today's turd could be tomorrow's gem. This made sense to me and when I was hired, I figured it'd be a miserable place to work for the first 5 years minimum and possibly 6 to 9 years, but the payoff would be riding the bow wave of new hires.

The merger has gone smoother than I expected and so has the SLI. The company has performed better than I expected this early as well. It hasn't been miserable, I'm three years in and will stick it out as planned.