View Poll Results: AA or SWA
AA
109
49.10%
SWA
113
50.90%
Voters: 222. You may not vote on this poll
SWA or AA?
02-21-2024, 08:28 PM
#191
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2014
Position: Just a pilot
Posts: 762
Are any of you old enough to remember "General Lee", who claimed to be a DAL pilot on the old Flightinfo forums?
He/she/they/it trolled the SW forums like this and other trolls do here. Folks argued with that moron over exactly the same stuff that he/she/they/it are bringing up on here, for years, gloating about the many advantages of being at DAL vs. here.
In the long run, it turned out that the good General wasn't even a pilot, much less one for DAL.
I am getting a feeling of Deja Vu with LAX/DEN and a few others.
He/she/they/it trolled the SW forums like this and other trolls do here. Folks argued with that moron over exactly the same stuff that he/she/they/it are bringing up on here, for years, gloating about the many advantages of being at DAL vs. here.
In the long run, it turned out that the good General wasn't even a pilot, much less one for DAL.
I am getting a feeling of Deja Vu with LAX/DEN and a few others.
02-25-2024, 11:05 AM
#193
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2021
Posts: 324
Just to tag onto this conversation,
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
02-25-2024, 11:31 AM
#194
Gets Weekend Reserve
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,763
Just to tag onto this conversation,
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
Your timing is a tad off with respect to Delta and quite possibly United. Delta is slowing down hiring and a lot of their WB flying has been relegated to their JV and codeshare partners. United is growing, but again, they hired thousands and thousands ahead of you and a lot of them are very young as well. Do you buy their 28000 pilots goal? I don't. Grandiose plans like that brief really well, but more often than not fall well short for any number of reasons.
AA still has a lot of retirements, but they've been hiring a lot too, though I think they're behind Delta and United in numbers hired. Their balance sheet/debt is something to be cognizant of.
The other question is how long would you be happy being a WB FO? Some people made careers being WB FO's and there's nothing wrong with that if you're into that lifestyle vs. money combination. Yes, you'll be able to upgrade into a NB there, but is it worth giving up thousands of numbers for something like this at this stage? It might or might not be, again, depending on your priorities.
See... lots of the current generation of entrants into the major airline world never experienced any hardship whatsoever in this industry, especially those hired with low time and post-COVID. We had a similar bonanza of quick upgrades in the regional airline world in 2006-2007 timeframe and many were chasing quick upgrades because it used to be that you needed a few thousand of hours of PIC time at the regional to have a chance to interview for the job you're currently in. A number of people got burned by airline jumping when the music stopped. History repeats itself if we fail to learn from it.
Good times never last, and neither do the bad times. The question you should be asking yourself is where in this hiring wave do you think you fall. Would you be happy being hired on the backside of the hiring wave but getting a chance to fly a WB? Is it worth it? Only you can answer that...
Here's a tool that you may find helpful... https://www.fapa.aero/pilot-hiring-history
Take your preferred airline, go back 3, 5, 7, 10 years at each and look at the numbers hired. Then check and see where you'd fall in this spectrum with respect to WB's and reaching the top of the seniority list.
Good luck!
02-25-2024, 01:04 PM
#195
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2010
Position: DOWNGRADE COMPLETE: Thanks Gary. Thanks SWAPA.
Posts: 6,783
Just to tag onto this conversation,
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
02-25-2024, 05:27 PM
#196
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,916
Just to tag onto this conversation,
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
I’ll be year 3 at SWA in May. Live in IND but reserve base is in Florida. Currently MCO based with SWA, but still thinking about doing AA MIA/ORD, Delta ATL, or United MCO/TPA/ORD. Thoughts? Is it worth leaving SWA at this point to still fly a widebody? I have 35 yrs left after October.
Dumb ? but why are you commuting to rsv in MCO while living in IND? At yr 3 you can prob be a lineholder anywhere as a FO with the numbers we’ve hired.
02-25-2024, 05:31 PM
#197
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2021
Posts: 324
02-25-2024, 05:32 PM
#198
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2021
Posts: 324
Depends on the airline and your priorities.... If you want to fly WB's at all, I think you're at the wrong airline so you should go. The question is where...
Your timing is a tad off with respect to Delta and quite possibly United. Delta is slowing down hiring and a lot of their WB flying has been relegated to their JV and codeshare partners. United is growing, but again, they hired thousands and thousands ahead of you and a lot of them are very young as well. Do you buy their 28000 pilots goal? I don't. Grandiose plans like that brief really well, but more often than not fall well short for any number of reasons.
AA still has a lot of retirements, but they've been hiring a lot too, though I think they're behind Delta and United in numbers hired. Their balance sheet/debt is something to be cognizant of.
The other question is how long would you be happy being a WB FO? Some people made careers being WB FO's and there's nothing wrong with that if you're into that lifestyle vs. money combination. Yes, you'll be able to upgrade into a NB there, but is it worth giving up thousands of numbers for something like this at this stage? It might or might not be, again, depending on your priorities.
See... lots of the current generation of entrants into the major airline world never experienced any hardship whatsoever in this industry, especially those hired with low time and post-COVID. We had a similar bonanza of quick upgrades in the regional airline world in 2006-2007 timeframe and many were chasing quick upgrades because it used to be that you needed a few thousand of hours of PIC time at the regional to have a chance to interview for the job you're currently in. A number of people got burned by airline jumping when the music stopped. History repeats itself if we fail to learn from it.
Good times never last, and neither do the bad times. The question you should be asking yourself is where in this hiring wave do you think you fall. Would you be happy being hired on the backside of the hiring wave but getting a chance to fly a WB? Is it worth it? Only you can answer that...
Here's a tool that you may find helpful... https://www.fapa.aero/pilot-hiring-history
Take your preferred airline, go back 3, 5, 7, 10 years at each and look at the numbers hired. Then check and see where you'd fall in this spectrum with respect to WB's and reaching the top of the seniority list.
Good luck!
Your timing is a tad off with respect to Delta and quite possibly United. Delta is slowing down hiring and a lot of their WB flying has been relegated to their JV and codeshare partners. United is growing, but again, they hired thousands and thousands ahead of you and a lot of them are very young as well. Do you buy their 28000 pilots goal? I don't. Grandiose plans like that brief really well, but more often than not fall well short for any number of reasons.
AA still has a lot of retirements, but they've been hiring a lot too, though I think they're behind Delta and United in numbers hired. Their balance sheet/debt is something to be cognizant of.
The other question is how long would you be happy being a WB FO? Some people made careers being WB FO's and there's nothing wrong with that if you're into that lifestyle vs. money combination. Yes, you'll be able to upgrade into a NB there, but is it worth giving up thousands of numbers for something like this at this stage? It might or might not be, again, depending on your priorities.
See... lots of the current generation of entrants into the major airline world never experienced any hardship whatsoever in this industry, especially those hired with low time and post-COVID. We had a similar bonanza of quick upgrades in the regional airline world in 2006-2007 timeframe and many were chasing quick upgrades because it used to be that you needed a few thousand of hours of PIC time at the regional to have a chance to interview for the job you're currently in. A number of people got burned by airline jumping when the music stopped. History repeats itself if we fail to learn from it.
Good times never last, and neither do the bad times. The question you should be asking yourself is where in this hiring wave do you think you fall. Would you be happy being hired on the backside of the hiring wave but getting a chance to fly a WB? Is it worth it? Only you can answer that...
Here's a tool that you may find helpful... https://www.fapa.aero/pilot-hiring-history
Take your preferred airline, go back 3, 5, 7, 10 years at each and look at the numbers hired. Then check and see where you'd fall in this spectrum with respect to WB's and reaching the top of the seniority list.
Good luck!
02-25-2024, 05:40 PM
#199
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,916
Just have to figure out what life goals are and what place gets you the best bang for your buck.
02-25-2024, 05:53 PM
#200
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2021
Posts: 324
Are you doing guard full time with MIL drops? Why not hold a line in MDW or bid BNA and go to FL for your 1 weekend a month? I’d think that would be better than commuting further to sit rsv but to each his own. Only other airlines with FL bases are UAL and AA. I’d avoid commuting if I could and move to FL or pick the shortest commute from where you want to live to get best QOL. UAL/AA are also in ORD. I wouldn’t even bother with DL.
Just have to figure out what life goals are and what place gets you the best bang for your buck.
Just have to figure out what life goals are and what place gets you the best bang for your buck.
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