Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
As I said, there is a relatively narrow window where you can make it work, and probably not suffer any ill effects.
I know of people who made the jump from SWA to DAL, from AA to UAL, from NWA to DAL, from DAL to NWA, from UAL to DAL, from DAL to FDX, from UPS to NWA and all other possible permutations. Generally these pilots had a LOT of hiring horsepower, such as former military, and they had multiple applications in that just happened to trigger at different times. They lost maybe 6 months to a year of longevity, so it didn't really affect them too too much. Or they decided that a certain carrier had a more suitable/lucrative flying. I know several that bailed to go to FDX. But it wasn't like they sat somewhere for 3 years, THEN decided to toss their apps in somewhere else.
This is one of those situations where you HAVE to be ahead of the curve otherwise your chances of screwing up your program are much higher. It's like buying that house in a trendy neighborhood before it becomes trendy. If you try to get in after the fact, you're probably going to take a beating.
3 years is a lifetime in airline hiring. It makes all the difference between good times and bad. Guys hired late 95 at NWA did BETTER than DOH at DAL, and are riding high on the seniority list. Those hired in 98 and later, much less so. Those hired at the beginning of 98 made Captain, those at the end got furloughed.
If you are making this jump at the middle or end of the hiring wave, you are probably NOT going to be satisfied with the result, unless you have overwhelming financial or domicile reasons for doing so. Because hiring peaks and valleys at major airlines tend to be offset a little bit, you can really hose yourself if you make the wrong jump.
Even domiciles come and go. Make the jump to another place to a SMALL domicile, and you will probably be disappointed when it closes. If you jump to someplace because they fly a certain airplane or to a certain region, you can be equally disappointed.
This is one of those situations that I used to watch on the old Doctor wannabe forums. Some person would post about their HIGHLY unlikely set of circumstances that allowed them to go and be successful at medical school after 35 (rich parents, wealthy spouse, insane MCAT score because they taught the test for 10 years, etc), and all of a sudden it became "XXX did it, and so anyone can do it", without recognizing any of the highly specific parameters that made it possible, let alone practical.
