I posted approximate timelines for LAX because the OP asked for that type of info.

If I was this guy and LAX is my plan I would bid 737 FO or 756 Fo because he should be a line holder around 11-18months. Although I am currently on the 320 I would not recommend 320 FO because it’s a small base. I would hold off on bidding WBFO for almost 10 years so I could be a line holder with a descent schedule. If I had 18 years to work here I would fly WBFO for ~3 years then bid 737 CA to finish out where I would be around 70% at that time I upgraded. I would attempt to not find myself in a position of being forced on reserve just for QOL. However the OP didn’t ask my opinion he just asked when he would be able to hold certain seats (if I read his post correctly).

Good Luck and I hope to see you here at UAL but the retirement numbers are just amazing over the next 5 years at AAL. IF the economy doesn’t melt down, or another war, or a flu outbreak doesn’t happen then Either choice is good. If anything major happens in the world it’s hard to say what OP’s career or any of our careers will be like. The current picture looks like in 10 years your relative seniority will be about the same at all three legacy just very fast movement due to retirements at aAL or DAL over the next five years vs steady retirements at UAL with potential growth and then in 5 years we have a large wave of retirements.


BTW to OP you asked about SFO: currently the timelines are about the same (within 6 months) because we had a big bid in December of 2018. We had a lot of movement so just holding a seat timeframes are pretty close to the same however before that bid if I remember correctly SFO was about 2 years quicker to hold a position and the progression to line holder was significantly quicker in SFO which I think is “normal” for long run.