United or American?

[beechjetdriver]

If you were lucky enough to have a choice between United or American(now that the merger is official) as a new hire (unfortunately I'm not so lucky) which would you choose under the following conditions:
-commuting to either
-could afford first year pay at either place

 

[SIG600]

If you were lucky enough to have a choice between United or American as a new hire (unfortunately I'm not so lucky) which would you choose under the following conditions:
-commuting to either
-could afford first year pay at either place

United, hands down.

 

[beechjetdriver]

United, hands down.

reasoning?

 

[cbrown1]

American, brighter future.

They've hired the least and have to most to retire. They are also the only one of the big three that can really heavily grow.

 

[COpilot]

A/A, more hiring coming; even post US.

 

[airgator]

The new AA will shrink. If people can't see that, I got a bridge for you.

 

[Flybywire44]

The new AA will shrink. If people can't see that, I got a bridge for you.

airgator, It is true that current AA routes may be be consolidated, but once AA gets Airways feed you can count on expansive net growth to pacific markets where AA wants to take a bite out of those healthy margins.

newAA has a lot of low hanging fruit available to it in South America and the airline is very lean with three fairly recent bankruptcies between the joining carriers.

Time will tell.

If you were lucky enough to have a choice between United or American(now that the merger is official) as a new hire (unfortunately I'm not so lucky) which would you choose under the following conditions:
-commuting to either
-could afford first year pay at either place

I would go with the first carrier that hires you and don't look back, but United seems to have a lot of weakness right now.

http://upgrd.com/aerospace/jeff-smisek-needs-to-step-down-as-united-chairman-and-ceo.html

Jeff Smisek needs to step down as United Chairman and CEO
By Rohan Anand
This is one of the most controversial and subjective articles I've ever written, but after thorough reasoning, I've concluded that Jeff Smisek needs to abdicate his title as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines sometime in 2014.

And the sooner he does so, the better.

Nothing personal here, but I think it's time for the UA Board of Directors to hit the "refresh" button and replace Smisek with a much more effective leader who is capable of steering the World's Largest Airline towards a consistent path to deliver on all of its promises before the damages become irreparable.

"The Fish stinks from the head" (and yes, I said this once already over a year ago)

United merged with Continental in October 2010. Jeff Smisek, who hailed from the Continental side of the equation, was nominated to lead the combined company at the time of the merger closing. It was chalked up to be one of the largest, most complex marriages in the history of the airline industry, but once consumated, the sheer size and scale of the company would deliver immense value for shareholders and consumers worldwide.

The public wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of airline mergers, particularly in the United States. Delta Air Lines had merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008, and within a two year span, the combined entity was generating healthy, consistent quarterly earnings, streamlining costs and operations, and making continuous improvements to its onboard product offering, which in turn led to high consumer satisfaction scores and pleased Wall Street analysts.

But something in the blueprint of United's own merger plan was somehow horrifically flawed, because when the two carriers migrated to a single IT platform in March 2012, all hell broke loose. The aftermath entailed a year's worth of system outages, cancelled reservations, unacceptable on-time performance rates, infuriated customers and poorly-equipped front-line employees to handle recovery efforts. United watched its corporate base plummet as its high-revenue paying customers flocked to competing airlines offering elite status matches and other incentives.

As time wore on, Wall Street grew more and more exasperated with the tight-lipped explanations from United's C-Level personnel, and it became obvious that the entire saga could be pinned on pure management folly to adequately prepare and execute the merger in a manner consistent with what they had promised to the public.

(CLINK LINK FOR THE REMAINDER...)

 

[MATHEWS]

Hands down American....There is no question the "New American" has more upside!

 

[densoo]

Unless you're confident you'll get the seemingly random selection from the 11,000 pilot pool to interview at your airline of choice and then make it through all the hoops to get the offer, you'll probably take the first one that calls.

That said, you should hope for Delta, American, United, in that order. Their 3.5 years in BK did not fix the core problems and the new merged management is arguably even worse than before so United is likely to be bankrupt again in five years or so.

Here's a view of UAL's last quarterly conference call.

The fish stinks from the head

 

[densoo]

Here's a view of UAL's last quarterly conference call.

The fish stinks from the head

Duplicate post, already posted by Flybywire44.

 

[OState597]

These questions are stupid. You're going to the one that hires you first.....period. After that, it's all luck.

 

[densoo]

http://touch.latimes.com/#story/la-fi-mh-united-20131118/

 

[cbrown1]

The new AA will shrink. If people can't see that, I got a bridge for you.

Doubtful, almost no overlap.
There are big holes international that need to be filled. I would expect more widebody orders after por.

 

[airgator]

There is plenty of overlap. Just because there are not nonstop flights that overlap doesn't mean there is no overlap. Also, I can't see how PHX stays the same size. See Cincy and Cleveland. All the gaps in Asia can be handled through JAl and CX. Gaps in the Middle East can be handled through Qatar. I'm not saying it won't be a great career but I just don't see more pilots needed.

 

[jonjuan]

American, hands up.

 

[beechjetdriver]

These questions are stupid. You're going to the one that hires you first.....period. After that, it's all luck.

While I agree that most will go with the first that hires you, I can guarantee that there are people that have offers from both or at least interviews at both. For those people these questions are not stupid. Don't forget that there will come a day in the near future where most people will have offers from all of the "big three" and most LCC's if they want them. The purpose of these web forums are to research job information. I'm happy for you if you already have a job that you love, but please don't shoot down somebody's question just because it doesn't apply to you. If you are looking for a new job perhaps one day you will appreciate questions like this.

I'm just trying to gauge the general consensus of people regarding these two companies. Most people seem to think Delta is the place to be due to their pay/contract and their financial situation. American (just out of bankruptcy) and United don't necessarily have the same financial results as Delta (yet). Thanks to all those that have responded professionally.

 

[Oakum_Boy]

Have you flown either lately? Both are miserable, but I'd put money on American.

 

[labbats]

This isn't just an intellectual exercise.

A Skywest FO with zero PIC recently had job offers from both AA and United.

 

[jonjuan]

While I agree that most will go with the first that hires you, I can guarantee that there are people that have offers from both or at least interviews at both. For those people these questions are not stupid.

They are not stupid if one really thinks they can predict the future of two relatively similar companies and associated career projections. Pick a base/s and a uniform that doesn't make your butt look big and your pecs firm and roll with it.

 

[vetrider]

I don't think a new hire can really go wrong at Delta, United, or AA. Of the three CEOs, I think I'd feel a liitle better about having Anderson or Parker than Smisek.

The choice being AA or United, I'd personally take AA.