The company runs 4 vacancies per year where you can get any status your seniority can hold. Posted 7 months prior, awards posted 5 months prior, with effective dates within 3 months of the vacancy date. For example, the June vacancy posts in December, with February awards, and effective dates between April-June bid months. You can be awarded a status but get withheld from that status for up to a year (but get paid at that rate) from your effective date. Then in subsequent vacancies, you get released from your current status to your entitled status. So if there’s people withheld from X status, it won’t go to new hires.

The union runs mutual base exchanges each month for identical equipment statuses. You can’t switch equipment, only bases. It can be a bit of a gamble, if you get awarded a base swap in the vacancy, you can’t participate in the mutual base exchanges that could get you there earlier.

Probably missing some details but that’s the jist.

1/21

BOS 737 - 3
DCA 737 - 6
LAX 737 - 5
LGA 737 - 5
MIA 737 - 7
ORD 737 - 5

CLT 320 - 6
MIA 320 - 10
PHL 320 - 9

57 total again, same base and equip distribution as the last two classes.

when awards are posted, if it was something you could have held- and had a preference in to hold- but were ineligible to hold (e.g. seat lock), then you are given an entitlement until you are eligible to hold it in the award date that lines up with your eligibility- as long as you don’t modify your preference that includes the entitlement.

an entitlement right is essentially, you would have gottten the award but for some reason you couldn’t go to the status. Like a seat lock or something. So when ever that seat lock expires you’ll be first to get to that status before a pre award on following vacancy

In most cases yeah but not when a new base opens up. When ORD 320 opened up every vacancy awarded on the FO side was withheld to the max while they pumped new hires in to fill the base up with FOs. The company doesn't like to train NB FO to another NB FO aircraft if it doesn't have to.

The key is seat locks. If a 737 FO is waiting to transition to a 320 FO then the 320 FO spot could go to a new hire even though the senior FO has entitlement.

If a qualified MIA 73 pilot is waiting to get into ORD 73 then no new hires can be placed in that status.

No FO who isn't seat locked is waiting for any narrowbody base currently. So even senior statuses like DFW 320 should be rapidly available to new hires (<6 months) perhaps even before training is complete.

We're back to 2023 advice, bid the airplane you want and the base will come soon after.

Two classes in a row with less than 60. Is this by design? Or are people asking to slide a class? Or perhaps no-shows? Thanks.

Less than 60 new hires per week. Bankruptcy inbound.

No inside information, but probably by design. AA is a large company with a lot of resources and commits quite a bit of it towards base planning/manning.

In todays market (especially at NK for example) if someone cancels 3 or 4 days prior I don’t think they would have a problem filling that slot last minute if they needed too.

I also haven’t been in the schoolhouse for awhile but, there was a point in the not to distant past where guys were waiting 9 months after Indoc for the 737 type. That’s full pay day 1 at home, great for the NH, expensive for the company. I’m sure that weighs heavily on these numbers.

Is 60 a magical number? Last year they were running 40 a class at this time. Numbers are fluid, not foretelling; just as if they ran a class of 63 wouldn’t mean those new 777X orders are about to be announced.