Originally Posted by Mythikos (Post 3776031)

Hey all, looking for advice. I know there's no clear answer so i'm just looking for opinions and maybe experiences that can help me decide. I'm a military guy in the fortunate position of having a CJO at both Delta and American Airlines. They both have domiciles I'd love to live near, so i'm mostly torn at the seniority, flying, and benefits portions of each. I know I could progress faster at American, but one of the perks my family is looking for is to travel the world (for free) and Delta has more international trips. On the other hand I'll never advance in seniority at Delta, but they do pay well and all my friends seem to have gone to them. Any sage advice?

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 3776267)

Delta has tended to hire older pilots than American and United so your seniority progression might not be as bad as you think near the end of your career. You will also earn substantially more over a career with the profit sharing at Delta. Delta also has the best disability in the industry. I don't know the specifics of AA's new contract on disability but the prior contract was terrible. You have a 50% or greater chance of ending up on disability over a career.

Originally Posted by thrust (Post 3776284)

AA's LTD is at least on par with Delta's now.

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 3776267)

You have a 50% or greater chance of ending up on disability over a career.

Originally Posted by dmeg13021 (Post 3776359)

You keep saying this, as in “50% of pilots over 60 are on LTD” which is demonstrably false.

Do you mean to more correctly state that 50% of pilots *at some point in their DAL career* will go on LTD for some time period, with most coming back to being fully cleared and flying for the remainder of their career, and some small percentage staying on LTD until retirement?

In UALs most senior category (DEN 787 CA) there are 3/80 that are on LTD. So just wondering if DAL’s industry-leading LTD is so good that it’s making pilots unable to fly.

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 3776476)

When the retirement age was 60 historically half would not make it to that age. That was spot on for my class. Guys get fired, quit, retire early and end up on disability. Based on my projections verses where I retired that number was pretty accurate across the board.