Well, after reading through all of this, I can also agree that the contractual differences don’t matter much in the long run - any job at the big 3 plus FDX/UPS are good careers. Contracts come and go, AA stands to gain a bunch of improvements with our next contract.

Bottom line, if our Marine wants to live in the DC area, I’d go UAL in a heartbeat. The IAD flying and hub is awesome... a huge variety of International (and domestic, if international gets old.) drive to IAD and fly a wide body your whole career. You cant do that at AA, you’d have to commute to PHL, CLT, NYC or MIA...all we have at DCA/IAD is the 737 and A320. The only advantage AA has in his situation is better end of career seniority.

Good luck, it’s an awesome choice to have!