Ouch. 5 year upgrade ain't bad. 10 years? Wow

 

Haha. I would argue AA is even more of a dumpster fire.

 

It's **** advice. Ignore it. You'll fly whatever you want to fly, including WBA. Whether you'll want it that late in your career or not is another question.

The obsession over some of this stuff is tiring.

 

I may not have a choice but to go somewhere else when SWA shrinks to profitability.

 

No one can say if they've made the "correct" career decisions in this business until they look back after retirement anyway.

No guarantees, only good days on the job with amazing views out the window.

 

You'd be fine coming over, some folks like to play the "you missed the boat!" game so they can feel they timed it perfectly. As others said, we just don't know. I went from a major to DL and it was an excellent move for me. Good luck on your choices and if you come over here, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

 

What this person said. First of all: comparison is the thief of joy. Some guys timed it nicely but we can't control that. Some people didn't do anything other than aviation prior to their airline careers and it shows. Some of us can't or couldn't control that. These same folks want to make it sound like they're special for having gotten lucky timing, when in reality your career earnings will generally be comparable.

Can you drive to work at Delta? Will the paychecks show? Great. Enjoy the long career and don't look back. "You'll be junior to X people hired since YYYY year" is the crap that people say to justify staying at their non-legacy employer (like my own), and hell - no shame in that! Those are good places to work. And I understand why folks choose not to move on, sometimes. But don't let their personal fears or decisions sway your own. A 34 year legacy career is insane. Yeah you won't do 15 years of WBA flying, you'll still earn a good living. Upgrade times on widget show about 8 years to jr upgrade but that assumes no growth. Sure some 25 year old nepo hire in 2021 got to upgrade in a year..so what? So should all the mil guys in their mid-upper 30s give up because they wont have the golden ticket to 10+ years in WBA?

I'm so tired of this mentality from people online. You and I are similar ages.. I used to stress about what I'd retire at at one of the legacies, I simply don't care anymore. The pay will be more than fine, the stability hopefully there, and I'll be able to drive to work in one of the two or three cities I'd love to live in. Seems like that should be enough.

 

All I know is this: you may or may not make it to WBA at DL, but you 100% won’t at WN…

 

Excellent advice. The choice between NBA and WBB also has value. WBA doesn't have to be the end state.

 

I'm at UA and sit reserve by choice. I've flown 1 trip in the last 2 months. I average 1 trip a month. SFO and other base are probably different, but right now I get paid to pretty much do anything BUT fly while I credit 85-90 picking up short calls.