iLikeMoose

Talks of seniority movement at Delta being over are a bit overblown. Yeah we are on the other side of the 2,500+ a year wave, but we are still planning 1,000 a year for the foreseeable future. That could change, but if worse comes to worse, our retirement numbers are still around low 500's-high 400's for the next decade. United has a lot more WB opportunities overall, but Delta's expansion plans are pretty squarely focused on international, and OP would likely have more WB opportunity in ATL than in IAH.

That being said, by all accounts UAL is just as fantastic a place to work, and if OP would rather live in IAH then that is what they should do! Though I wouldn't turn down the DAL class date without a class date at UAL in hand, can always hop ship once that happens.

Great problem to have, you can't go wrong, congratulations and good luck!

FangsF15

I agree, which is why I said "DC is its own animal".

Exactly

I'd have agreed with you if you said Fredericksburg. Get outside greater-DC, and the vast majority of VA is very much a southern state.

The point I was trying to make is, if the question was about IAD offering a southern culture, it can be had in easy driving distance - espeically if you go west or SW of IAD.

And for the record, the downwind for IAD overflys the Manassas battlefied (which the South won twice ;)

Devildog40

After dig’n more looks like captain at IAH can be done under 2 years versus 5+ years for a DL upgrade? That seems like a pretty big difference/reason to go IAH?

FyrePilot

Probably- my buddy with less than 2 years at UA got award captain in Vegas. Will be close to being the plug, for a while. Just about every rotation starts or ends with a redeye. I guess if you live in base you can try to mitigate the QOL stuff, but there is a reason ton's of FOs at UA were not taking the captain upgrade for a while and they were assigning it to new hires as soon as they get 500 hours on property. There was a reason OO had to force all their FOs to upgrade.

Right seat QOL for a decent paycheck is better than left seat plug QOL even when you get more money (that you will be paying 39% in taxes on)

If you haven't started yet you have no idea what is happening with how fast the upgrades will be specifically for you either. If you know what the market is going to do you then you should be placing bets on wallstreet instead of flying planes.

737 upgrade in IAH at about 2 years... I would say thats probably correct- for someone hired 2 years ago. Past performance DOES NOT ALWAYS indicate future performance- although it is usually a good measure

UA is getting some 787s and ZERO new 737s delivered for forseeable future while DL continues to get 320s, 220s, and 330s/350s. Now factor in that DL 220s and 320s are constantly going down for inspections over next 1-2 years. Now factor in UA is getting leased 321neos in 2026. Now factor in the ports will probably shut down next week and the economy will take a hit. Now factor in an election. Now factor in a hurricane or oil becomes less important to Houston and the city ends up dying like detroit did. The point I am making is there are way too many factors to try to predict upgrade times, especially when you are not within 6 months of upgrade at either carrier.

jerryleber

UA is scheduled to get 10 more 321s in 2024, 25 321s in 2025 and 25 moren 787s through the end of 2025. I would expect additional Boeing delays to reduce those numbers.

VacancyBid

No, it's not a big difference. You're looking at a 38 year career. 3 years isn't a big deal. And putting a bullseye on your back upgrading with 36 years to go is ... poor judgement.

You say you want to live in "the south" which can mean a lot of things, but I'm assuming it's some sort of cultural affinity because "someplace warm" would get you more options. Texas and georgia are very different. Atlanta and Houston are very different. No income tax vs income tax is very different.

But really the things that will REALLY determine whether UA or DL is a better choice are unknowable and will happen 10 to 20 years from now. You have the delta class - take it and if for some reason Delta seems awful, then jump to United when they offer you a class date.

luv757

Sage words. The only thing I would add is if Delta seems awful, so will United. And American. And probably everywhere else.

jdavk

Exactly. The only thing that matters is seniority; go to DL.

11atsomto

Assuming living in the base and State the domecile is in. The sobering scoreboard reminder that SFO would be 48.3% EWR 45.6% ATL 43.5%. (Maybe you could drive from Chattanooga, TN)

In MCO, LAS, and IAH its 39%.

GPullR

19 years is the plug LCAL, 26 LUAL