How do I put this gently…..you’d be crazy to pick SWA over AA given the current circumstances. Okay, back to being humble and shy.

I would like to see SWA FO earnings per day worked vs AA or UA NB CA earnings per day worked/on reserve, including the SWA 20% NEC vs the 17 or 18% that the legacy guys get. I bet those numbers are closer than most think.

lol, why do SWA guys get so offended when you try to say a Legacy Captain earns more than an SWA FO?

No offense, but you have been spouting this since I was hired, and we have done just fine. The airline is still here, it's actually making the changes you long sought it to make, and yet here you are once again trying to turn people away. At some point, admit that you hate it here and that you were acquired against your will, which is the reason for this. There are a ton of reasons one would choose WN over AA, just as there are reasons for the opposite, and your comment is short-sighted at best, arguably deceitful at worst.

I don't think that we are offended, but when someone is asking for an opinion on which airline to go with and upgrade times are tossed out, therefore more money, it is helpful to understand days worked/pay earned in each seat, plus QoL.

So SWA FOs make more money then Legacy Captains?

I think you misread my post. I'm not an SWA guy, and I wouldn't be shocked if SWA FO earnings are on track with NB CA earnings at a legacy.

That is not saying much. Any Legacy FO who hustles can make as much as a Legacy CA who just works min guarantee, SWA is not a special case. So I ask again, does a SWA FO make as much as Legacy CAs? I am learning something new today.

Okay… I’d like to see the average earnings per day worked of a group of hustling legacy FOs at say 80% seat seniority vs a group of hustling SWA FOs at the same seat seniority. Is it the same? Or is there a notable difference? I would not be surprised to see a difference.

At the beginning of '24 I had a similar dilemma as the OP. I had CJOs and class dates at SWA, AA, and UAL (admittedly UAL was my first choice since I live in SFO.) I eventually went to UAL, but if I hadn't had the UAL option, it would have come down to SWA vs. AA. It was a tough decision that I ended up not actually having to make, because United hired me.

I showed up for the SWA class since it was 5 weeks before my AA class. Then SWA cancelled all remaining classes, which made it obvious we'd all be at the bottom of the SWA list for quite a while.

The challenge, as we all know, is how quickly things change in this business. Today's ultimate destination career choice can become tomorrow's stagnant, shrinking airline almost overnight. We all have to make assumptions about the future that are often just wild guesses. Like the UAL guys who left for FedEx during covid, as just one example.

My choice between SWA and AA would have been a tough one, since I'd have been a lifetime commuter at AA, but I live close to OAK. I assumed that at SWA I'd get OAK out of training and probably upgrade in 8-ish years, while at AA I'd get a much quicker upgrade but have to commute to LAX for the rest of my career. SWA definitely seemed like a better cultural fit (by far). So based on those assumptions, it was a tough call.

Those assumptions, however, were not entirely correct. All of us in my SWA class got BWI or MCO out of training; we had west coast folks who assumed they'd get OAK. Everyone in my class is still at the bottom of the list and is commuting to reserve in BWI or MCO. If I had stayed at SWA and turned down AA, and United hadn't called, I'd really be regretting my decision right now. A transcon commute to short call reserve, with no end in sight (especially given the 2025 displacements) would be utterly miserable.

If I were the OP, I would go to AA. Simply because the seniority progression is going to be so much better. Then again, that's an assumption based on historical data, which may or may not be the case going forward. But I don't see too many scenarios in which AA's progression slows to match where SWA is at currently. A major recession might do it, I guess.

Just one pilot's viewpoint...