I agree with this post as it relates to AA for the past 15 years under THE WORST MANAGEMENT EVER.

That said - with a management change, AA is a golden opportunity and has the potential to become Delta-like. With the chances of a merger inside of BK becoming higher every day, and a management change that goes along with that - I believe AA will become a kick-arse place to work within the next few years.

I hope I'm right. Regardless, the day AA announces hiring, they will be SWAMPED with applications.

Again I agree but the management teams seem to tout at Airways, Dal, UAL, etc. that they had 8,000 plus applicants apply..... I just don't see that as the case as many apply everywh and wonder how many total qualified applicants there are? I'd wager well under 15k? ..... AA and UAL will be battling this year with Fedex and SWA for the best out there but I think it'll be a matter of when the real applicant pool dwindle and quality becomes an issue.......

Had a Fed on the jumpseat. He stated fewer than 300 pilots nation wide earned commercial in 2011.

Fed had no clue what he was talking about. FAA posts the number of people getting licenses/ratings -

US Civil Airmen Statistics


Almost every military pilot gets there commercial/instrument. That's a couple thousand right there.

Pan Am?
Braniff?
Eastern?
Lorenzo?
People's Express?
New York Air?

I'm sure Riddle alone does that. So much for feds.

Hmmmm I bet it's somewhere in between..... No way the numbers on that website are for one year only.... Also it doesn't show foreign students etc breakdown..... I'd wager to say a fed might have a better clue then you and I.......

I would say AA's management labor relations was very poor, but until Carty became CEO, their business acumen (under Crandall) was not bad... if anything, they knew the airline world. Unfortunately, that meant hosing employees to get to where they wanted to go.

So you have to look at "bad management" as it relates to two things:

1) labor relations, pay, a "great place to work"
2) Running an airline, outcompeting, understanding routes, yields, etc.

USAIR early 2000's?
UAL? Almost anytime?

Many airlines never reach their 'potential', my friend. Time will tell.

Slice - I standby what I said. You can add AA to that list of airlines. With this current management staying in place, we'll be yet another casualty of deregulation within a few years.

757200ER - agreed. Like I said, I **HOPE** they take advantage of the potential.

What's the best way to stay under radar and avoid flying on rsv at AA?

Strange question. Your avitar shows you flying for Piedmont.
I guess to answer your question, get as many people below you as you can on any airplane.
They the company can't implement all it wants so fast in regards to the new reserve system due to the antiquated computer system it uses.
PBS cannot be implemented any sooner than Feb 2014. They want to use a reserve scoring system, yet they have no progress yet using the old programming.
Currently we are pay protected, but the computer programming is not updated yet.
As with any airline get hired at the beginning of the hiring spree, is the best way to avoid long term reserve.
Good luck to all. If American has a base you want to live at, by all means apply. If you intend to commute, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
Remember everything at this airline is sub-standard to Delta and United! Everything.
The only thing about reserve here is if there is more than one trip when they call you on reserve you get to pick, for now. This may may not go away. Also, we have the ability to pass on reserve. Most of the time your will not be able to pass. This may or may not be minimized when switching to the new scoring system.
Good luck to all. But please contact and speak at length to an AA pilot before you decide if AA fills your needs as a prospective employer.
I cannot recommend working here when compared to UAL or DAL or SWA or FedEx or UPS.
Sincerely,
7576

It may not be my choice if I work for AA some day! Lol

Something to consider ....
According to the US Air NAC, if the MOU passes and the merger becomes reality the only things that will happen right away are pay increases for US Air and the DC going to 14%. Everything else wil happen in time.
The reserve system for the "new" American under PBS would be an item to materialize later rather than sooner. If fact, scheduling for a merged airline under a new PBS system will require some time and some work to materialize.
Long story short, I was told to expect a melded reserve system when the dust settles allowing for biddable long call and short call. Hopes are for a seniority system under PBS for a choice of a 12 hour long call monthly assignment or a window based short call. For some reserve pilots, this may allow them to be long call from home and commute in once notified, if the seniority will allow.
This item is currently and item on the table for negotiators to get to ... some day.

Is it possible to drop reserve days if staffing permits? Is it done through scheduling requests or you pretty much have to do a PO dance for the CP? What are the chances of dropping say 5 days of reserve a month?

Any answers will be appreciated.

Five days? Almost zero. With manning easy you'll get them. Burn next year's vacation days works in the company's favor. With manning tight it takes a major reason to get the additional days off. Asking in October of January has better odds then asking around holidays or the summer.

Standard advice, for decades, to include CP's - if you need the day off don't ask, dont' check, just bang in sick. CP "that's what sick days are for."

Needless to say mgt doesn't like that quote.

If you'd like the day off, but don't need it, go ahead and ask.

And don't bang in sick and then non-rev, or get in the newspaper doing manly things that day, or fly in the reserves(all true). It can have career altering implications.

I don't work at AA but I bet I can answer this question.

Thanks for the answers, I think I read in the PBS section of your contract that dropping of trips will be approved automatically if staffing permits through the to be implemented system, but it did not address reserve days.

The current system as it stands, you would need to sent a message to CS and they look at the staffing manually and then approve or deny the drop correct?

As far as borrowing from next year's vacation days to cover a dropped reserve days, it doesn't sound advisable. Can one just drop a reserve day like they do a trip and just have them deduct the time from your line guarantee, basically take it unpaid?

Feng

You ask the flight office. They contact Crew Skd and they review the manning situation.

Dropped days automatically gets replaced by vacation days from next year. But a vacation day is worth :48 less than a reserve day. If you have vacation hours left in this year they subtract 48 minutes per day dropped. If you don't have any vacation hours left from this year your guarantee drops by 48 minutes. That's my understanding of the system which might be wrong.

If you don't want to use vacation days you can call the pay folks and ask that your guarantee gets reduced instead.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.