United CJO vs Delta CJO
 

I have been fortunate enough to receive CJO’s from United and Delta. I am trying to make the very difficult decision between the two. I am going to be a commuter to either. Is there a general consensus on which is the brighter looking airline for the future? Pros to Delta seem to be reserve rules, commutability, pay, new contract, 18hr LCR, however I’ve heard cons are that Delta has already hired a lot more than UAL over the past few years and seniority movement would be a lot slower than UAL. Pros to UAL seem to be the amount of wide body international flying they have, rapid growth and seniority movement, quick upgrade, and more retirements and hiring to come. Can anyone touch on these things? I have 40 years left of flying but seniority movement seems to be a lot better at United?

I believe this question gets answered a lot. UAL forum gets this question a lot too. Would recommend using the search function as there have been many others with the same question.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/d...ta-united.html

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/d...094-ua-da.html

Why don’t you borrow a uniform from a buddy at each airline and see which one you look better in?

Seriously though, the elephant in the room here is the fact you’ll be commuting for 40 years? How can you be so tied down at 25 years old? What about the possibility of moving to a base. Or pick the airline who has the base you could see yourself moving to if commuting just got too crazy.

Not going to live in base? Delta reserve and commuters rules are way better than United’s. If you’re commuting to both, the only way I’d say go to United is just to get into class at a legacy while you waited for Delta.

If you commute, I think UAL has a seniority based JS, in that you can get bumped at the last minute by a senior pilot for whatever reasons (UAL guys correct me if I'm wrong). At DAL, once you book the seat, it's yours unless you get bumped off by a Fed or a Checkairman, and if you're going to work, you get positive space in the back.

I've commuted, off and on, my whole career, and having that seat booked for sure is a huge stress saver. Knowing you could get bumped at any time for reasons, would be a real drag.

Yes, Delta has hired a ton since 2014. The good news is not like the 1980s where everyone hired was in their late 20s or early 30s. Every class has a pretty good demographic spread, so there will always be some movement, but it's not going to be crazy high like AMR or UAL.

If you've got 40 years left, seriously consider moving to base. You'll have MUCH less stress, spend less money, have more opportunity and local pilots can kill it with extra flying. You no doubt add some years to the end of your life avoiding the stress.

Most of the MEC updates I’ve seen recently has shown the average age of new hires in the mid 30 range. So for every 20 something there’s a 40-50 something to average it out. So it’s not a straight lineal progression.

1) this is like asking in 1983 which airline would be best for the 21st century. It’s likely to be a smoother ride but nobody knows

2) the single greatest choice YOU control that will vastly improve your qol is moving to a base that won’t ever close (think atl not slc, ewr not mco)

Thanks for sharing those. I was actually trying to search and found some but those are helpful as well. Thank you

These are all helpful things to consider. I get it that its not a black and white question and that the easy answer is move to a base, but thats not going to happen which is why I'm seeking realistic advice from anyone. These are all helpful things to consider. Is it true that widebody international flying trips (such as at UAL) are more commutable? I'm trying to weigh my two biggest pros I have at United (high number of WB flying, and tons of hiring and retiring to still do), with the biggest pros at Delta (reserve rules, commutability). I'm leaning towards Delta due to those things (and I like the company), however wonder if its true how much faster seniority progression will be at UAL and if it even matters or is comparable.

I get what you're saying, but SLC seems to have reached critical mass. Would it close before ATL closes? Theoretically yeah, of course. But if SLC closes in 90+% of circumstances that would happen in, we'd be in big trouble anyway.