Originally Posted by
JamesBond
I'm genuinely curious because on this forum particularly there is much talk about the "lack of widebodies at DAL" vs UAL or AAL. I just wondered what it is about DAL that pushes you this way. Send me a PM if you don't want to talk about it here.
Sure. I have given this serious thought. Concerning wide bodies, I think that if one’s goal is to be a wide body captain then one should put every ounce of strength into getting on at FedEx and/or UPS. Pay rates are just slightly lower but 65% of the airline is maxed out on the wide body pay scale. The retirement and contract/work rules are fabulous, and boxes don’t *****. I’m not going to sit back and say that Delta being light on wide bodies is no big deal. It has been a topic with my wife repeatedly that my lifetime earnings would be much higher at FedEx. If Delta was choice 1a for me, then FedEx was 1b and wide bodies and contract are the reason.
I’d say the rest of it boils down to being from Georgia/Atlanta, not wanting to live in Memphis, not wanting to commute (even if it is regularly a DDH), not wanting to go on trips longer than four or five days...and profit sharing when it’s a thing. I’d also like to say culture is important to me, but this is APC so that’s not allowed. If it were allowed, I’d say that Delta is clearly the best on this front.
EDIT: Now that I look at your question again of DAL vs the other two- AAL seems poorly run, and has serious issues in its pilot group (although the past year seems to have galvanized them). For United it comes once again to not wanting to commute, nor live in one of their high COL domiciles.