CareerPivot

Currently at JetBlue based at LAX. I love the people and the culture here, but there is always a bit of FOMO. The only other airline I would consider is AA and I'm curious what life is like for Bus pilots here. For me it is not about the money, it's all about the QoL and working with good people. My main issues with B6 are the lack of good trips out of LAX (we're 2nd class citizens), the flying isn't varied, and the thin travel benefits post-retirement. I have no desire to fly WB, so I wouldn't be looking to bounce for that, and will probably retire in 10-15 years. If offered a CJO, I would not be giving up much seniority at B6.

I know you get these posts ad nauseam, but would love any insight you locals can provide. Anybody jump from LAX B6 to LAX AA and happy you did (or not happy)?

Thanks for your time and thoughts.

CRJCapitan

Just curious, why only AA? AA is smaller in LA than Delta and United.

CareerPivot

At Delta I would be the most junior in class and would inevitably get the 717 out of DTW. I don't think the flying on the bus at United is all that good (no Hawaii etc).

AllYourBaseAreB

once youre senior the hawaii trips look pretty nice. A metric ass ton of redeye flying, usually to start your trip. We are weak on the west coast and Alaska does a lot of our flying. Things may get better when terminal construction finishes and a long haul flying returns, requiring more NB feed

CRJCapitan

If you're that young, you are very likely to get the 737 AA and not be able to switch to the airbus for a year and a half. I'd say try not to let airbus vs boeing drive any decisions. I know of LCC pilots who went from airbus previously and got 737 here and, end of the day, it really didn't matter much.

I think American is probably the best spot to end up a this point since it is much earlier in its hiring wave (barring age 68 delaying things), but LA is becoming a fairly small base here. One of the few situations where I'd say you may be better off somewhere else.

RippinClapBombs

Delta doesn’t rank in class seniority by age for NH’s. I believe they go by the last 4 digits of your social.

AlphaBC

I left the bus at LAX B6 for the bus at LAX AA. Don’t regret a thing. Do it as fast as you can lol. Overall work rules are better at B6 but having the limit of only one redeye per sequence is a real big gain coming to AA. Operation is so different hard to compare the two in favor of AA.

Last I saw we still carried more LAX passengers than UA although they carried more international passengers out of LAX. DL is number 1 but they have all their gates up and running while we’re still down a handful, so we’ll see what happens in a few years when construction is done.

ACEssXfer

Temporary problems. Pick the company you think would give you the best career for your individual circumstances.

CRJCapitan

Right, forgot about that. If you're in your 20's still likely to run into that issue. Don't worry about the initial aircraft though. The 737 isn't bad at all once you've memorized the flows. Just don't expect a tray table...

CareerPivot

Definitely would be in the top 10% of a NH class at AA with my age (ie I'm not a millennial).