So have you made a decision yet?

If it was me I would go AA. Delta has been hiring a massive amount of pilots over the last 4 years. AA is just starting to ramp up. Over 7,000 retirements in the next 10 years at AA.

Yes, I went with AA. It was a really tough call to make but for my long term plans AA's bases and number of retirements played a big factor. I'm optimistic the contract differences will average out over the years and know that either airline is going to be a great place to work. I really do appreciate everyone's input in this thread.

Congratulations......

Good decision

Congrats.

Wind check?

Thread bump.

I have found myself in the same position as the OP. AA vs DAL.

I am a commuter to both airlines as I will not be moving to a domicile.

Can someone give any insight into where seniority numbers lie for each airline, specifically:

1. Junior WB FO

2. Junior NB CA 737/A320/1 (I'd prefer to exclude the 190/MD-80/88 since they're going away for both airlines)

3. Junior WB CA

Thanks in advance.

As an AA guy, there are a lot of "if's" with that request. We haven't hit the massive movement for retirements yet, but even in the last bid run, it looks like it's happening. Widebody CA was stagnant forever, and then "boom" it moves 500+ numbers junior in 1 bid. WB FO? Again, a lot of stuff hitting now. Former USAir CLT and PHL CA slots are senior as ####. When that hits along with the 787 replacement, it tends to drive stuff real junior. There is another dynamic. IF the CA job ends up going real junior, does it suck or is the FO job that good? Could be a premium/green slip pay issue or a suck CA reserve job.

Wish I had the crystal ball. Trying to pick the right horse is a choice with some risk. In 1990 I sat at 2am with a fellow FE newhire who was junior to me and 30 years older. Shaking his head, he said, "Yup, 1966, I had 3 job offers, Delta, American and Branniff".

If there was a APC message board in 1990, 98.5% of the posts would have told me to ditch UPS go to AA.

Good luck with your choice. Not sure how I would I handle a 200# at Brown vs my current number equal to the GDP of 1/2 the worlds nations. :D

1) Why did 1990 classmate pick Branniff ?
2) Was this 1990 class UPS or AAL ? (AAL actually hired a 55 plus guy?)

3) Not sure if you went to UPS first, then left for AAL, or if you had simultaneous offers from both. Either way, I think you'd handle having a low 3 digit number at UPS quite well. I also recognize that not everyone is willing to wade through the horse manure for the possibility of green grass either.

I think that was in 1966...

Grammar/reading comprehension Nazi time.

1) Read 2nd sentence, 2nd paragraph in my quote which begins "In 1990 I sat at 2am with a fellow FE..."
2) In 1966, fellow FE had 3 job offers from Delta, American, and Braniff. (Dang, I wasn't quick enough to edit original BNF spelling error.)

Delta. 14,6xx pilots on the list.

1. 11,8xx DTW 330

2. 11,9xx NYC 320

3. 2,7xx A330 NYC

American-

Looks like 14,981 is the junior FO (190PHL).

1)PHL 330FO 11,9XX. LGA 777FO 11,7XX
2)LGA 737 CA 11,084
3)LGA/MIA 777 CA +- 3,000

Ar/Laker, thank you, much appreciated.

Based on Delta hiring 4000+ over the last 4 years, I would think AA would offer you better movement. However, if you are going to be a career commuter, I would also look at commutes from where you live. Delta allows you to book a Jumpseat 6 days prior going to work and 4 days prior going home. To me, knowing I have a seat to work that far in advance is a huge QOL boost for me, versus worrying if I’m going to be the first one to the gate to list.

^^ so does American. We also can book the j/s 7 days out.

New guy here trying to learn...

A recent post in the AA section recommended that if you're interested in international flying then you should try to get to Delta or United vs. American. However, these numbers seem to show that's not the case. Seniority numbers for AA and Delta are about the same for wide body FO and CA, but projected turnover at AA means you'd get there faster at AA than at Delta.

In any case, it looks to me like a new hire at AA could be a wide body FO in 3-4 years or a narrow body CA at 4-5 years. Widebody CA is of course harder to predict but it seems to me that a new guy could be getting close in 15 years or so.

Am I interpreting that right?

Thanks...I was not aware...these being equal, I’d probably go AA based on retirements, Deltas 4000+ new hires, and more widebody/international flying.

I’m sure delta has something similar but AA has a great commuter policy. You don’t need a backup flight and your commute does not have to be on company metal. If you miss your flight you simply call scheduling and they take you off the trip.

2 flights at Delta. The second one has to be on DAL or DeltaConnection, you’ll get positive space on it.

For now...

What if you want to go to work? Is there any PS help if you don’t get on the first one?

DFW spoke in the last election. They will speak again as well.

Maybe...you can ask, I’ve heard they will, but I’ve never ops tested this. Our reservation system is a bit different too. Ours is 7 days out no matter what, going to work, home, or vacation. Delta’s prioritizesgoing to work.

Manning’s typically tight. I’ve called CS 2-3x about commuting problems (bumped, cancellations, etc) - “hold on...you’re positive space now.”

No guarantee but they made the decision to give me a seat. I couldn’t GAS if they hadn’t. No harm, no foul, go home. If you’re doing it every trip things might be different.

At AA you cant reserve the jumpseat on American Eagle flights. Not sure how it works at Delta. The AA reservation system doesnt mean much if you live in an RJ city which is most cities outside the hubs.

It’s he same at delta. That can only reserve delta mainline jumpseats.

Being new to the passenger 121 world I am amazed at the amount of RJ flying vs mainline flying. Scope has to be the most important thing for pilots going forward.

Don’t forget about international codeshare. Many of these foreign airlines are 50% widebody because legacy US Airlines farm out our long haul flying.