Yes, agree. I was paid 1085 hours last year as a junior NB CA on reserve all year (mostly SC). It appears I will far exceed that number this year based on the amount of PR awarded YTD.

Point being, NB FO that hustles vs NB CA at min guarantee is a false equivalency.

False equivalency is not an accurate term in this case. I worked less than half the year(days on reserve but not used are not off, thus work days). I made within 5% of what I would have as a junior NB CA…maybe 10% if you base it on 80-something hours. I had every single day off that I wanted. I fly the trips I want.

Captains I fly with junior to me generally fall into one of three categories. Young Captains that either this is their first Captain position or that need to stroke their ego. Older Captains trying to build their retirement due to missed opportunity earlier in their career…or… Captains that are defined by their career and NEED to be the Captain(their social media or constant selfies tend to confirm this one). I don’t fall into any of those. I enjoy my seniority and QOL. QOL is unfortunately something that 73% of our pilots didn’t value in the last contract cycle.

I think it will take a lot longer to get to your seniority than it would to upgrade in base to CA. I am around 12k in seniority and to even get crappy 2 days in PBS, I need to be at around 6k, which would take me another 5+ years (can't look up the seniority on aapilots). I can likely upgrade in base at around 11k, which will likely be less than a year. I am currently 50-60% in the right seat. Going to plug CA in base isn't bad for me because I am 20 minutes from the airport. I will miss Imaxing, but it is worth it for another 80-90k a year.

Ok. Justify any way you want. I worked less and made more.

We're talking past(passed?) each other. It goes back to what I said earlier. Hired 4+ years ago? One could be getting close to 'senior' FO in most NB statuses.
Hired after that? Senior FO is only possible on things like LGA or MIA 737 but NB CA is starting to become a possibility.
Next it depends on age. Hired young? Might want to delay (especially if single and lower fixed expenses) to see what seniority buys. Hired older? Probably shouldn't spend half your career leaving almost 100k per year on the table (especially with a family to take care of).
As always, it's nice to have options to use whatever ever seniority one has to carve out something that works for you.

I’m not terribly senior to you. Certainly not in the aspect of DOH. I’m in the teens seniority in my base/seat. I can hold most 2 days but I don’t bid them because I don’t live in base. The only 2 days I can’t touch are the ODAN’s….low block, short duty..but they go to single digit and very low 2 digit seniority. I can hold any NB CA seat except BOS.

Enjoy the upgrade. I hope it works out well for you. I will upgrade when I can be a solid lineholder in my base/seat of choice. In the meantime I will fly only trips I want to and get the days off I need.

To each their own!

You said the whole year was reserve, and most of your time was SCR. Either way that’s 18 days a month. If you’re on reserve but don’t get called it still counts as a work day. You’re not able to ditch the phone and go hit the slopes..take the boat out…etc.

You’re not being honest with yourself or anybody else. I’m guessing you fit solidly into one of those 3 categories I mentioned. No offense intended.

whatever you got to tell yourself

As a senior ish FO who put in for upgrade, I can hold a CA line.

I get some good PPROJ as an FO but the idea of being attached to my phone some days looking for easy PM that works for me and my family is a pain sometimes, especially when you don’t get anything.

I think I’d rather skip the hustle and just work my line, try to trade down (lol good luck), and not bother with extra flying unless it falls in my lap.

Let’s see, not first captain gig, don’t need it for my ego, don’t post to social media about aviation, what else

Vast majority of new hires at AA have left seat experience or fighter pilots… the idea that they need to upgrade for ego boost is comical…