The “captain” and “first officer” rankings are employer-specific and non-transferable. You can be a captain at United, but if you were to switch allegiance to S

The “captain” and “first officer” rankings are employer-specific and non-transferable. You can be a captain at United, but if you were to switch allegiance to Southwest, you have to join a new union and restart the career climb. The only exception is airline mergers - some Virgin America captains are eligible to join the ranks of Alaska Airlines captains, out of recent examples.