The only other 121 job I'd leave for is FedEx. IF they opened their Alliance sort facility as a crew base. If you live in base, are year 3 pay or above, the 'golden handcuffs' get quite comfortable!

Edit:

IF I commuted, I'd be looking for domiciles I could live in (1), seniority/pay comparisons (2). If I was going to commute no matter what - FedEx without a doubt. Two close friends there, they both love it a lot more than I like AA.

One thing not to forget is the value of the pension. You would have to make an extra $2 million or so at AA over the course of a career to match the value of a $120k/Year pension at UPS. UPS and FedEx are way ahead of all the airlines if you are looking at it from just the compensation angle.

The big question wrt "Career V1" is an inexact, philosophical one. The 2 main groups seem to fall into 2 categories: 1) Those who have a "brass ring" type of position, but not their first choice. 2) Potential "Captain/Lifestyle Lifers" at a regional, ULCC, or ACMI outfit, 50 something.

No dog in the hunt for me, but this thread relevant to Category 1. Offhand, I'd say that if you have 2 or more years with company, and are above the bottom 10% seniority, you'd be better off sticking around, unless there are strong domicile preference issues. Even then, still a bit of a crap shoot.

When did 10 yrs as an FO become an eternity? There were pilots who used to spend several years as SOs, the. FOs, then made Capt a few years in time to retire at 60.
At Delta many 10+ FOs remain in that seat on purpose which is why you see such junior narrow body Capt's in NYC and now ATL.
After reading this thread, sometimes I think Deltas largest competitive advantage is being union free with the exception of the pilots. For better or worse it surely makes it easier for Mgmt to cull the herd of bad apples.

Very true. But for people with 30+ years left there is absolutely no guarantee the pension will be there when you retire. Just look at every other airline, and industry for that matter. It will probably be there but you never know. 30 years is a long time.

OTS civilian new hire here. I had an offer with FX and AA. I picked AA and deleted all my other apps. I didn't want to fly at night, commute to Memphis, or risk being replaced by Amazon and drones. AA has the best bases and fastest movement. I have 34yrs of flying ahead... Management and contracts will come and go many times in that time. DL may be the best right now, but they won't be forever!

AA is a good gig. Don't forget all the thousands of RJ drivers out there that would kill to be here. Be grateful!

You should know better than to come on here with all that positive talk!

Upper mgmt can change.

I get the feeling AA is about to see such a change.
The board can't possibly be happy with all the stock buybacks in lieu of debt pay down.

I'm sure the board is happy with the buybacks, they're good for the stock price. They're probably just as short-sighted as Parker.

LOL

The BODs are the folks responsible for the decision to buy back stock. They also control the issuance of debt. So, even if Parker disagrees it doesn't matter. The BOD in essence runs the company, they are Parker's boss.