Hey all, hope to get some good intel here. Im 55, former 121 regional (Comair) and freight guy (Airborne/DHL, ATI) left industry in 2013 for 8 years, last 3.5 years been flying 135 for a great company. Check airman, about 10k TT, 4-5000 TPIC, B767, DC9, 6 total types. To be blunt I have not done a good job of planning for retirement and am gathering info on a potential jump back into 121, almost exclusively for the 401k boost/grow retirement. For QOL, I probably would not bid a CA position(?).

A couple questions to those in the know:

1. What is a reasonable estimated first year income at any of the legacies right now?
2. Of the legacies, which would make the most $ over the next 10 years?

Any other points of interest that I should consider?

Really appreciate any and all insight you might have!!!

 

All of the legacies have the same pay rates, to the penny. For 2025, that means first year pay is $120.69/hour (which is generally agreed as translating to roughly $120,000/first year, plus 401k). Year 2 jumps to between $170-190/hour depending on fleet. How much extra 'soft pay' is available in the various contracts, via schedule manipulation/pickups/etc is almost impossible to guage. Premium opportunities exist at all of them, but even those will vary within a single legacy from season to season. All that is to say, I'm not sure there is much milage to be gained from trying to discriminate on that issue. In essence, they are all (essentially) the same these days.

I'm a DL guy, and right now we seem to be on top for soft pay and Profit sharing. But UA is charging hard, so who knows what 10 years will bring? A lot can change. FWIW, (I belive all) currently have 17% additional, on top of all other pay added to your 401k; starting 1/1/26 DL will be 18% (I belive UA/AA too, but not sure on effective date). Last year, DL was just over 10% Profit sharing. Profit Sharing is also 'pensionable', meaning it will get +18% also.

If it were me, I'd keep my apps updated at all the big-3 legacies plus WN, and go to the first one that hires you. If you are living in (or willing to move to) a base for a different legacy, consider leaving at that time if offered a CJO. As you may know, driving to work is a huge discriminator for the vast majority.

Best of luck!

 

Yes, at age 55 you should be able to bank a bunch of cash by jumping to a legacy.

Exact amount as Fangs said depends on contractual nuances, and relative seniority and availability of flying in specific base and seat.

But in this climate you might not get multiple CJO's in short order, might have to take the first one that calls. If you do have a choice, and are geo-flexible obviously take the one that has a junior base that you're willing or prefer to live in. You can always make more if you live in base and can pick up and trade last-minute.

 

$120-150k
Delta, then United most likely.

 

I'd be asking about where the junior bases are and where you can move to in order to not commute or where the least painful commute to a junior base is. Bonus if you live in a junior base which also has opportunities at the training center local to you where you can pick up training events and make a bit of extra money.

 

Thanks a ton for the info...a lot to consider.

Unfortunately life is dictating that a move from KPIT is not possible. What are your opinions on the best bases to commute to from PIT?

 

United has a CLE base. Maybe a UA guy/gal can chime in with its stability. Otherwise, i would think NYC/EWR (where all 3 legacies have a base) would be the easiest commute. Passrider.com is a decent resource for flights, but I think PIT is all RJ's.

 

CLE based 737 pilot at United and drive to work.

 

Or, depending on which side of PIT, DCA is potentially drivable given an 18 hour long call...