So you want IAH.

Question for current UAL guys... what's the DOH of the junior captain in IAH? What is the utilization rate of the NB reserve captains at UAL and how much do they credit?

At SWA, you should be able to get HOU or DAL within a couple of months as hiring ramps up. Our reserve works fewer days than elsewhere and can pay really well because jerking you around even on reserve pays on top of what you started the month with. It's not uncommon to credit 120-130 TFP or more on reserve while only flying your line (103-115 hours if you go on hours).

The biggest downside of SWA vs. UAL is upgrade time. Plan on 8-10 year upgrade at SWA. This is all based on UAL having multiple airframes and the ability to change between various NB and WB fleets, and that cannot be understated. To put things in perspective for you, think of where you need to be at the master seniority list in order to upgrade and into what airframe. Maybe we can have another UAL guy chime in here with some updated numbers, but you can upgrade into a NB in the 90% range and be a reserve NB captain at UAL. I'm sure that by the time you reach 75-80% on the seniority list, you'll be a line holder NB captain at UAL. I recall somewhere that UAL's junior 756 CA went to someone who was at 64% system seniority or thereabouts, and I'm sure by the time you reach that seniority, you can hold a rather decent schedule as a NB captain at UAL. By comparison, you need to be right at 60% on the master seniority to hold the most junior captain seat at SWA which will most likely mean a commute to OAK. Comparatively, the time to upgrade at SWA is the same as upgrade on a WB at UAL. Something to think about.