If you gotta ask then wn. Geez

30 years and no domicile concerns? I’d go to AA.

The only caveat for me would be what is AA’s flying and seniority like where you want to live (DFW)? You might be able to upgrade in 5 years, but if it means commuting to LGA to sit reserve for another 5 years until you can hold DFW it doesn’t really matter. How’s the WB flying out of DFW? I have no idea, but if you have to commute for it, it may not be worth it to you.

I had the choice between United and SWA living in Denver. Denver was United’s senior base and no WB flying at the time. I was looking at a several year commute just to get into base, an upgrade as long as SWA in base, and NB flying only in base. That being said, I only had a 15 to 20 year career - 30 years? I probably would have gone to United...

Had the same choice as you. Had 31 years when I got hired at WN. Now you can hold DEN at UAL pretty much out of training on the 737. 320 is quite a bit longer. Upgrade in DEN at UAL is still about the same or longer than WN but it’s trending down. They’ve got a 787 base now along with a growing 757 base. So there’s options.

I’m happy with my choice but if things were then like they are now...the choice might’ve gone to UAL.

Which is probably the biggest takeaway from this thread...you just don’t know how things will change.

Thanks for all of the replies and great info. I was initially leaning towards AA, and reading these replies confirmed by bias. My only hesitation is that on the AA Forum side, it sounds like management and work rules are terrible. I don't really know if they are that inferior to everyone else or if its just sport whining. Thanks again, but I sure will be kicking myself in the butt if WN ever expands to widebody international flying.

You are seeing a lot of sport *****ing here too. Best to talk to folks you know at both companies and take everything here with a healthy dose of skepticism. There are a lot of professional whiners in these forums.

Wide bodies aren’t happening here as long as Gary is in charge. People said we’d never fly to HI and here we are. Play the hand you’re dealt with and hope when you retire that you made a good decision.

AA does have crap work rules. And management isn’t as good as at WN. But things change over the course of a career. If you really want int’l, go AA. If you don’t care where you sleep and just want to make $$ and enjoy time off at home, go WN. Or roll the dice and take the first class date and leave if you don’t like it.

Take into consideration the new-guy-at-any-airline effect as well. Whether people come out of out the military or some regional/cargo, whatever civilian job, guys (for a year or several) are often so happy with the pay bump and novelty of working for a major that they’re kind of mesmerized by the airline lifestyle.

As they go along, though, and what was new becomes old, often the shine wears off. Then, they realize because of our seniority system, there is very limited lateral mobility within the airline industry. Listen to the newish guys, but realize that many are still experiencing the thrill of their new Christmas toy.

The work runs at AA aren’t nearly as bad as people make them out to be. I wouldn’t base a 30 year career off of that.

I had a similar situation 5 years ago. I went with Southwest, 32 years until retirement. I was the most junior guy at the company at #7500, 4 years later I have 2500 pilots junior to me. We still have 5K to grow to get to AA’s size, so if you take the SWA class you’d need to account for growth as well as retirements. I’m not sure AA is growing past the 15K mark.

If you haven’t already made your mind up, and you want to know my reasons why I chose SWA over AA, feel free to PM me. This thread is pretty slanted and biased in my opinion. But, people can write what they want.