hello, I was curious if I wanted to fly a certain route like the American airline’s flight, from and to Alaska how long until I am able to pick my own route. ?? once I am hired for the airline thanks.
Alex,
First of course you need to be hired by American which is no easy task and that in and of itself will take many years. After that, as with everything at the airlines, it comes down to seniority. You say AA’s flight to Alaska. From/to where? If say it’s from DFW (one of their larger bases) and maybe there are a bunch of Alaska commuters who all want to fly home often, well then it’s a senior trip and you might not see it for decades. If it’s not you could get it right off the bat. What airplane do they use for that flight? If it’s a 737 or smaller Bus you could get it quickly. If it’s a very popular route and they fly a heavy again could take a while. You see seniority allows you to get the things that everybody wants but if it’s something people don’t want it’s easy.
Short answer, no way of knowing.
Adam
thanks for the reply Adam the plane is either a 787-8 or an a321 neo the flights I was referring to were the Phoenix, Dallas routes to and from Anchorage
Thanks, Alex
Alex,
That’s now. You don’t mention where you are in the process (or if you’ve even started?) but let’s assume you haven’t. If you start training today, the soonest you’d most likely be at American (as always there are no guarantees you’d ever get there) would be maybe 8yrs from now. In 8yrs the Neo’s won’t be quite so neo, and the 78s could be 77xs or 350s etc etc. If it’s a heavy could be another 10yrs from then.18yrs from now global warming could have put Alaska underwater, China might have purchased the United States and are only using Chinese nationals as pilots in their single pilot robotic cockpits or maybe we’re even teleporting like Star Trek and airplanes no longer exist due to the exhaustion of all fossil fuels. Who knows? 
Adam
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We really need to make a book of “Adamisms” 
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I agree! That one was outstanding! LOL!
I’d buy at least 5 copies myself!
Tom,
I agree 100%