Originally Posted by
ewrbasedpilot
Movement is BEYOND pathetic in EWR. Our latest bid shows 1 or 2 retirements on the B737 in the next 18 months. All those guys who were sticking around till they were 62 for bridge medical have decided the gravy train will continue till the day they reach 66. I hope they all get to enjoy at least a few months of retirement before they kick the bucket.
I used to have approximately 360 captains below me in EWR. That changed with the "kick EWR in the balls for the Magenta line" fiasco, at which point they cut our base by MORE than half, and I've found myself at the very bottom ( from 72% to 99.8% staffing) for the past year and a half. We are getting almost NO growth on the B737 and the time *****s are in full abundance. It's REALLY sad.
Retirement numbers in the bids don't mean anything right now. Until we hit the age 65 date in December 2012, then the only (lack of) planning the company can do is project retirements based on the number of pilots who have submitted their paperwork as of the date the bid is posted. This is how it was explained to me. However, there are almost always more pilots retiring than the bid projects. What does this one show again? Something like 9 or 10 retirements? We'll go through those before November and the company will be behind the power curve again.
I actually do not blame any over 60 pilot one bit for hanging on to the company t*t for as long as they can while we are in contract negotiations. I would hate to bail out September 1st only to find out they reach an agreement September 15th (purely an example that clearly will not happen) and might be out of retro pay.
I've said it before and continue to say it based on conversations with my other FO friends. I honestly believe retirements will spike once we finally get our excellent contract that will include retro. Too many captains I have flown with and my friends have flown with have made the retirement comment in conjunction with the JCBA. I find it hard to believe that so many would just say it without any truth behind what they are saying. Many have had enough and are ready to go!