Originally Posted by fiftyfourtyten

I've been wanting to post something on APC for a while, because I'm facing a big career decision similar to yours...

Here's my situation... I'm currenty at Delta (hired in mid 2023). I live about 1hr 20m from EWR and anywhere between 2-3.5 hours from JFK/LGA (depending on traffic). Obviously, that extra hour to JFK/LGA isn't very fun ($30+ in tolls, bridges, horrendous traffic, etc.). Aside from the drive, I've also been concerned about the seniority situation at Delta. We've hired nearly 11000 out of our 16900 pilots in the past 10 years and recently announced that hiring will slow down in 2024. I'm extremely grateful to have a job at Delta, but I am well aware that I am probably on the backside of one of the biggest hiring waves in company history and that will have an impact on seniority for my entire career here.

I currently have a CJO at United with a class date in early March. I'm trying to make a decision of whether or not to make the jump from DAL to UAL while I'm still fairly junior at Delta (I have about 900 below me on the seniority list currently). I am aware that United has hired a similar ammount of pilots as Delta in the past decade, but it seems that the retirements and planned growth for United will translate to a similar (if not better) seniority situation. I also really like that United has more widebody flying and oppurtunities to upgrade quicker on the narrowbodies.

I'm not sure what to do and this decision has been weighing on me for a few months now. I'd really appreciate any advice or insight that anyone may have!