I would say the opposite. In a 30+ year career, the widebody captain job is going to be available and very lucrative for at least 10 years of that. Even if you factor in a couple of AA’s standard bankruptcies in there, the seniority rise due to retirements will still put you in a good place. It won’t go away, just reorganized. Even zero growth will put you in a good position to weather the storm. Besides AA has to catch a break and hire a good CEO at some point in that 30 years. On the other hand, zero growth at SWA would put you in the right seat for a looooooong time. Although in a 30 year career, I’d wager you would see some sort of widebody flying at SWA as well.

I think the culture problems at AA are base (and perhaps equipment) dependent. I’ve been here over 5 years and almost always enjoy the trips and people I work with. I’ve been only based in PHL and LGA, however.

There are certainly problems with how the airline is run and our contract needs a lot of work, but on a day to day basis I really enjoy the job.

Ask him if he needs a wind check on final.

If yes, AA.

Both are a good gig today. Tomorrow, who knows?

What I can tell you absolutely for sure is this:

When I was an Eagle FO from 2000-2007, I was treated 10x better by SWA crews than by AA crews.

I’m not going to tell you one way or the other, but have a correct filter for your decision matrix. There are a couple people on here that don’t work at AA telling you the culture is bad. I’m not sure what they are basing that on. I don’t see it, at least while at work. Sure, we have some problems with labor/management relations, but what airline doesn’t, that’s normal in this business, and tends to ebb and flow.

The Pilots are great to work with, all are professional and the vast majority are enjoyable to fly with. I’ve been based at PHL, CLT and LAX, I’ve flown with CA’s from all 3 major pre merger groups plus TWA pilots, Reno, Air Cal, Empire, PSA, Piedmont...they’re great for the most part, we of course have our 5%ers like anybody.

I have a really good schedule for the most part, and have been successful trading. Please remember there are, what maybe 50 to 100 regular posters on here...out of 14,500 pilots.

Personally, I’ve had great interactions with SWA guys, seems like a great gig. I have lots of friends that work there, and I commute on them often as I live in one of their bases. With that said, once hired at AA I pulled my SWA application, because AA fit my decision matrix better (even though I commute). I have zero regrets about that, and am happy at AA.

Take everything on here through a filter...including my post

It should be AA based solely on retirement numbers.

I don't work for either, I'm at The U, but if I had to fly a 737 for life I'd lose my mind. Did it for a year and a half then my knee started hurting. Bid the 756 and problem solved.

The culture at AA I bet changes in 5 yrs as the largest pilot group becomes post merger hires. I simply wouldn't make some decision based on a perceived culture. My friends there don't complain.

The seniority is amazing. Definitely the gorilla in the room for the comparison.

Swa is financially solid, but do the advantages continue on forever? Idk. Even if every year they have a net profit per pilot higher than AA for your entire career, if you don't see it in your bank account does it really matter? If you're betting on a future bankruptcy, I think that's somewhat foolish. AA will always have routes that they make more money than everyone else on, and if times get bad they'll just lean down the operation. Legacies have changed, and while definitely not immune that's for sure, you'll be out of the bottom 25% at AA so fast I bet you don't even think of it again.

I'd take the AA job... And if you're really hung up on the swa financial piece buy the stock as a hedge. Just kidding. Buy oil as a career hedge, it's basically the only thing that will derail airline profitability.

That’s delta dude.

Culture should never be a factor in choosing a job you’re going to work at for 30 years. Culture is what you and the person sitting next to you make of it. Plus, “culture” doesn’t pay my bills.

AA has lots of pros and cons. So does SWA. Really can’t go wrong with either. But whatever choice you make don’t look back.

The AA debt does seem concerning. However, when i listen to Parker explain their reasoning for why they choose to carry that debt level it makes sense. As inept as we like to think management is I think they would have a better idea of how to run a giant corporation than a bunch of guys who fly airplanes for a living.

Plus AA is in the “too big to fail” territory, similar to the US automakers a few years ago. That plus lots of retirements and industry consolidation should keep AA safe if there is a downturn.

If base is not an issue, I’d choose AA, bid the Bus (737 seats up front suck!) and ride the seniority train which will get much better with time....

Full disclosure. I chose SWA over AA, so there will be some inherent bias in my opinion.

Current upgrade time at SWA is 6 years. Currently, there are SWA officials meeting with Airbus in France about the A220. As well officials meeting with Boeing about the 787 and the 797. We will not be a 737 only company forever, my best guess is we will have a new plane purchased in 10 years.

People who say culture doesn’t matter in a career search either haven’t experienced good culture or don’t care for it. Either way, that’s a very one sided opinion. I didn’t know what culture was exactly, and it’s still hard to define it. But it’s easy to see it. It’s true, the crew makes the culture for that flight and that trip, but it’s absolutely a thing at SWA. It’s part of the hiring criteria, can we have a beer with you over a 3 day trip. We don’t have to be buddies, or agree on politics, but can we be friendly and social? We had pitchers of beer last night with all 5 of the crew as soon as we got in at 2AM. And we didn’t talk about widebodies, contracts, mergers, etc.... we just hung out and drank beer. Old school. It happens here all the time.

If your top priority/focus is flying a wide body, then SWA is not the place for you. Don’t get me wrong, 787s, 777s, 350s are all awesome airplanes and I’d love to fly one. But they don’t do short trips. The bigger the plane, the bigger the suitcase. I work 2.5 days/week. I’m home way more than I am work. I like the narrowbody lifestyle, specifically the non PBS schedule lifestyle. And if anyone says SWA pilots get paid less, I’d immediately question their sources. They didn’t do their homework.

AA has a lot going for it. I’m not going to go into specifics on their negatives, I don’t need to put them down to build up my company. I chose SWA and it was the right choice for me.