Was wondering how long it would take to be based in Charlotte? I have heard it is a senior spot, and it looks like a nice place to live. Assuming I was hired by AA today, how long would it take for me to have enough seniority to be based there?
Jack,
From what I understand CLT is a pretty senior AA base. How long it would take you to get their is very hard to forecast as there are many factors. You ask if you “were hired today?” but AA isn’t hiring and might not be for a while. But let’s say they were.
When a base is senior there’s usually little movement at the top but there’s sometimes plenty down low because pilots will leave for upgrades or bigger aircraft. If that’s the case you can often get there within a year or even a few months (depending on the amount of movement). The problem/question then becomes do you stay and pass on early upgrades, bigger aircraft etc?
Short answer is it’s very dynamic and there’s no way of knowing for certain.
Adam
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Thanks for that. So when choosing a base you would not only be choosing the actual base but also what type of plane you would be flying?
Jack,
Correct, you bid for base and type of aircraft. For example, UAL has every type in the fleet based in EWR. So you might easily be able to get into EWR on the 737, but if you are wanting to fly the 777 international out of EWR, it could take some time.
Chris
Jack,
Absolutely! Base, seat, aircraft all these factors are in play and have varying degrees of seniority. This is often a conundrum for many pilots. As I said you could get into the base of your choice initially on say the A320. There could be a B757 (bigger plane, more money, better trips etc) slot you could hold but it’s in Dallas. Do you commute or wait for a slot in CLT? Some bases only have certain aircraft. These are tough decisions we all face. Part of the job.
Adam
So when you decide to start flying a new plane how long does it take to learn the ins and outs of it? I imagine there must be a training period before they just send you off in it correct?
Jack,
Not sure what you mean by “ins and outs”, but no, flying different airplanes is not like you being used to driving your Toyota then jumping in your friends Ford. There considerably more to it than just knowing which side the gas cap is on. Every new airplane type requires training.
Adam
Jack,
Transitioning into a new aircraft takes about 4-6 weeks to get through all the ground, sim and line checks.
Tory
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Jack,
Training itself is 4-6 weeks, usually followed by two weeks of flying with a training captain out on the line. That being said, it has usually taken me a full year to feel really comfortable in any new airplane.
Chris
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Right, that was what I thought. Thank you for the information and quick responses!
Anytime. Let us know what other questions you have.