Hi!

I think NJA is great. Unfortunately for me, they didn't hire me. I'll try again in 6 months, if I'm still at my current job, and they'll let me reapply.

If I get a different job, and like it, I'll stay there.

Good luck to you!

cliff
YIP
PS-I WOULD apply at AA if they were hiring.

 

I like the shiny silver paint (or lack of it) so would apply also.

 

You are joking right? I'd hate to think someone was so foolish as to decide what airline to attempt to make a career out of solely based on its paint scheme...

 

You might be surprised. One of the pilots at my last carrier, Express One Int'l, interviewed at a DEN carrier that had Bart Simpson painted on one of their airplanes. During his interview, he was asked why he wanted to work there. His answer? "I want to fly a plane with Bart Simpson painted on it". He got the job offer right then and there................

 

WOW, thats good to know. So if AA starts hiring in the next year or so and I can sneak to the other side of the room from Eagle. Given that I'll be 24 or so years old and say another 40yrs left I might get to upgrade to Capt before a retire. Oh, and maybe I'll get privledge of flying the 777 left seat before I retire. Sounds good to me.

 

Surely he was being sarcastic. Maybe a RJ FO newhire might say that, but going to a major??

That said, I'm with the original poster. AA is my hometown airline. I grew up in DFW and would love to be back. I was intern there about 3 years ago, so I have lots of ins and know lots of people there already. I understand about the DFW being senior and risks of being a junior FO there. My other problem is being stuck at my current regional with no upgrade in sight. Do you think AA will continue the no PIC time requirement in the future? Otherwise I'm going to have to get some PIC time somewhere somehow. Again, I know how the attitude is there. (well 3 years ago I did) I'm sure its a little different now.

 

PIC always helps, whether AA insists upon PIC and how much is any body's guess. Not coincidentally, we have FO's at the bottom of the list (AA) that have been trying to get hired at other airlines but can't because they lack enough PIC. So if you come here without PIC, plan on being stuck here.

 

DO NOT GET INTO AVIATION!! Connect the dots, no one is happy and no one has the perfect flying job. Maybe the 1% of senior widebody captains truly love their job. For what we have to go through to become pilots and the responsibility that is on our backs ever single time we show up to work. It is a joke what we get back in return!

It is not even close to being our parent's airlines! Pay, days off, customer service, product being offered, delays, lack of crew rest, and on, and on, and on!

Sorry, but knowing what I know now....... I never would have started at 14 years old working towards this dead end goal of flying for a living.

 

go for it if you have the fire inside for this profession,you will know it if you do,I've flown everything from the DC3 to the 727,hauling boxes,the mail,pax,sports teams,troops,the gamut, i've seen the southern cross rise out of the pacific from the age old cockpit of the douglas,and i've pulled contrails all over the hemisphere in the 727,i have loved this flying life,security? thats a different story,be a lawyer,a doctor,whatever if thats what you crave,but if you still thrill to this beautiful thing of ours, if being a pilot ,and piloting is what you want to do,then go for it,and Godspeed you, i'm just starting a new chapter with the major fractional,new adventures await. Cheers,Good luck !

 

To reiterate what someone said above:

All pilots at all airlines have some form of "grass is greener" syndrome. It is no different at AA. Every airline has its set of issues. That said, I can tell you that when I was hired here in early '00, everyone in my class really believed they had won the lottery. Some lottery! Pay cuts, increased hours, etc. Same with DL, UA, CO, fill in the blank. Today it is the UPS, SWA and FDX pilots who are the "lottery winners." Will it last? Who knows? History has proven otherwise.

You pick the airline you really want to work for, and hope to get a call. If you get it, more power to ya. After a few years, the novelty wears off and you start getting more involved in fixing what needs to be fixed. You start to realize that the most (if not the only) fun you have is when the cockpit door closes and you fly a great trip with a great CA and have a great layover. All the other stuff (TSA, contract negotiations, company harassment, etc.) really starts wearing you down. In the end, all you want to do is fly the trip and get home. Maximize your days off for the most pay, that becomes the mission, rather than what airplane you fly or what layovers you bid.

Mergers, strikes, layoffs... welcome to the airlines. Every airline that ever merged still has pilots angry at each other, no matter how long ago or how they were integrated (Flifast, this is for you. ) AA is no exception... neither is NWA (Republic), USAir (Piedmont), TWA (OZ), etc. They are all still *****ing and moaning about getting screwed.. in some cases, over 20 years later! Standard protocol.

In the end... you tend to get married to your airline, and make the best of it. While I am firmly committed to getting an industry leading contract at AA, I never forgot how I felt the day I got hired here, and I try and keep that feeling going day in and out. Otherwise I lose perspective.

73