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I'll add another worthless data point.
I was standing at the gate a few weeks ago, waiting for the jet to pull up to the gate, and a guy comes up to me to ask if I'm the pilot for the outgoing flight. I told him yeah and we start chatting. Turns out he's a 62-year old CA at AA commuting home to LAS. We start talking about airlines, applications, pilot shortage, etc, and I told him that I was between SW and AA and received CJOs from both, but chose SW. He told me I made the right decision and he wishes he would have done the same when he started. He called AA a "glorified regional" right now. Was he bitter? Probably. Does his opinion matter? Debatable. But I've never had someone at another airline point blank tell me I made the right decision going with another airline. Yes, I realize every airline has this guy, and every airline has its pros and cons. This is just a random data point that I thought was interesting. |
Originally Posted by DownAndDirty
(Post 2945977)
I'll add another worthless data point.
I was standing at the gate a few weeks ago, waiting for the jet to pull up to the gate, and a guy comes up to me to ask if I'm the pilot for the outgoing flight. I told him yeah and we start chatting. Turns out he's a 62-year old CA at AA commuting home to LAS. We start talking about airlines, applications, pilot shortage, etc, and I told him that I was between SW and AA and received CJOs from both, but chose SW. He told me I made the right decision and he wishes he would have done the same when he started. He called AA a "glorified regional" right now. Was he bitter? Probably. Does his opinion matter? Debatable. But I've never had someone at another airline point blank tell me I made the right decision going with another airline. Yes, I realize every airline has this guy, and every airline has its pros and cons. This is just a random data point that I thought was interesting. He didn’t wish he chose SW yesterday. None of us will know until we’re 65. |
Originally Posted by PotatoChip
(Post 2946129)
He wishes he chose SW 25 years ago.
He didn’t wish he chose SW yesterday. None of us will know until we’re 65. (except the 65 part......) |
AA has its problems just like United, Delta and Southwest have their problems. There are bitter pilots at all of them. You just happened to run into a bitter AA pilot. For every one of them there are ten that count their blessings despite the stuff that needs to be fixed... I’m one of them.
AA is a lot of things but “glorified regional” is not one of them, not even close. Our contract, while needing work, is still far better than any regional... Talk to the flow through guys and you’ll quickly get a laugh when you try to compare AA (or any legacy) to a regional. It’s an asinine comparison only brought forth by bitter pilots. |
Originally Posted by DownAndDirty
(Post 2945977)
I'll add another worthless data point.
I was standing at the gate a few weeks ago, waiting for the jet to pull up to the gate, and a guy comes up to me to ask if I'm the pilot for the outgoing flight. I told him yeah and we start chatting. Turns out he's a 62-year old CA at AA commuting home to LAS. We start talking about airlines, applications, pilot shortage, etc, and I told him that I was between SW and AA and received CJOs from both, but chose SW. He told me I made the right decision and he wishes he would have done the same when he started. He called AA a "glorified regional" right now. Was he bitter? Probably. Does his opinion matter? Debatable. But I've never had someone at another airline point blank tell me I made the right decision going with another airline. Yes, I realize every airline has this guy, and every airline has its pros and cons. This is just a random data point that I thought was interesting. |
Originally Posted by DownAndDirty
(Post 2945977)
I'll add another worthless data point.
I was standing at the gate a few weeks ago, waiting for the jet to pull up to the gate, and a guy comes up to me to ask if I'm the pilot for the outgoing flight. I told him yeah and we start chatting. Turns out he's a 62-year old CA at AA commuting home to LAS. We start talking about airlines, applications, pilot shortage, etc, and I told him that I was between SW and AA and received CJOs from both, but chose SW. He told me I made the right decision and he wishes he would have done the same when he started. He called AA a "glorified regional" right now. Was he bitter? Probably. Does his opinion matter? Debatable. But I've never had someone at another airline point blank tell me I made the right decision going with another airline. Yes, I realize every airline has this guy, and every airline has its pros and cons. This is just a random data point that I thought was interesting. These are silly arguments. A dude hired today at American will not have the same career as a dude hired 25 years ago. Just like a dude hired today at SWA won’t have the same career trajectory as a dude hired 10 years ago at SWA. That’s like saying “I bought apple stock when it was high and sold it when it was low-AVOID APPLE because I lost money!” |
Originally Posted by terminal
(Post 2946478)
These are silly arguments.
A dude hired today at American will not have the same career as a dude hired 25 years ago. Just like a dude hired today at SWA won’t have the same career trajectory as a dude hired 10 years ago at SWA. That’s like saying “I bought apple stock when it was high and sold it when it was low-AVOID APPLE because I lost money!” |
Originally Posted by flyguy81
(Post 2946643)
So true. The 25 yr AA guys dealt with prob the longest furlough in history. Nothing like no hiring for 12 years to sap whatever fun out of the job.
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Originally Posted by ZapBrannigan
(Post 2946648)
The only thing worse was being on the street waiting for recall while they raised the retirement age to 65. 🙄😡
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Originally Posted by TexasBigJet
(Post 2940678)
Hello everyone! I feel like I won the lottery, and was given CJOs for WN and AA (CJOs given in October). Both companies have domiciles in the Dallas area (where I want to be), but am having a really difficult decision picking where I want to spend the next 30 years.
My issue is that I’m not sure I want to give up the opportunity to fly widebody and long-haul international someday (right now it’s looking like 3-5 years for widebody FO at AA and 15 years for widebody CA). Narrowbody CA at AA is 5-6 years, where I hear it’s about 8-10 for CA upgrade at WN. Also, find out how long it will take you to get to DFW/DAL out of training. A couple of years ago new hires at AA were being sent to the East Coast to fly E190s with a 2 year seat lock.
Originally Posted by TexasBigJet
(Post 2940678)
In doing some seniority calculations, based on mandatory retirements, in 9 years I’d be in the top 50% of seniority at AA, and within the first 500 at 65 years old. Doing the same math for WN, it would take 15 years to be in the top 50%, and I would be within the first 1700 at 65 years old.
On a separate note, take a look at the SEC filings for both companies as well as financial industry comparisons. AA has a lot of debt and lower profit margins. No widebodies at SWA though! |
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