I’ve been here two years and recently let my Airlineapps lapse. The reason is my age and the PS vesting. If I was younger I’d have kept them open. My friends at other carriers earn more and block less and some have already upgraded or are getting wide-body pay. If I could get ten years at another carrier and upgrade at some point I’d keep the apps out.

Age is a big deal. Lots of people predict upgrades here will happen sooner but I wouldn't bet my career on that. Someone coming out of mil late in life and only 15-18 yrs remaining, probably don't want to jump around because they'll NEVER have good seniority anywhere so don't give any up chasing a marginally better deal. Someone with 20+ years remaining, then that's a different story. That person can still switch companies and get quite high on the seniority list pretty much anywhere.

Seniority and living in domicile seem to be the golden rings in this business. Go wherever you can maximize those and there's a good chance you'll get the most out of the job even if you give up a little payscale.

IMO of course. Plenty of other ways to look at it.

Put your apps out if you have any feelings towards leaving, maybe you get a call maybe you don’t , when you do and you get a offer it’s a decision worth weighing pros and cons. I’m not concerned about max but faster upgrade or flying something else someday is alluring at times. Upgrade I’d around 6 1/2 here now I believe and think it’ll maybe drop a little once max is back since there was little hiring at one point, that being said there was a ton of hiring last two years too.

6 1/2? Is that what myseniority.com is telling you? What growth percentage do you have in there?

Still looking between 8-10 years to me depending upon when you were hired and the growth percentage. I think anything over 3%-4% is unrealistic over the next 5 years.


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That’s what I thought but have you checked the most junior captain?

Jan 2011, and from what I gather there is over three years of slack in the list from that point. Depending on the pace of upgrades going into the future, as it always does, I can definitely see it dropping below 6 years.

I wonder, does the my seniority site take this sort of thing into account?


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No but it DOES tell you how many FOs senior to you could HOLD Captain. And that tells me that over a thousand pilots are bypassing and, we can assume, will eventually pull the trigger...

That’s true, but is there always about a thousand that bypass? If so, that doesn’t change anything. I would actually expect that number to grow as the pilot group grows. People delay all the time for one reason or another, usually family or QOL related.


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This exactly! However, we're still the longest upgrade out there, and right now it makes us look unattractive. I hope we can use it as a leverage in the negotiations...

If you’re going please do it sooner rather than later! I would think an outflow of 1-5 year guys would make a great negotiating point for SWAPA for 2020. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen any numbers published, but if I remember right SWAPA used the number of guys leaving as a point during the last round of negotiations.

I would never fault a guy that is doing the best thing for himself and his family. It’s great that we’re living in a time where pilots can be in control rather than the companies. More power to you whatever way you decide.