I've heard about that but never met anyone it happened to. I do know that some lCal pilots left in the mid-late 1990s for lUal, because that was the call to make back then. United was going gangbusters, Continental was doing well but the recovery was still underway(1, 2). Those who jumped ship from Continental to United ended up junior to their former lCal classmates.



1: Right Away and All at Once: How We Saved Continental Airlines by Greg Brenneman https://hbr.org/1998/09/right-away-a...ed-continental


2: On Super Bowl Sunday 1998 Continental was almost sold lock stock and barrel to Delta, but NWA and the Continental pilots were tipped off and combined forces to stop it on what became known as "Black Sunday".


footnote: Planning was underway in summer 2001 for Continental to buy Alaska Airlines in 2002.