navykid

I know this kind of question gets asked a lot here, but there are a few things where I don't really find good answers on the internet. I'm a newbie in this kind of stuff with working at airlines etc.

So basically, I don't really have a favorite major airline. But I do know that I love the service, culture, etc., at Delta and the route network at American Airlines. But I'd like to have a fav airline. I'm based at LAX and don't plan to move anywhere else.


So I'll just throw my questions out here:
1. How much do you fly to the following states/regions at Delta compared to American Airlines: California, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Florida, Caribbean Islands, and Latin America?
2. Are you able to get a lot of layovers at those destinations with Delta and American?
3. Do you fly to regional airports in the regions mentioned above with Delta and American, or do only regional carriers fly to those airports?
4. Do you have base layovers (ATL, MSP, etc.) at Delta? I know I'm not going to make friends with this, but I'm not the biggest fan of big Midwest (specifically MSP, ORD/MDW, DTW, IND, STL) cities and cities like ATL. Small towns in these regions are awesome. Are you able to avoid layovers in these cities?
5. How could a typical schedule look at Delta when based at LAX? Could it look like these:
- A320 3-day trip:
- Day 1: LAX -> MSP -> MEX (layover)
- Day 2: MEX -> ATL -> TPA (layover)
- Day 3: TPA -> AUS -> LAX
- A350 4-day trip:
- Day 1: LAX -> JFK
- Day 2: JFK -> FRA
- Day 3: FRA -> JFK
- Day 4: JFK -> LAX
6. Is American as an employer really as bad as everyone says?

So, it’s pretty important to me where my layover locations are, etc. It's actually one of the most important things to me. I'm not necessarily interested in international long-haul flying, but it’d be cool to have the opportunity.

CRJCapitan

AA west coast bases start with a lot of red eyes to the east coast. Some east coast bases get a ton of the layovers you mentioned, but not as sure about LAX. Others can give you better answers on that.

And no, AA is not a bad employer at all. It's a great job. Delta has a larger presence at LAX though.

WiFly

AA has been an excellent employer. Most of the people who say very negative things about flying for AA either don't work here (worked at a regional or currently at a different major) or were screwed over through one of the mergers. Also AA is less culty so you'll hear more public complaints vs DL folks tend to keep their complaints quiet when talking to outsiders (in my experience). So take what you hear with a grain of salt. There are pros and cons when it comes to accepting a CJO with either airline today.

AA your seniority progression will occur at approximately double the speed it will at DL for the forseeable future. Seniority could equal significant quality of life and earnings differences, but that ultimately is dependent on your individual situation.

DL customer experience is generally recognized as better than AA.

DL has a large presence in the pacific northwest, but a relatively small presence in the southwest. AA is the opposite.

AA has four fleet types (A320, B737, B777, B787), DL has seven fleet types (A220, A320, A330, A350, B717, B737, B757/767). Unless you're dying to fly one particular airplane, AA will fly to more destinations on each fleet type since nearly all domestic and short-haul international flying is split between just two fleets.

AA is still a significantly larger airline than DL by most operational metrics (but certainly not by most financial metrics, especially profitability).

DL you have to wear the hat. AA it's optional.

m3113n1a1

With a little seniority at either airline you could probably layover mostly where you want if you don't care about what specific days you're working, commutability, how many legs etc.

But I promise you that once you get to the airlines you will stop caring about where you layover pretty quickly. 12 hours is 12 hours, doesn't matter where it is.

The work experience is probably similar at either airline, LAX is (I think) Delta's smallest base. Not sure about AA. Your seniority would be slightly better at AA, but probably not drastic especially living in a junior base.

WiFly

Worth noting that LAX is also a relatively small base for AA. One point I respectfully disagree with is that seniority will be "slightly" better at AA vs DL. While there are many benefits of going to DL, seniority progression is not one of them. At AA a new hire will move up the seniority list nearly 2x the speed over the next decade compared to a DL new hire.

m3113n1a1

That's much better than I thought...and a clear reason to choose AA.

170Till5

are you a serial killer? lol oddly specific where you like to layover in small Midwest towns. At Delta bid the 717 if you want the burghs and ville’s. Pretty much every fleet lays over in ATL, you can avoid it though. 350 doesn’t go to JFK. You can layover wherever you want at any airline as long as you have seniority

Extenda

It puts the skydrol on its skin or else it gets the hose again.

ImSoSuss

Just realize that you are on the back side of the wave and your experience/seniority progression will be totally different than anybody giving you their own experiences right now. So most of your questions are irrelevant as it will be relatively the same at any Legacy. It seems like you love domestic flying or flying only to where the range of a NB aircraft can take you and for that nobody is going to get you more than that then AA. But if you want a better ran company with a better union and better compensation, Delta hands down.

AllYourBaseAreB

OP what on earth are you doing right now in aviation?