United Chicago O'Hare as a base: the domestic hub, the winter operation, the Europe and Asia flying from Chicago and how it sits between Newark and Denver
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#1 United LAX, but I did two years at Chicago before the transfer, and the United base threads on here are Newark, Houston, Denver and SFO. Chicago is the missing one and it is the biggest United base, so here it is from someone who lived it.
The base
O'Hare, United's largest hub, domestic to everywhere, a strong Europe component (London, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Barcelona and more), Asia (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai when it flies), some Latin America and the Caribbean. Thousands of crew, a base list that sits between Newark (senior, international heavy) and Denver (junior, domestic heavy) on how fast you hold a line.
The winter
Jenna's American Chicago thread has it: the snow, the de-icing, the cancellations, the reassignments, the 14 hour duty that started as nine. United Chicago crew are the same experts in irregular operations because the airport is the same airport. The reserve months in winter fly a lot because everything breaks. The summer is thunderstorms and the same skills.
Holding a line
At Chicago I held a line at about 14 months, faster than Newark and slower than Denver, and the first line was domestic with a Cancún. By year two some Europe on the line. The Chicago international goes senior but not as senior as Newark's, because there is more of it and the base is bigger.
The Europe and Asia flying
From Chicago the Europe trips are the same pattern as Newark: out in the evening, 24 hours, back the next day. The Asia (Tokyo particularly) is the long one with the jet lag Jim described. Chicago crew who hold Tokyo are mid seniority and up. The language premium routes from Chicago are fewer than Houston's.
Living in Chicago
Affordable compared to the coasts, a real city, a real winter, the crew in the city on the L or in the western suburbs by car. The crew room at O'Hare is enormous and the union (AFA) is active there. Chicago is the base where a new hire can afford to live in the city and still hold a line in a year, which is a rare combination in the United system.
How it sits between Newark and Denver
Newark: the international, the reserve years, the New York cost. Denver: the line fast, the mountains, the thin international. Chicago: a line in a year, real international from year two, an affordable city, and the winter. For a new hire who wants international eventually and a life now, Chicago is the compromise base and it is a good one.
Why I transferred to LAX
The Pacific flying and the weather. I do not regret it and I do not regret Chicago. The two years there were the two years where I learned irregular operations, held a line early, and could afford a flat with a lake view. The winter was the price. It was a fair price.
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#2 American Chicago, and Kevin's United Chicago is my American Chicago with a different colour uniform. Same airport, same winter, same line at 14 months. The Chicago crews at both airlines could swap crew rooms and not notice.
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#3 Newark, and the 'compromise base and a good one' framing is right. Chicago gets the international two years before Newark gives it, and the Newark crew know it and stay anyway for the New York.
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#4 Denver, and Chicago sits exactly between us: a year for a line versus my months, real Europe versus my thin Europe. If I had wanted international and a life I would have chosen Chicago. I wanted the mountains.
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#5 Houston, and the language premium routes being fewer from Chicago is the one thing Houston wins on. Chicago wins on almost everything else for a new hire who wants Europe.
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#6 SFO, and the Chicago to LAX transfer for the Pacific is the classic path. The Chicago years teach the operation. The LAX years teach the jet lag. Kevin did both.
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#7 Delta Atlanta, year one, and the United Chicago description reads like Atlanta with snow: the biggest hub, a line in a year, affordable, the winter as the price. The majors' big hubs are the compromise bases and they are the good ones.
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#8 JFK, and 'afford a flat with a lake view and hold a line in a year' is a sentence that does not exist in the New York bases. The Chicago crews have a life we do not. The winter is the fair price, as Kevin says.
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#9 @benjireserve the mountains are a good reason and Denver is the right base for it. Chicago is for the people who want the lake and the Europe. Both are lives.
