AllYourBaseAreB

yeah it’s not ideal. Sometimes they are great retired line pilots or dudes who never flew 121, who may be actually awesome or not

Zoomie

Figured I'd repost this here since I replied in that other thread:

If you are interested in an instructor job, I would say that United has an edge for now. Right now there are close to 1000 pilots at United that are seniority list instructor/evaluators. 100% of instructors and evaluators are on the seniority list at United. This dynamic has created a point in time where DEN is now a relatively Jr base (historically its very senior).

United has unfilled DEN 737 CA spots for the last 3 bids (you need to be on property for 12 months before you can bid CA).

Someone who's a SLI at AA can chime in with details at American regarding its QOL as an instructor. How many pilots at AA are instructors? It sounds like they might be all outsourced for now.

At United, instructors must be on property for 12 bid periods (1 yr) before they are eligible to instruct. You don't have to instruct on the A/C you have flown at UAL (obviously that helps).
90% of the instructors here have experience instructing in the military or previous airlines. Some were just instructors when they started flying.
You get 13 days off a month and the other days you will teach 1 event a day. You get 2-3 fly days a month. On those fly days, you call up another pilot and ask to "buy their trip"
You can DH to another base to fly your trip and fly anything you want. The person you buy the trip is pay protected while you fly and they stay at home and get paid.
It's easy to get summers off in the training center at United since training draws down. Harder to get the week off Christmas for vacation, but contractually no training on Christmas, T-giving, and NYE.

All instructors teach everything except the LOE. Pay is currently capped at 9th year WB pay. 90 hrs pay a month plus $1215 override. So a 2nd year instructor would make 2nd year WB pay. New TA is rumored to raise cap to Airbus CA pay.

Overtime is 5.3 hrs pay per day of overtime, but you can't do more than 1 event a day (6.5 hr events)

Training department started going really Jr until we had a peek at the last TA that showed Airbus CA pay. Now, they aren't having problems filling spots, but many getting hired are 1 year guys(that floodgate has closed for now except instructing on the 757/767, but if we don't get a TA soon expect it to open again).

United has plans for growth right now. CEO is on the record saying he sees the seniority list at about 23,000 pilots (we're at about 15,000 right now-13,000 active). Take that with a grain of salt. AA is going through their massive retirements right now. UAL massive retirements begins in about 4-5 years.

UAL just created pilot bases in Las Vegas and Orlando which open this month. Those are not "hubs" but rumor is that status is "on the table" of possibilities.

CEO also stated that he has a team looking for places to grow as well, but that's not being revealed at this time.

FlyinCat

They must be doing something right because I hear nothing but positive reviews of AA’s training department. Perhaps the best among 121 airlines.

R57 relay

It's hard to compare as AA's system will drastically change with a new contract.


Currently, the only instructor/evaluators that are on the seniority list/APA members are Check Pilots(the term was changed from Check Airman last year). These are all captains. Flight Crew Training Instructors teach ground school, and most were never AA pilots. The next batch are Simulator Pilots. Again, not line qualified, but many are retired AA pilots. They teach days 1-5 of a qual course, and the first sim day of recurrent. All other events are covered by Check Pilots-X-type and L-type. L-type do only line events such as OE and line checks. The X-types do days 6-10 of the qual course in the sim, two of the CQ sim events and various line duties.


The new contract terms propose a few changes. There will be two new categories and the L-type CKPs will go away. They will add Instructor Pilots and Line Check Pilots. We will still have SimPs, but the IPs will do some of the sim events that X-type CKPs now do. X-type CKPs will essentially just be APDs. The LCP will replace L-types, and now they will bid PBS and when needed have students added to their blocks for OE.


Again, all still subject to change.

saxman66

Sounds like you have some great reviews of each training department. Start class at AA, obviously. Indoc is 10 days long and then you go home for several weeks to start FTD and sim training. The first day of class you'll get the class drop list. On that list is are the bases, aircraft, AND the projected FTD/Sim training start and end date. You'll be more senior in the class so pick the base/aircraft that you can attend your United interview during your break. Assuming United goes well, then you can make an informed decision after you finish training with AA. I'm sure you've thought of all this already. Obviously United isn't a sure thing yet, so don't turn us down yet. Good luck!

ACEssXfer

I have never had a bad experience with a non-line-pilot instructor and, in fact, have been blown away by more than one on the depth of knowledge they possess on the acft.

AllYourBaseAreB

especially true considering some of the dubious recent hires into the training department after the union suggested not taking that job…

IlliniPilot99

not entirely true, I went through training last year and had a mix of line and contract instructors (most of them were retired from a legacy/overseas carrier) all my check rides (MV, OE, Line) were with AA line pilots.

chrisreedrules

I’m not referring to the quality of training. I’m sure it’s in line with the other legacies. I’m referring to the fact that your seniority list pilots don’t have the opportunity to get into the school house and teach. Just 1 less opportunity that should be enjoyed by AA pilots. The less pilots in the school house, the less pilots needed on the seniority list etc. It’s just generally surprising to hear a legacy doesn’t have this option available to it’s pilots.

El Peso

Lol. Not getting to be a sim P or a ground instructor isn’t a missed opportunity for AA pilots. If they want to teach in the sim they can simply apply to be a Check Airman.