crewdawg

As a guy who left AAL for DAL, I'll add my worthless 2 cents on this issue. Leaving AAL was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make. But ultimately, the lure of being home based for my Airline and Guard gig won out. Being home based aside, my QOL improved significantly when I came to DAL. More money, more time home and way better work rules.

As far as seniority progression, it looks great for the AAL guys. However, once I got to DAL, I compared the numbers and it wasn't as dramatic as I thought. For the first 15 years, I progress much faster at DAL. From 16-20, it's pretty comparable, then from 21-34 years AAL wins out. The percentage difference wasn't as crazy as I thought but AAL was the clear winner. If my goal was to be a 777 CA for the longest amount of time, then I should have stayed at AAL. But it's really splitting hairs...at DAL (if nothing changed...that's a big if) I could be a WB Capt for almost 2 decades at DAL. On the opposite end of the spectrum at DAL, I could have held NB Capt or WB FO at the 14 month mark.

Someone brought up a point that can't be discounted. As a late 2014 hire, I already have 2,300 numbers below me on the list. I'm not sure how many numbers would be below me at AAL, but it can't be ignored. In that sense, AAL may provide a much faster progression.

Some other things that worried me at AAL were APA, integration of all the seniority lists and AALs debt. I actually had numerous guys at the school house (not instructors) tell me to leave if hired anywhere else.

All that said, if I had lived in an AAL base I would have stayed at AAL. Feel free to PM me if anyone has questions.

SilverandSore

I didn't want to go crazy negative and get dismissed out of hand!

LuckyNow

Can someone highlight exactly how our work rules are so inferior? I mean, I understand the slash trip thing is annoying and needs to be corrected. I complain about it vehemently when it affects me. But comparing our work rules to a regional seems disingenuous to me. So, what is it about our work rules that you find so lackluster in comparison to other airlines? I ask this not because I'm sticking up for our JCBA or APA, but rather wanting to know what it is that you want improved.

crewdawg

I recently talked to some of my AAL classmates that have stated that many of the work rules were better at Eagle. I'll share the improvements, off the top of my head that I noted after going to DAL. My info is based off of the CBA that was in place in 2014 (except the pay bullet). Forgive me if some things have been corrected on the new

Reserve
-Min 12 days off (usually 13-15).
-Can't be used day 1 until 1000...can be as late as 1200 with a commute clause.
-All reserve is long call unless converted to short call (usually 3ish a month).
-3-4 day reserve blocks are my standard...some months I put them all straight (requiring a min of 2 of my reserve days off for rest).
-I can put a 1 day block of reserve on the 1st or last day of the month (read...low likelihood of being called).
-Rolling thunder can be EXTREMELY lucrative. If you've never heard of it, essentially you make way over guarantee and sit little to no days of reserve.
-Reserve is pretty nice and can be very senior sometimes.
-Released at noon on the last day of a reserve block.

Pay
-I made way more year 2 at DAL on the 737, than I would have on the 75/76 at AAL.
-Our 3 days are worth 15.45 minimum...at AAL I flew a 3 day worth 9-10 hours.
-Overtime is paid at 200%...with plenty to go around.
-Get paid when the company buys my trip for OE...many guys pick up trips over the original trips footprint and get paid 2x or 3x if it''s a greenslip. My buddy is pretty senior in his seat and is averaging 120ish hours/month, with very few days worked.

Commuting
-Once I reserve the jumpsuit its mine...this is FAR superior to AALs JS policy. At AAL I had a dude show up 15 min prior and kick me off the last JS out of town that night. I was trying to get home and he was going to a bachelor party...
-Commuting to/from work gets first shot at the JS (window to schedule opens a few days prior to everyone else).
-Unable to commute is pretty nice...can't remember what AAL had.
-I can use a commute clause to not be used until noon on day 1 off a reserve block.

Schedule
-Average 16-19 days off on a NB.
-Tons of resources to drop, swap and trade trips.
-Was able to hold a line month 2 on the line.
-Never held a line at AAL so I can't really compare them.




Not necessarily work rules but another thing that isn't right is the DOH stuff. Recently talked with a few of my classmates and amazed at what's going down. Our class was one of the first to have USAir hired guys in INDOC. Their seniority started day 1 of indoc...ours started 2-3 months later. After the SLI, that stayed the same. So now there are guys who started indoc on the same day (as one class, post SOC), but the AAL guys don't jump to the next years pay until 2-3 months after the USAir guys. A few of my buddies brought it up to APA and they basically told them to pound sand...we aren't going to fight this. That is extremely screwed up and if I were there, I would explore a DFR suit against APA.

Sliceback

How about the comparison to a regional?

New hires tell me that complaint is ridiculous. It actually irritates them because it diminishes how bad some of their regional work rules were.

I've got the Air Wisconsin contract sent to me. Supposed to be a good one. It's worse than AA's.

Mover

I'm new to the company, but I thought you could reserve the JS 7 days prior and could only be bumped by a Fed/SS/etc

Arado 234

Or you're just trying to be realistic! The feedback I get while j/s or flying the line is similar. APA has done horribly.

Glass half full or half empty? Again, MY experience tilts to the negative side.

TOGAANG

You can reserve it 7 days out but someone senior can bump you up until 5 days out. Once inside of 5 days it is yours and no one senior can take it. It's great if you are junior but bad if you are senior. Just plan ahead and reserve it early and give yourself at least two commutes to get there.

Hueypilot

I was hired at AA (LUS) in February 2014. Last I checked, there were about 1,300 pilots under me on our seniority list. I'm sure that's probably grown to closer to 1,500 since then. But still not as good as a late 2014 hire with 2,300 under you.

andrewtac

Since when? And how do they bump you? I am almost positive once you reserve it, it is yours regardless of how junior you are.