Bases in order of most to least senior: (roughly... not 100% accurate)

DFW
ORD
SFO
LAX
BOS
STL
DCA
LGA
MIA

 

Last hiring wave, one needed 1000 Turbine PIC and a college degree for starters, as I recall. As far as the nepotism thing goes, I know that no longer applied either in the last wave - tons of pilots hired here with relatives.

Right now the junior aircraft and base assignments for recallees are MIA 737, LGA 737/767/S80 , STL S80/767, DCA S80. All subject to change of course as time goes on - depends on the needs of the company.

Hope this thang gets cranked up and we see new hires soon... Woo-hoo!

 

Manfred33 - just an opinion but if I was an interviewer (almost was...) I'd put more weight on a kid of a 35 yr employee than a guy currently rated in an a/c AA flies.

If you're resume isn't competitive(who knows what that will be) you're not competitive. If your resume is competitvie being a 35 yr employee's kid, IMO, is a significant plus.

Good luck.

 

aa73 and sliceback- thanks much for the info, I appreciate it. Very encouraging stuff and getting more and more eager by the day... I have the college degree, have the turbine PIC(over 4,000 hrs) and sounds like with dad having worked there, might(hopefully) be the trifecta. Just can't screw up in the interview when it comes.... Only company I ever really wanted to work for, so my determination is great. Luck always helps though and can never hurt. Thanks guys!

 

aa - agreed that it's a rough guess.

LGA is about 600 numbers more junior for CA upgrade than MIA - LGA +

MIA is more junior on the 767 at your and my seniority - MIA +

LGA is more junior on the 777 both for FO's and CA's - LGA +

SFO with it's recent manning drawdown will possibly get locked out due to displacements which will change it's relative seniority vs. other bases. Same for DCA and BOS.

In general the bases that are getting flying are the places to be, but you're living that dream already. ;-)

 

And I guess one could probably expect those bases that are most senior now to become very junior as retirements ramp up, contingent of course on guys already on property that might want to move around with new openings...

 

Junior bases tend to stay junior, senior bases tend to stay senior.

aa73's list was true decades ago and will probably be true in the future.

NY and MIA have typically been the junior bases, especially for w/b flying. Depending upon your seniority you can be more senior on a w/b in NY or MIA than you can be on a n/b at a more senior base, which is why so many guys commute to NY/MIA.

 

But it still holds true that most recalls are headed for NY as aa73 said? NY has 3 types while miami only has 737 going there as recalee? Also why are reserve rules so bad at aa? Do u get 12 hard days off?

 

New hires may be getting DCA but it's still very senior. Mainly because it's shrinking.

 

If a new fleet type arrives (100-110 seater) that will likely be junior and it could go to any domicile (although I doubt the west coast), but when that arrives and whether it's available for any particular new-hire class wont be known until said new-hire arrives for class. This would open up movement for all fleet types (777 excluded) for new-hire availablility as junior in status and bottom RSV.

As it stands now, DFW and ORD and the West coast have been unattainable for the recent flow-thru's and although some have gone DCA S-80, that domicile is shrinking and likely to continue to do so as is BOS. How much and whether one or both would actually close is unknown. New-hires of the future should plan narrow-body (including any new 110 seater) east of the Mississippi.

RSV at AA under the current system is horrible and hideously over-complicated and the current staffing makes it worse. 11 days off in a 30-day period and 12 in a 31 day, BUT they can fly you into 2 of those days and as long as you finish before noon, they don't have to give a full return day. "Long call" is worthless unless you live in domocile (if you can even get it with current staffing as the few RSV's available almost always go on short-call RAP's when not on a trip), as they can call you too late in the day to make it into domocile the next morning (no flights to get you there on-time). Speaking of flights, the "commuter policy" requires 2 AA/AE flights (not just ANY carrier) AND they must cancel. WX or mechanical/loads don't count for a "sorry, I couldn't make it to work" sob story.

I can see why many of the recalls are passing. Why walk headlong into this nightmare, when you can do what you're doing now, watch the mess from afar and decide whether or not to return later, when there's a cushion of junior winged matresses below you to feather your return ? I figure at least another 10% to each status (800 or so pilots), just to make the current situation tolerable and that doesn't include rest rule changes or retirement replacement........in that case add 2500.

Should a new fleet type arrive AND they keep the S-80's in the interim, I expect them to behind the curve for the forseeable future, but that and a new CBA would at least be progress.