Driving 2:30-3:00 each way is not rational.

That is like living in Orlando and being based in Miami, that’s not “living in base”.

I suspect you would be surprised by just how many people regularly drive 2.5-3 hours to their domicile. And consider it easy.

And for the record, the average American spends over 4 hours a week commuting. So 5-6 hours per week is by no means an outlier, which was your original assertion.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/study-states-with-the-longest-and-shortest-commutes.html

Getting back on topic, to the OP: Go to Delta. I've yet to meet an American pilot who is happy there. That kind of low morale can really taint a career.

My drive to JFK is in that range (sometimes longer.)

It beats commuting by plane (or living in NYC.)

I have no complaints.

Or just don't work for an airline with huge junior domiciles in the lovely NE. My commute is a 10 minute uber ride door to door (15 with traffic) and I live at the beach.

Boom.

I count "living in base" as being able to comfortably sit reserve at home (ie unwashed and unshaven), and able to jump on pop-up premium trips with less than two hours notice. Also do local trips without wasting $ on a hotel.

Commuting by car (one - three hours) is not living in base, but it sure beats almost any commute by air. If for no other reason than you can ALWAYS go home at the end of a trip, your car never, ever leaves without you if you're late.

Driving longer than three hours would get real old real fast, unless you're in the middle of nowhere and do it all on cruise control. Also problematic for early shows, at some point you'd be leaving for work shortly after your bedtime.

I love my airline. Too each his own. Boom.

If I was offered the ability to drive 3 hours to work, I'd take it in a heartbeat. And I have a pretty good air commute as far as air commutes go.

Lemme guess......Hoboken? Mr Booker said it's a real nice place to live....

Since you interviewed at both carriers, which one felt more like “home?” Did one feel more like a better fit for you than the other?

I’d figure the answer out to that first and then consider the commute situation. I’m probably in the extreme minority when I say commuting does have its advantages in some situations. The biggest is if you know your family would be happier somewhere other than the base(s) your airline has. For some families it’s best not to uproot and move to base. I also believe 2-3 drive isn’t bad at all if you ultimately choose Delta. That can give you some “me” time before and after work.

Good luck with your decision.


GP

I mean, just a quick browse of the recent threads in the respective sub forums would answer my question.

AA Thread 1

AA Thread 2

DL Thread 1

DL Thread 2

Dumpster fire vs Firing on all cylinders is how I see it.

Delta reserve is long call, with a 12 hr callout, which can be escalated to short call 6 times per month. For most reserves it is closer to 3-4 on the high end. Short call rule is "promptly available" which is generally understood to be around 2 hrs in most domiciles in normal traffic, there is no hard specified time.

A 3 hr drive would be pushing it for short call to the tune of probably wanting to find a quiet place to sit partway to Atlanta, but for the most part reserve would be at home unless actually flying.

Clearly the answer is in your back yard, AA. Why do you have doubt???

I would say AA; drive to work, seniority. Delta is the better company and probably will be for awhile... but driving to work is the best.

Not the safest thing to fly a red eye and then jump in the car and drive 3hrs home.

I have a buddy at AA who lives in base. Every time I talk to him he tells me he'd be gone yesterday if he could take his seniority with him.

Valid point. But probably not too safe to drive three hours for a late sign in and fly a red-eye, but lots of people do that too

Because AA is not as solid as Delta??? :rolleyes:

That's saying a lot when you can drive to work...

I’m sure there’s plenty of people who would leave their company if they could take their seniority with them.

AA has its issues for sure, but the fundamentals are solid and a turn around is pretty much inevitable.

The grass is always greener.

I don’t think I’m your buddy but that description fits me perfectly. The seniority picture being what it is, I think it’s too late to start over somewhere else, but I do regret not pursuing Delta or even FedEx after I was hired here.

Yep. And he's 15-30 mins to the lot depending on traffic. Pretty telling if you ask me.

If I had done that, I'd still be at AAL. Their nterview was ridiculously more welcoming than DALs interview. However, neither interview accurately reflected my experiences with each company. My decision to come to DAL was almost exclusively based on the fact that I could sit short call from my house. I'm even more thankful now that I'm on a WB, as it gives me a ridiculous amount of extra days at home when I bid reserve.

Delta without a question. They are in a way better financial position long term vs. AA.

^^ This, plus Delta actually interviews and screens the pilots being brought in.

https://www.inc.com/chris-matyszczyk...fer-delta.html

There’s also better vision at Delta

This made me laugh hysterically. Screening for what? Have you flown with some of these guys. It’s no different than any other airline, the process doesn’t weed out the douche nozzles

a job is a job. At the end of the day it's really just about the paycheck and time off. If you pick a company based on how much the "customers like it" then your priorities are out of wack.

The shear audacity of that statement made me laugh. You really think that the success of a company doesn't have anything to do with the customer experience and that your paycheck and time off have nothing to do with the success of a company?

And no, it's not just that "a job is a job." I've worked jobs where I absolutely hated going to work and ones where I enjoyed being at work. That is a tremendous difference in quality of life just based on how you feel. And that's not even touching on employee relations.

You do sound like you would be right at home in AA management though.

I’m curious where the big 3 will be in 10 years. Culture and contracts can change fairly quickly. UAL seems to have had a big culture change in the past few years. Hope AA can do the same. Forecasting a 20,30 even 40 year career with today’s information is a long shot. Like others have said... you’re in a great position.

Re-read what I said.
At the end of the day the most important things in a company and your job should be YOU. How much money will YOU make, how good of a job is it for YOU. I roll my eyes when I hear pilots whine about how disappointed they are in the "product" or something along those lines. You need to let the people who's job it is to worry that worry about that and fly the plane.

Slaphappy is right. Over the course of your career airline culture and products will change. Don't even worry about it. Just go to work, get paid, go home. Pick the first legacy that calls. Only consider leaving if you absolutely don't want to move and within the first year or two you get hired by a legacy who has a major domicile in your city (even that is risky though).

Not screening applicants is a surefire way to attract all the yahoos who are unhireable everywhere else. Every regional seems to have a 5-10% population of them. Cat ranchers, the people who make really mundane decisions into overly complicated messes, people who cant pass training without handholding, poor decision makers... that is not who you want to be sharing a cockpit with. Especially with a poor management culture where they are probably going to make rules to reign in the lowest common denominator. One kid poops and everyone has to wear a diaper. I would be worried about where American has been and will be sourcing your coworkers. The delta interview process wasn't fun but was definitely thorough.

and we don't have those problems at Delta. LOL !!!:confused:

I was thinking the same. We've got a lot of great people here at Delta but make no mistake; we DEFINITELY have our share of weirdos/10 percenters/oddballs/etc too. What's that saying...? "If you don't know who 'that guy' is, it's probably...YOU!" If you don't think we have weirdos at Delta, maybe take a peak in the mirror! :eek:

I have been at AA for 18 months and I am happy here. It was my first pick due to domiciles (desire to live near DFW) and type of flying (ability to do wide body OR avoid backside of the clock flying... you can't do both!).

After 18 months, I'm 55% in base (not DFW) and holding a good line. I fly 13-15 days a month, mostly two legs a day. The captains I've flown with have, to a person, been good people and competent leaders and aviators. Training was good and I have no real complaints. Sure there are always things that could be better... and they will get better. If you spend your whole career focusing on what you DON'T like then you will never be satisfied.

All that to say to the OP: don't over-think it. You will have a good career at any of these carriers. Take the first call you get and, if one offers a chance to get based where you want to live, jump on it.

I think there is a tradition of complaining and *****ing amongst AA pilots (guilty of it myself). Life is veeery good. High 20% in a senior base usually 1 or 2 legs a day (been 6+ months since a 3 leg day) making real good money. Always room for improvement but life is good.

I agree, I’m happy here (of course I want some QWL improvements). Nameuser mentioned that we (AA) have more negative threads. I believe that is from the history of the group. A lot of folks here have been kicked in the junk during their career. Most would candidly admit that things are pretty good right now, when you look at the big picture. And Im referring to the “job” not AA’s operation, the operation is a CF...but I don’t let that bother me on a personal level.

We have a lot of Delta and SWA Fanboy’s on our internal forum, but I’m pretty sure most of them would be unhappy at DAL and especially SWA as well (SWA because AA guys want to make SWA money without working as hard as SWA pilots).

^^^ agree with both posts above.

Just about 20 years at AA so far and life is pretty dang good. Yeah we’ve got a lot of work to do with the contract but a turnaround will happen. Finally in the left seat holding a good line driving to work in base... doesn’t get much better than that.

This is like asking which bear is best and there are several schools of thought on the matter.

1. Is there a hyper loop to your domicile from your residence?

2. If not, then you should live in domicile at AA

Optional step 3: while working at AA, buy stocks at Delta, and then it’s kind of like you are enjoying the best of both worlds.

4. Stop being average.