Airline Pilot Central Forums

Airline Pilot Central Forums (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/)
-   American (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/american/)
-   -   AA Seniority Calculator (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/american/138055-aa-seniority-calculator.html)

LearPilot88 04-07-2026 06:01 PM


Originally Posted by Bankrupt84 (Post 4020784)
So..... for us simpletons, would it be accurate to set the seniority Calculator to 3% or is this too optimistic?

Regards

Simpleton

That is an unanswerable question…could be -1% as well.

mostpeople 04-07-2026 08:16 PM


Originally Posted by Bankrupt84 (Post 4020784)
So..... for us simpletons, would it be accurate to set the seniority Calculator to 3% or is this too optimistic?

Regards

Simpleton

Can’t say, but it is reasonable

Sliceback 04-11-2026 08:03 AM


Originally Posted by Bankrupt84 (Post 4020784)
So..... for us simpletons, would it be accurate to set the seniority Calculator to 3% or is this too optimistic?

Regards

Simpleton

I'd think it's too optimistic. It's easy enough to make a better SWAG - go to the MIT Airline Data Project, click on 'The DATA', research several airlines (I'd recommend AA/DL/UA), click on the bottom link - employee data and analysis, and figure out what the actual growth rate is. Quick estimate was AA has approx 40% more pilots today than it did 25 years ago. That's 1.6% but on an annual basis it's 1.4%.

https://web.mit.edu/airlinedata/www/default.html

Name User 04-11-2026 09:19 AM


Originally Posted by Sliceback (Post 4022232)
I'd think it's too optimistic. It's easy enough to make a better SWAG - go to the MIT Airline Data Project, click on 'The DATA', research several airlines (I'd recommend AA/DL/UA), click on the bottom link - employee data and analysis, and figure out what the actual growth rate is. Quick estimate was AA has approx 40% more pilots today than it did 25 years ago. That's 1.6% but on an annual basis it's 1.4%.

https://web.mit.edu/airlinedata/www/default.html

In Dec 2013 how many pilot were on the active AA list (not including furloughed)?

Airways had 3500 IIRC and the west was around 500 1500.

ps2sunvalley 04-11-2026 09:22 AM


Originally Posted by Name User (Post 4022255)
In Dec 2013 how many pilot were on the active AA list (not including furloughed)?

Airways had 3500 IIRC and the west was around 500 I believe.

West really only had around 500 pilots going into the US/AA merger? Wild.

Name User 04-11-2026 09:27 AM


Originally Posted by ps2sunvalley (Post 4022256)
West really only had around 500 pilots going into the US/AA merger? Wild.

OK I was way off, total between US-E and US-W was around 5000. Maybe West had 1500?

Looks like AA had 8500 active (not furloughed) at time of merger, so combined was 13,500 in Dec 2013. If you believe long term staffing targets of ~16000, we've "grown" 20% over 12 years. And that includes the replacing of a lot of RJs with mainline equipment, something that probably won't continue.

So 1.4%, which is basically what Slice said.

Sliceback 04-11-2026 05:19 PM


Originally Posted by Name User (Post 4022258)
OK I was way off, total between US-E and US-W was around 5000. Maybe West had 1500?

Looks like AA had 8500 active (not furloughed) at time of merger, so combined was 13,500 in Dec 2013. If you believe long term staffing targets of ~16000, we've "grown" 20% over 12 years. And that includes the replacing of a lot of RJs with mainline equipment, something that probably won't continue.

So 1.4%, which is basically what Slice said.

2009 AA/US/AW ASM was 222.5 billion(?). 2025 ASM's was 299.4 billion (?). 34.6% over 16 years. That's a total change of 2.2%, or 1.9% annually.
Just showing that ASM growth, which is what Wall St and the financial people are interested in, is often greater than the pilot corps increase to create the additional ASM's.

Using your 2013 end of year numbers the AA/US ASM was 232.4 billion. 13 years later it's 229.4 billion. 29%, 2.2%, or an annual increase, again, of 1.9%.

It would be interesting to compare it to GDP. Years ago I think ASM growth for the industry was closer to GDP. Then, at least for the legacy airlines, it lagged, and perhaps 66% (2/3's) of GDP was the 'new' normal. With 1.9% AA's ASM growth totaled 29% over the 13 years 2013-2025. U.S. GDP was 30% higher. So the hope to relink legacy growth to GDP seems to be on track??? <amateur public math warning!!

Name User 04-11-2026 05:30 PM


Originally Posted by Sliceback (Post 4022387)
2009 AA/US/AW ASM was 222.5 billion(?). 2025 ASM's was 299.4 billion (?). 34.6% over 16 years. That's a total change of 2.2%, or 1.9% annually.
Just showing that ASM growth, which is what Wall St and the financial people are interested in, is often greater than the pilot corps increase to create the additional ASM's.

Using your 2013 end of year numbers the AA/US ASM was 232.4 billion. 13 years later it's 229.4 billion. 29%, 2.2%, or an annual increase, again, of 1.9%.

It would be interesting to compare it to GDP. Years ago I think ASM growth for the industry was closer to GDP. Then, at least for the legacy airlines, it lagged, and perhaps 66% (2/3's) of GDP was the 'new' normal. With 1.9% AA's ASM growth totaled 29% over the 13 years 2013-2025. U.S. GDP was 30% higher. So the hope to relink legacy growth to GDP seems to be on track??? <amateur public math warning!!

I'm impressed you were able to find historical ASM's. Guessing a lot of the growth came from replacing 140 seat S80s with 172 seat 737s and up gauging the 156 "more room in coach" 737s to 172 as well.

stillcantfly 04-13-2026 03:13 AM

I just flew with an FO she showed me MyFlightCareer.com they charge $5 but pretty slick… we used to have my AA career but I think he retired.

stillcantfly 04-13-2026 07:30 AM

Also found out there is a free one pilotsenority.com both have good info


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:04 AM.


Website Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands