I like UAL but the WB talk would have me concerned if I was a future hire. How many of those WB are older 76/77’s? Unfortunately the XLR will replace a decent amount of the WB flying. AA has done a huge house cleaning of WB and NB. I think airframe wise.. AA is set up best to move forward (grow the fleet) which will help pilot progression where others will need to do the fleet shrinking/replacement AA has already done.

If staying in the NYC area is your goal then I’d say AA should be your last choice. We’ve spent a better part of two decades eroding our presence there. Now that they’ve finally realized that hey, maybe it’s an important market, it’s too late. Not enough slots to grow it back so instead they’re forced to get creative, like doing a codeshare deal with B6. Consider this, you can’t even fly on AA from LGA to BOS anymore. Does that sound like a competitor in the NYC market?

The XLR is to replace the long range 757 flying. United had a bunch of 757’s doing Atlantic crossings to LHR and other western European cities. They don’t have a 767 replacement with the passenger/cargo capacity or range of the 767-300ER or 767-400, at least at a price they want to pay. The 787 would do the job, but it’s not cheap. My guess is that Boeing and Airbus delay development of a replacement longer than airlines want to wait, United gives up and buys more 787’s, and the entire 756 fleet gets retired after the XLR and Max10 are on the ramp. Elimination of an aging fleet type compounded with the efficiency of their replacements could offset some of the cost of buying 787’s. All of this is dependent on what international flying looks like in a covid influenced world. The virus is here to stay and markets will adapt.

This right here. Pick who has the shortest drive between where you live and ewr or lga/jfk.

Don't really think you can go wrong.

It depends on what you are interested in long term (or at least think you are interested in)

Not sure what the JFK/LGA base is like for Delta size wise, but the EWR base at UA is huge. Not only is it huge, but it is very junior. That means right now you could get a 777 or 787 in EWR as your initial assignment. Not saying that is a great idea for new folks, but the only folks that should consider it are those that live in the area (or want to move there).

The long term is interesting, but also comes with the caveat of who knows what each will look like 15 years from now. The good news both are way too big to fail. So, if you compare the current size/distribution of fleets that is prob the best you can do for comparison sake. With that and because of the size difference in widebody fleets between UA and DL, I think you could hold 777/787 Captain much earlier in your career at UA than DL. (or at least project to)

If you are adamently opposed to Long Haul flying, then it is a much more difficult analysis. I think career progression wise on the NB fleets at both carriers would be absolutely amazing for somebody hired today!!!

Avoid AA. The current NY experiment may or may not last. We start and stop international service on a whim. Not to mention our contract is terrible compared to your other two choices.

NYC is our 2nd largest base with 3K pilots. ATL is obviously our largest with about 4,200.

Only planes not based in NYC is the 350 and 717.