Agree. The guys who went to US pre merger are set up nicely. The movement seems to finally have started and third listers may be able to hold group 2 captain in a year and a half or so. Couple that with a new contract in 19/20 and things will be looking good.

 

Patience, grasshoppers. AA will eventually turn it around and we will have an industry leading contract before long...just wait and see. And at that point everyone AA here on APC is gonna be saying, dayum! glad I didn't leave AA back when things weren't looking so good.

That's how it always works out.

 

And that my friends is the elephant in the room. If the government subsidized ME3 continue their trend unabated, UAL will probably be gone, but the AA debt load is scary.

 

Well not "always", at least not for TWA, Pan Am, EAL...etc....AA is a great outfit, but the debt load is beyond frightening.

 

This thread is nuts. Not one of us can see the future. We should all know that things change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the not so better. If you are here it's fine. It may appear better elsewhere and you have the option to pursue other positions. I fly with pilots that have been furloughed and stapled two times. They are not necessarily happy but great to fly with. I just flew with a total dumbass who is young, based at a senior base, not commuting, father works at AA, hired off the street, and miserable. That jackass wouldn't be happy if he were married to the Princess of Cambridge.

Stop being jealous of what others have and realize it's not that bad. Anyone hired today at AA will walk away with millions of dollars. Well maybe you will not walk away with millions because you're believing someone else is investing better than you and chase the risky returns. Stay the course. Things are improving.

I am no management hack. I just think people dwell on negative things too much. I am taking vacations with my family now that I would not have dreamt of five years ago. Slice is still holed up in Maryland because he floated. Three paychecks into the new year and I have put in $36,000 into my 401K. Poor me. Boo hoo. I am on reserve, have never done makeup, never volunteered for OT. Wake up.

 

As far as debt goes. Maybe Mr. Parker is not concerned because interest rates are so low. Why not borrow today at 3% reducing the chance that interest rates will go up in the future? For those of us that had purchased homes in the 1980's. 12% thirty year fixed rates have happened. Delta has an old fleet. What if interest rates went nuts? Who's smart then? I say buynow(money is cheap)

 

I'm no company cheerleader or am I a big union cheerleader. I try to see both sides and make my own decisions for what that is worth. That said Parker has a history of making good deals when it comes to money. Remember when he wheeled and dealed back in 2009/2010 finding us cash to fend off bk number 3 and holding off on fuel hedging then oil crashed thru the floor. Got to give him credit for that.

 

Things definitely looking up here at UPS. Rumors of continuous hiring for the next few years and new airframes. Top pay, new vacation rules and we still have a pension. Living in SDF this job is really nice.

 

I know what you're saying, but those airlines had years and years of horrible finances, losses and inept management? AA is nowhere near that point, in fact just the opposite. Say what you want about Parker but he knows how to make money.

All I'm saying is, it's typical for pilots to want to bail when contracts are down. Then if they do leave, they typically regret it years later.

 

Congrats. But wrong thread.