Originally Posted by
Otterbox
Both UAL and AA are done hiring 40 year old future widebody captains. Americans latest orders are to replace domestic aircraft they retired during Covid, and to buy more RJs. United's orders are to correct years of neglect of its domestic network as well as expand to replace international market share caused by OAL pullbacks during Covid.
American doesn't think it can really grow while United thinks it can. Much of these different philosophies are due to how each airline generates revenue. American has had strong domestic focus, particularly with its usage of RJs while United traditionally had a strong international focus which ended up biting them when US domestic travel came back well before international travel during the pandemic.
You could be right about the 40 year old wide body captains. But also keep in mind in 20 years from now we are going to be seeing planes that aren't even invented yet. The 787 will be 30 years old by then and obsolete. Thats how old the first 777's are now. A lot can happen and will happen economically and logistically probably in just the next 10 years alone. So while it looks that way now I wouldn't bet on it being the end result.