Hi all. I'm getting ready to apply to some airlines and was just wondering about how long I could reasonably expect as a new hire to get to AA. I was also wondering about where the Jr bases are and how long one could expect to get ORD. I'm guessing NYC is going to be the Jr spot, but I would like to be cautiously optimistic that it might not be. Thanks for the help, and Cheers.

Several things go into answering your question.

1. Right now, straight off the street hires for FO's has slowed, although some say it will pick back up here soon. If you are able to come in as a Captain, well that is a different story.

2. Junior base on the 145 is LGA, however people are by and large able to get out of there should they choose almost right out of training, or shortly there after. ORD is junior 175 base and the CRJ fleet is only in ORD.

3. Getting to AA is a pretty contentious question around here. The company is saying 6 years from date of hire. ALPA, I believe has that number up to 8 years now. It is all a matter of what math you use to reach that number. I will say that I was hired a couple of years ago and my date is right on track, in fact is beating the company number.

Just to add to the OP, would it be worth sticking around for the flow if A) no one else calls and B) AA is your ultimate goal? I know VERY few people at OTS FOs that are strictly just civies. Any thoughts to this?

If no one else calls you, then you don’t really have any other choices, do you?

Yeah I hear this a lot out on the line and from jumpseat riders. Is the flow perfect, no, but for a lot of the people flowing they haven’t heard from anyone else yet so it is great in their eyes. Overall I find that pilots from other airlines seem to wish they had something similar.

Believe it or not but it still appears the mainline carriers are not just calling through their resume list as of yet.

This is true. There is no pilot shortage at the majors, nor will there ever likely be a shortage at the majors.

Every year, thousands more pilots become qualified: military, regionals, low cost carriers, cargo, Part 135, Part 91.

It is an optimistic myth that the majors will be desperate for pilots, and that every regional pilot will easily get a job at his choice of a major. In fact, the majors will remain extremely competitive and will maintain the luxury of being extremely selective in the pilots they hire.

I do recommend that everyone regularly update his applications, however. While it's not easy to get hired at a major, it's an automatic NO unless you apply.

To add to this, if i'm a cadet, how likely could I get ORD in training?

I'm in my mid 30s, if that matters as a tie-breaker.

If you don’t get it at first you’ll eventually end there

How likely could I get E175 ORD? Also, what's the upgrade time like on the E175?