Originally Posted by black cat

I'm an AA pilot. First of all, like others have said, you don't need to get too wrapped around the axle worrying about it this far out. This industry is so dynamic and it's quite possible the whole landscape looks different by the time you're ready to apply to regionals. Having said that, I'll address some of your points.

AA has been hiring primarily from the military and its WO regionals in the past. A very small margin of guys have gotten through the door that didn't come from one of these sources. But starting in 2020, that is changing. AA is beginning to greatly amp up its hiring. The goal is to hire 1,400 pilots this year. The number of flowthroughs that AA takes each month isn't changing, for now. So this will open the door for many more street hires. Historically, roughly 50% of new hires have come from the flowthrough program. In 2020, that's dropping to about 30%. This is just the beginning of a massive hiring wave at AA. Retirements don't even begin to peak here for a couple more years. The company is just trying to get ahead of the game.

Now...this obviously makes the flow program at the AA WOs less valuable. So it's entirely possible that AA could increase the number of guys that flow each month to help recruiting at its regionals and keep them staffed. Only time will tell. AA is a great place to work and the career progression in the future is unprecedented with the amount of retirements forthcoming. It's not the only game in town though. The other legacies and FedEx and UPS offer excellent opportunities as well. One point I'll make though is unless you're willing to move from North Carolina, PSA and AA are the only places that will allow you to avoid commuting. And until you've experienced commuting in the flesh, you don't realize how miserable it is. It may sound okay on paper but until you've lived it you don't know how much it sucks.

Bottom line, the biggest hiring wave in the history of the airlines is about come upon us. You'll have absolutely no problem moving on from a regional to a major airline. So it just comes down to what you're after. If AA specifically is your goal, I'd probably do the PSA deal just to have that insurance policy in your back pocket just in case you couldn't get to AA through the front door. If you're open to airlines outside of the AA brand, then by all means choose wherever your heart desires. Good luck.