ObiOne

Hey everyone, I’ve looked through some threads and there seem to be plenty of “AA vs DAL” or “Leaving AA for DAL” threads, but not much of anything (recently) comparing AA with United.

I personally am in the PA/NJ area, so PHL and EWR are very accessible, with JFK/LGA being more of a fringe possibility.

The way I see it, both have certain advantages…

AA:
- Seems to have best upward seniority mobility for a person in mid to late 20’s
- PHL most accessible to me
- Possibly easier to pursue opportunities in addition to line flying given short drive to PHL
- Greatest number of good bases (by a long shot)
- New fleet, so likely to accrue least amount of debt going forward

UAL:
- Also good seniority progression (despite having hired ~3000 since covid)
- EWR is a key hub with more flying opportunities than PHL
- Insane amount of widebodies/orders (wide body flying high priority)
- Less current debt
- Clearest vision for expansion going forward

They both seem to be roughly the same in terms of quality of life at the moment, despite their differences.

Both are great potential paths, so I am curious if anyone with more experience than I has any input as to whether my perception of things is accurate. As always, it’s appreciated.

AAL24

Obviously just my opinion but you can't go wrong with either one. They will both be good careers for someone in their late 20s. If you prefer WB international flying then United would be the obvious choice. AA doesn't have the same International network and likely won't for a long time. If that's not as important to you and PHL is an easier drive then I would go with AA. PHL has a very high probability of being a big AA base for the long term. At the moment the QOL provisions in the AA contract are sorely lacking. But at some point Isom is going to have to pony up and offer a decent contract. As long as the economy doesn't tank + age 67 then you should have a lot of pilots below you on the seniority list in a few years. Good luck.

CRJJ

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but even if the economy goes down the sink…..wouldn’t AA be a safer bet compared to the others since AA is so behind in terms of hiring and also having more total retirements?. It seems like those two things should offset potential furloughs, just to compensate the natural attrition and avoid massive training events to recall people.

CADR

^ exactly this. Another important factor to consider is everyone gets all butt hurt about AA not having a massive international flying network like UAL. The fact is that domestic U.S. flying is much more stable and reliable in terms of passengers than international. If the U.S. economy goes down the World economy really goes down, domestic travel will always be a safer bet than international.

One last thing to just mention is I see a lot of folks up in arms about the quick upgrade at Delta right now. What they don’t realize is Delta is ahead of AA in terms of hiring and retirements. The same thing is going to happen at AA in the next couple years with a ton of movement due to the retirements. Be patient guys.

Beech Dude

You win the internet for today sir/ma'am.

aa73

and not just that but remember the fact that AA is light years ahead of UAL and DAL with regards to fleet renewal. UAL and DAL operate a much older fleet and are in the process (or about to start?) of fleet renewal which will put them into a similar debt ratio as AAL.
American ain’t in as bad shape as everyone seems to think they are. We just need better forward thinking management

Montcalm

Agreed, I think AA is in a pretty decent position. The international flying will come back. 83+ long haul jets coming down the pipe, all growth.

UA's 787 order is all 756/777 replacement.

FlyPurdue

That is actually not true - the 787 order is replacing the 53 (763/764s), and the rest are growth airplanes. Even if they decided to replace the 77As with 787s, we only have 19 of those, so there are still growth frames in there. Plus there is no guarantee the 764s go away in 2030 either, time will tell as I do know how inefficient it is to have such a small sub fleet (if Andrew Nocella has his way, I could see a future fleet of exclusively 753s and 764s). From listening to earnings calls, replacing the 77As with 787s does not seem like the plan, as we fly the 77As with 364 seats domestically, between all our hubs and to Hawaii - completely different mission / configuration than the 787s are designed for (even the -10s).

As far as AA vs UA - I have never flown for AA, but have been on the 756 fleet my entire time at UA, and have been based on both coasts (west coast now). I was on reserve about 8 months, and line holder now for about 2 years. Best job of my life, reserve needs to get better, but it is also not as bad as people make it seem (you just really need to understand how it works, how it conflicts with 117, and leverage that knowledge to your advantage). As a 756FO, I have been reassigned thrice, have flown 3 legs in a day twice, and very rarely fly 2 legs in a day. In 2022, I credited over 1200 hours having blocked less than 450, and only flew a little premium, most of my credit was open time trades with broken pairings with lots of DHs that made me almost feel like I was home based. From talking to my friends at the junior bases on the 756, my experience is not outside the norm at all.

YMMV, but there are advantages to flying a fleet that only flies to about 20 cities domestically, and shockingly enough that fleet is one of the junior fleets at UA.

Good luck in your decision.

Brickfire

What you’re really asking is which company will be better from 2035-2060. Nobody knows.

Flip a coin and enjoy

rockelino

Worked for both UAL and AAL (I'm in AAL now). PM me if you want specifics but here's my opinion:
1. AA has better commuting, jumpseating and reserve rules (not even close, UAL's commuting sucks).
2. UA has more WB and easy to get if that's what you want (and you're willing to commute to EWR or find yourself in SFO).
3. If you live in base and not worried about commuting, it's a coin flip. If you want WB and don't mind covering EWR and JFK, go with UAL (not sure if that's a commute for you or not). If you want to be based in PHL - go with AAL.

*UAL doesn't have a great contract, neither do we at the moment. Contracts change, and seniority is everything.