BlueMoon

Out of curiosity, How many AA pilots have been hired in the last 2.5 years compared to the total size of the AA pilot group? I know they have a lot of flow agreements, so their off the street hiring hasn't been as large as other companies.

UnusualAttitude

Someone posted about this recently who lived in an AA hub and my advice was that it would be hard to turn down living in base. I would say the same thing to you quite honestly. If you live in MEM and you see yourself living in MEM for the next 25+ years then I would 100% come to FDX. Living in MEM at Purple allows a lifestyle that’s probably in practice a 10-15% seniority bump. I know it seems hard to walk away but unless you plan to move to a fortress hub (DFW being the only true fortress hub at AA) I would make the jump to purple. It’s the guys who live in MEM and bid RB who have the sweetest gig of all. Very little night flying, lots of free days off at home and a 20 minute drive to the O&B lot. Instructor jobs are very lucrative if you live in town, kind of harder for commuters, project pilot types, etc. America may run on Dunkin but Purple runs on MEM locals.

Whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck.

-UA

Otterbox

You’ll be able to drive to work and upgrade to CA within 2 years at FEDEX if you chose to do so...

Sounds like a no brainer.

Also, of that 1000 pilots, it’s really only the ones hired younger than you that will hinder your climb toward the top of the seniority list.

ckap130

QOL is different for everyone but it usually involves # of days off, money, and/or schedule flexibility in no particular order.

All of those things are dramatically improved when you live in domicile. Pick the company that has a domicile you can live with, move there, and live happily ever after.

sherpster

YOU ARE CRAZY TO NOT GO TO FEDEX

Signed, AA pilot

redbaronahp

I don’t want to give you incorrect info but this year just over 900 will be hired and this year is more than last which was more than the year before that. The hiring window opened for AA in Oct 2013 and hiring is accelerating towards the peak retirements which like every other airline seems to peak around 2023. The hiring last year was roughly half flows and half off the street. Of the street hires most were military with other airline civilians only accounting for about 10% of total hiring. I was incredibly lucky to get hired off the street.

I love flying the A320 for AA and I would have great career here, but...

FedEx is the stronger company. I’ve always wanted FedEx. I live in MEM. More time with family. A better contract that makes scheduling much more flexible. I could go on. I wouldn’t have interviewed if I didn’t want the job.

I still look over in awe at the hub as I drive by to begin my commute.

FedEx has always been the goal.

viper548

AA has hired about 3500 out of 15,000 in the past 5 years.


You would have a great career at AA retiring at 3%, especially with how quickly you'll get into the upper half of the list. You'll have an even better career living in base. Even an easy commute adds about 21 days away from home per year, just commuting to and from work (losing 5 hours each commute). I couldn't imagine living in base of a top tier airline and passing on a job offer, especially with how little you have invested at AA. Congrats on your dream job!

EMBskillz

Gawd that’s a dumb screen name.

mainlineAF

These threads are so dumb and always turn into massive wang measuring contests.

If someone has gotten to the point in their aviation career where they actually have job offers from both FDX and AA and they can’t assess the pros and cons of each to make a well-informed decision on their own then idk what to tell them.

You really can’t go wrong. You’ll make lots of money and have a better job than 95% of the population at either.

mainlineAF

This is good stuff. I would add that MIA is pretty fortress-y for AA also.