Actually, the AA mechanics fought the hard fight and have better scope than the other legacy mechanics. Just look at those huge hangers across from the terminal at MIA with southwest, delta and United planes. That’s why they fought so hard on their scope.

Why don't you ask old timers at LAA what they think about cheap engine overhaul on the Mad Dog. They lost like 10 engines if I remember correctly. Some of them literally left the aircraft.
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Going for cheap and losing lots money. History repeats itself at AA.

During normal times (pre covid) what could one expect to credit a month on reserve as WB FO? Would it be realistic to get a trip or two of OG to get into the high 90s or low 100s if trying to pick up? Or are you mostly going to just get min guarantee each month realistically? Same question for NB FO reserve? Thanks!

I think the only time guys got OG was a late night diversion or a weather event

Are you allowed to pick up a straight time trip in open time to add to your credit when on reserve? If so, are you allowed to pick up out of base? (Such as a PHL 787 FO picking up a NRT trip out of DFW if it was in open time?)

No straight pickup for reserves. Have to be awarded OG or Premium

Ok.Thanks! Could you request or be awarded OG out of base while on reserve or is that not allowed?

The laser focus on the 787 cracks me up

Have you guys heard rumors if they are going to stay the course with the 78 or switch out for bus products?

No talk of bringing back or buying new heavy Airbus

I heard one person sitting on the board at AA also sits on the board at Boeing. Besides, why would we settle for anything "superior" (besides attitude)?

Since when is a heavy Airbus “superior” to a heavy Boeing? Not following the logic here. The 777 has had a mighty fine run. 787 has issues but so does the A350. Both are fine machines. I think it’s a wash

​​​​​​Have you been to the A350 sim? Do you know you can access the lav and bunk without stepping into the pax area? Have you seen the effin' space up front?
I find the 777 cockpit to be small for a widebody. Even the 78 is kinda small. I have jumpseated on both trans Atlantic. Space is king on long flights.

So it’s a space/bunk thing. Ok. I guess if that’s the definition of “superior” than the Bus wins. I think I recall that the 747 had bunks in the cockpit too.
I’m sure the airlines define it in a different way (fuel savings, range, etc.) Lots of research goes into what fleet for who. AA is Boeing heavy for their own reasons, but from what I’ve heard I believe the Boeings have better range. Whereas the Bus probably has better fuel burn. Who knows. Guess we’ll probably find a thousand different reasons.
I’ve been in the 350 sim. No doubt a nice ride.

seriously, someone needs to tell this person you don’t get hired into the 787….and at this point in the hiring process it’ll be 8 years plus to hold right seat I would think….cra cra.

Once we actually get all the 787’s on property, I bet it drops down to <3 years to hold

The reason I asked this question was because of the delays and general opinion that the 78 was basically designed with the same backwards approach as the MAX. Which is to say, cutting corners to chop costs at the expense of good engineering. Now we see the 78 delayed because of short term thinking and greed resulting in defects and losses in the long run. Boeing of course lays blame on the FAA instead of their own incompetent management. I can't help but think the forward thinking strategy would be to step away from Boeing until they demonstrate a focus on engineering airplanes rather than farming production out...which they're still doing to my knowledge.

It spells more missed opportunity down the road when AA really can't afford to miss anything. I'm looking for signs that things are turning around but feel like I just keep seeing more incompetence. The flights to Delhi not being able to use Russian airspace being yet another example. Is the new guy just going to be a long for the ride too?

Back to QOL... Is it possible to fly 60-70 hours per month at AA with swapping/dropping? Are there specific limits on such things?

Thats a great point and needs to be considered. AA must have gotten a much better deal from Boeing than Airbus

Depends on your seniority and what kind of trips yoj get. One days are easy to drop, five days are difficult. It also depends on the month. Some months I can easily drop to 40 ish hours, some months (like this one) they won’t let me swap a 3 day for a 3 day on the same days. They won’t even let me swap a 3 day for a 4 day right now….

Boeing is paying the leases on the 330s I heard. AA might have gotten a good deal, but have they gotten a good product?

Thanks. I feel like that is works at most places during holiday months. Are there any contractual limits on what you can drop to?

**EVERY** 777/787 pilot I’ve talked to has nothing but praise for those airframes. And that includes pilots who transitioned from the 330. So I’d say yes

No WiFi in 787 cockpit, but I presume that’s a dumb AA thing

can drop to zero

It's a manufacturing issue, not something that a pilot can really notice. The 787, when successfully assembled(not an easy task apparently due to composite materials and disparate manufacturing locations) on paper is great. Good specs, pretty ergonomic, unfortunately that doesn't do any good if they can't get the components fitted to spec and they sit in a hangar. Also raises question on future mx processes as they put it through its cycles.

Oh joy!!! Sounds like the Air Force with KC-46 project repeating itself at AA with the 78.

How long for a new hire to get on a widebody in NYC?

Uncharted territory is the best way describe the next couple of years. 5000 new hires in 2022/2023 and THEN peak retirements kick in 2024-2026. So to answer your question based on anything that has happened the last few years is futile. It is all a guessing game at this point.

Junior person at AA is seniority 14486. Junior widebody, 777, LGA, is 10465. 4K numbers. Hiring 5K by end of 2023. AA has 12 787's just sitting on a ramp somewhere awaiting delivery from Boeing. International flying is on its butt. NorthEast deal with JetBlue is supposed to open up widebody flying in LGA.

So.....no answer because you will have to guess like the rest of us.

But will anything be green in the future?

How will one of the trip trade systems going away affect it?

I worry about that also. I just got done dropping my entire January schedule via TTOT. TTS, the future system, wouldn't let me make 1 trade yesterday. Not 1.

why is that? And why is TTOT going away? It seems from a lot of other comments that flexibility will seriously be compromised by the new system.

Good. You shouldn't be dropping all your trips out of seniority order like that anyway.

-APA circa a few years ago

AA is trying to migrate off of the system that TTOT is built on top of.

As was mentioned, the company is moving away from the underlying system that TTOT runs on. That, and the pilot group couldn’t be bothered to read the contract beyond pay rates when they voted this provision in. Yet you can’t find anyone who will admit that they voted yes…

The good news is APA is using an AA tactic back on them- there’s some loose verbiage in the contract that requires APA’s concurrence before the TTOT “replacement” can go live, and APA says (rightfully so) that the new system isn’t ready. So APA put a halt to the rollout, at least temporarily.

When it comes to QOL does anyone know if APA is trying for longer LC times? Instead of 12 hours make it 16 instead? The extra time wouldn't just benefit commuters being able to actually do LC from home in cases they can't do it currently, but there's a great health benefit. There's a window right now where I could get called and not be able to make it in 12 hours, but I could with 16. So in that case I wouldn't need a crash pad and wouldn't be sharing a place with a bunch of other people who are potentially sick, or even having Covid. Reducing the number of people I'm around, sharing an apartment with, sleeping in the same room as, it benefits everyone including the company. Fewer call outs. Potentially fewer Covid cases. I hope they're trying for longer LC times.

Never did Long Call so someone will chime in but based on my experience they fill most trips prior to noon the day prior so 90% of the time you get lots of notice.

That is true, they DO use LC with more notice than noon day prior. But those 12:15 call outs after the last departure from your home town do happen and do screw guys over unnecessarily. I assume LC would probably get converted more often to SC in a 16 hour callout situation. But a good idea

We need more penalty for being converted to SC. 30 mins per occurrence is not enough.
Not to mention the company should pay for the hotel if the crew-member needs one after being converted.
I have wasted several hotels in JFK just to go up there and sit and not be used. The 30 min conversion did not cover the cost of the hotel.

Nothing is green today.
Look like they have locked the system down again for Jan.