Originally Posted by
mainlineAF
Americans debt is largely in part due to fleet replacement and their capital spending is pretty much done over the next few years. Parker gave a good synopsis on why the debt level is where it is during the investor update from a month or so ago. UA and DL are much further behind in that regard.
You can’t run a business using Dave Ramsey’s advice. Personal finance strategies do not carry over to the business world. Americans debt level is where it is bc it is not bc they dont have a choice but bc it is the smarter business play.
I’m not in the least bit worried about AAs debt. They have people much smarter than us driving finance decisions. I can’t imagine that Parker would do anything to intentionally hurt AAs viability considering the fact he holds about $70 million in stock.
But for a pilot who aspires to west coast international widebody flying and has a choice between AA and UAL the obvious answer is UAL. United has a much higher percentage of total flying being widebody international and they are on a strong growth path with those aircraft. AA continues to shrink in the pacific. Reduction of PEK, PVG and NRT. Those slots will likely go to UAL and DAL. The latest HND slots were awarded DAL-5, UAL-4, AAL-2. Those stats should tell you all you need to know.
A newhire will move up the seniority list faster at AA but that list will be skewed more towards domestic narrowbody (as a % of total flying jobs) than UAL or DAL. For some that’s a huge positive others a big negative.