Otterbox

AAs merger with TWA and Us Air/ Piedmont/ America West and then LUS/LAA to become AAG hasn’t exactly been the gold standard of mergers. IIRC there’s still an outstanding lawsuit or two of pilots suing each groups and management. That doesn’t even count the FAs and the uniform issues. AA has really only started to turning around in employee productivity and more harmony in the last year or two. United has started its turn around with the addition or Oscar and Kirby.

Retirements favor AA but better work rules, greater % of widebody slots and higher profit sharing are things that United offers. It is very unlikely that AA will see an improvement in both Work rules and profit sharing in future contracts. As much as their is chest pumping, the AA pilot group negotiated away their profit sharing. It won’t be coming back, and prodding the union to fight for better work rules seems to be difficult, at best.

PRS Guitars

Sunfish,

Like SB said, take the first class, then re-evaluate when the next one is offered. If a catastrophic event happens, a CJO could disappear, vs being on property somewhere could mean a furlough, but you'd have the job for later.

Where do you want to live?

By the way, when were you at CBM? I was there for quite a while in the 50th. (You can PM me, if you want to answer that in private)

Sunfish FAIP

Ha...small world! I was at the 41st from 08 till 2011. I know UA has had some issues during the merger with Continental but again when do mergers go smoothly. I have a feeling that class dates will be offered at around the same time from each other and several guys have been saying to just take the first one and run. Obviously this is assuming the widebody and eventual international domicile list fits well with our future endeavors.

Regionalsuck

How long have they been withholding you?? Did you bid off it first opportunity at 6 months and now going on to year 3 and STILL withheld?

I would probably quit before being stuck commuting to PHL for 3 years while being withheld. Who cares about the pay rate bump, not worth any amount of money to be stuck commuting there for years IMO! Now if you are a commuter regardless and not living in another AA domicile (like I am) then that is a different story. Obviously the QOL with the relative seniority would be worth it if you are a lifetime commuter anyway...

I'm worried about being the young one in class, getting stuck there and not being able to bid out because of being withheld for who knows how long.

billyho

For me PHL works and I have avoided CLT because of my easy commute to PHL.
Don't know why or how they pluck people for training. I know a guy that has been on the 190 for a long time. Back when we were still on the US Airways contract and he was getting space positive travel and a company paid hotel right when he was awarded BUS in CLT.
Of course under the AA contract that ended fast.
I don't mind PHL at all, but if you hate it there then hopefully you can avoid it. Sure LAX. LGA and MIA will be there for you fast.

PRS Guitars

IIRC, you can only be withheld for 1 year, so worst case is bid off at 6 months withheld for 1 year, so 18 months.

AFTrainerGuy

I got to 41st in 2010.

Got ?’s... PM me. I’ll help ya anyway I can

chrisreedrules

If you’re considering multiple offers from legacies, I would choose according to the bases you like the best and where you want to live.

If that doesn’t matter to you then I would take a DA class over the others. They seem to have the most savvy management and to be best poised for success through the next downturn. They also boast very strong financials. They have done a lot of “front-loading” of pilots for their upcoming retirements so a new hire today wouldn’t enjoy the same cruise up the seniority list as someone hired today at AA. If widebody flying is your thing I may look elsewhere though as DA seems to be steadily moving the other direction.

Next (again, in my opinion) would be AA. Looking at retirements alone it’s hard to not consider AA first. A new hire will enjoy better quality of life faster because of how rapid they move up the seniority list over the next decade. I know AA has the least desirable contract of the 3 legacies, but they will catch up with DA and UA.

Last would be UA. They seem poorly managed from their regional partners on up. That’s not to say there isn’t mismanagement at the other legacies, just that it certainly seems more prominent at UA. Their regional feed is crumbling and almost all on shaky/uncertain ground. They deferred their large order for the 73 (which may have been smart financially, but ultimately bad for pilots). Their rollout of basic economy was a disaster. But they have a great contract.

For me personally my #1 choice is AA for the bases and retirements. I’m at a WO and I’m projected to flow in about the 2021/2022 timeframe given my companies current metrics. My other choice is Southwest (again for the bases). I would certainly work for UA or DA, but they are far from my first choices.

Regionalsuck

Thanks. Not ideal but at least there is a limit on witholding time. Hopefully other people in class want it. Would be quite frustrating to commute there for 1.5 years when you could just be driving to work right away just because of a bad class drop.

mainlineAF

That’s life. You’re just going to have to deal with it. A year and a half isn’t all that long.