Originally Posted by
Bob Squad
Also in a similar situation to all these potential UAL hopefuls. I was hired at AA a year ago and never got the call despite UAL being my first choice - but hey, I had a job and I'm grateful. AA has been good so far but I've noticed the writing on the walls at AA. We've been shrinking in popular hubs, missing earnings, and hemorrhaging money ($143M this quarter) while still having a mountain of debt. It all points to trouble ahead. That combined with the union troubles and the push to join ALPA just makes me think the next contract might have concessions - I'm probably just being extremely paranoid. Overall I just don't feel confident. Moved recently from MIA to ORD and my seniority has been stagnant since we went on a hiring freeze this summer. UAL's presence here is much larger than AA's and it's the location I'd like to make long-term. The WB flying opportunities are also much better at UAL. I kept updating my app and was lucky to secure a CJO earlier this month. Still awaiting a class date but was wondering if the "stay where you are" dogma still applies if leaving American.
The plan is to focus on remaining in Chicago or possibly the West Coast in the future. I like the WB opportunities that UAL provides and I'm not confident in AA's finances, leadership, and aircraft fleet opportunities.
AA is not DAL. You're not the only AA pilot looking to go to United in the same base. It may be worth going to UAL but you'll have a better ability to judge how much you're giving up once the actual class date at UAL is assigned. How old are you? Are you going to be able to be a WB CA at AA? If not, but young enough to be one at UAL, the switch for that alone could be worth it depending on how important retiring as a WB CA is for you. AA does have better WB reserve rules than UAL (6 rollable days off each month for Global reserve) UAL is more profitable and has other opportunities available in the Chicago area besides flying the line.