Which airline to fly for?
 

I will graduate from High School in 2011. Hopefully, I will graduate from college with all my ratings in 2015-2017, depending on if I stay on as a CFI. If I have the hours, which airline should I fly for. Should I go for American, Delta, Continental, etc, or go for the smaller ones like AirTran, Southwest, or Midwest. Or maybe one of the Cargo carriers like UPS, Fedex, etc. Primarily I would like to know which airline has the best benefits, best pay, best routes, most fun, and overall best standard of living?

Best Regards,
Robert

The one that will hire you

What's true today will undoubtedly not be the case when you're ready for a job. Search this board, there's plenty of info for aspiring aviators. Concentrate on doing well in school and having fun with your friend until then.

nevermind I misread the OP

Before you invest $50K into trying to get a flying career, read up on some of the many many posts here about why the airlines suck nowadays. Maybe they'll be better in some years, maybe they won't. I'd look long and hard at the military if I were you (that's what I'm doing!). More interesting mission profiles, more interesting aircraft, they treat you better, etc.

x2

An old pilot once told me that the future of the aviation industry is the next 30 seconds - long term planning is 1 minute ahead. Things change so fast . . . who knows which airlines will be around by then and if they'll be hiring?

You won't be able to go straight to the majors either. You will need to spend some time building up your multiengine and turbine hours, either at a regional, flying freight, maybe some King Air charter if you're lucky. Don't let all the negativity on this site get you down - it can be done!

I appreciate all of the answers, but no one really answered my question. I do plan on flying for a regional airline for a few years, but I'm just curious what major airline is the most pilot-friendly airline.

Best Regards,
Robert

You're obviously un-trainable...fire away boys.:rolleyes:

Decide for yourself. Good luck 'choosing' which one you want to work for.

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines.html

That's twelve years away for you right now. You have plenty of time to figure that one out later.

FYI "pilot-friendly airline" is an oxymoron.:)