UALinIAH

IAD isn't in DC... That's like saying Sewark is in NYC. Access to yes, is it? Absolutely not

md11pilot11

I’m confused. I get that delta has better reserve in some ways. But I drop and traded reserve days all the time? So this is not true. It does depend on seat base and month.

Twincezzna

While I think ATL has far better areas within 1.5 hours of the airport for southern living they have way less widebodys. Shoot they have fewer high paying wide bodys than American. United wide body growth is unmatched youll be a wide body captain in your 40s if you start there next year.

Otterbox

If you're willing to live in Atlanta, go to DAL.

Devildog40

from the Pilot Pulse YouTube channel he did a breakdown on UA’s WB Capt time to upgrade per base, very analytical & good video.
777 Cap IAH Is 18 years & 787 is 25 years. Just so you can fly to South America 90% of the time. I kno some older UA guys that dislike IAH flying so much they purposely commute while living in Houston (EWR based).
in fact he’s quoting everything to be atleast 18 years for plug 787 Cap. If delta takes an extra handful of years I’d consider that time negligible?

On WS for DL, if you project for the WB growth and are willing to be a plug for NYC WBA, looks like equivalent time of 25 years assuming no growth. So for both companies it’s approx 25 years and should go lil’ junior from there.. that leaves 13+ years as a WBA at DL or UA.. It also seems DL may have another large WB order ahead to account for the 7ER’s when UA has already done that

CRJCapitan

I'd say there's a huge difference between DC/Loudon County and Richmond, etc.

Longhornmaniac8

Hearsay, so take it for what it's worth.

Allegedly, during a recent meeting at DL, they were discussing upgrade times returning to roughly 15 years in the near future. Delta is firmly on the back side of their retirement curve and the movement like we've seen the last 3-4 years will not continue. Personally, I'm skeptical it will go all the way out to 15 years, but I can believe it increases significantly over the {null} it was for a little while.

Meanwhile, United still has 2.5 years until peak retirements, although the height of our bell curve is considerably shorter than either AA's or DL's. There is also more planned growth (we know how that can go so take it with a grain of salt) and more replacement of mid-tier paying aircraft (756) with top paying aircraft (787s).

Broadly speaking, your seniority throughout your time at United is likely to afford you better quality of life given the above, however as said above, absolutely nothing will offset the QOL you'd have living in base. If Atlanta is where you want to be, you know DL will be a great option for you.

luv757

That's because VA is really two states. Northern Virginia/DC suburb area and everywhere else.

11atsomto

My observation: South and West of Prince William County (pronounced "cow Knee") is pretty South.

While we're on the topic......I'm not sure if most Native Texans would be pleased to hear themselves described as "Southern".......they'd very much tell you that they are "Texan"......how that differs maybe you could ask them......I just know that's how they identify themselves.

Swakid8

Yeah no.... This is dependent on wheere you live in Va. But IAD down to Richmond is far from being Southern culturally speaking..... I say this as someone who grew as a Texan, spent a lot of time in the South and have lived in VA since 2014....