Originally Posted by PurdueFlyer

Every regional is seeing a lot of movement. All you gained with your TA was an additional 12 pilots per year, 1 a month. That doesn't add a massive amount of movement. That's the math. Still feel like a good deal?

You gave concessions for insignificant amount of increased movement.


It's a gigantic gamble and the "reward" you've received isn't worth it. Majors are hiring and planning to keep hiring at an unprecedented pace. You, along with every other regional, is going to see massive amounts of movement because of projected hiring. All you added was 12 additional pilots to mainline per year.

However, what happens if/when the economy tanks or the growth doesn't pan out. Your entire gamble is based on an extremely rosy picture. You are assuming nothing will go wrong and airline history has proven that wrong time and time again. Yes there are a massive number of pilots scheduled to retire, that is cause for hope for all regional airline pilots, BUT regional pilots should be prepared for the worse and the contracts should reflect this.



The underlying issue is that you and the rest of PSA have such strong fixation on your own little world that you are incapable of seeing the rest of the industry or the long term damage you are doing.

Every statement you have made so far reveals how selfish you truly are. "This is great for PSA pilots, PSA pilots will upgrade quickly, PSA pilots will move on to mainline, etc."

Even if your unicorn and rainbow dreams works out exactly as you have stated, your sell out still will not have been worth it. Yes you will be at mainline and thinking you've made it, but PSA will still exist and the legacy you left behind will still exist. That legacy is a lowered cost structure at regional carriers that will likely become regional industry wide because of the trend YOU set.

Management does not care who flies their airplanes, all they care about is costs. So the next time mainline carriers get into financial problems (which will happen) they will come after mainline scope and it will likely get relaxed further. The only place that mainline really makes money is international. That is their bread and butter, however that will come under increased attack from global carriers like Emirates. Margins will likely erode and mainline CEOs will go after labor to fix the problem. One easy area they will try is to outsource 737/A320 sized flying to regional carriers. They'll furlough you and tell you to reapply at PSA or any other myriad of other regional carriers that now all have pay caps (because of the trend you set). This happened at pre merger United with their 737 classic fleet.

You won't feel so smart then. That is one possibility, but there are dozens of bad things that can happen that could force bankruptcies or internal restructuring at mainline carriers. Fuel price increase, war, recession, SARS, terrorists, etc.

I'm not saying this will happen, but there is a possibility that it can. I think the saying, "Plan for the worst, hope for the best," adequately applies.

If instead you had said NO, then that would have made it easier for Piedmont and every other carrier following to say NO. Pinnacle could have been an isolated case. Regional compensation and costs would have risen making them less attractive for outsourcing. That poverty level cost structure could have been greatly reduced or even eliminated. Instead now, because of PSA, Pinnacle is the new trend and the poverty level cost structure is now increased.

Your biggest issue is you think only of yourself and the next 8-12 months of your career. What about the next 8-12 years or even beyond?

You have the same shortsighted attitude that ALPA national has and it is the reason why pilots will never make any meaningful long term gains. You need to see the big picture.



There is nothing special about your pilot group, you guys aren't top gun. Every carrier is seeing pilots getting picked up. Every group is going to become junior in a hurry because of the projected hiring. PSA will not have any discernible longevity advantage.

Also, when I said preferential I meant that you would get the interviews. However you do not have guaranteed jobs, whereas Eagle and Compass do. They go over when their number is called, no need for them to stress or worry about an interview.



Expect 48 to be the maximum, sorry your carrier will have staffing issues like everyone else. Management will try and reduce the impact of short staffing in order to keep all those new airplanes you are so excited about flying.



It wouldn't surprise me at all to see them announce they are keeping the CRJ-200s. After all it is a good way to try and get people through the front door. Reality will be different though because there are simply not enough pilots available to fill everyone's needs.

Take RAH for example. They do not have any 50 seaters set to park and a huge amount of growth between the AA E-175s and UA Q-400s. Yet despite this they are having problems keeping pace with attrition. Be sure all the new hire classes are full, but net hiring isn't keeping pace with growth.

Bedford has hinted in a conference call with investors that they might need to park their 50 seaters in order to prioritize the larger aircraft. The exact same thing will happen to you.

So I'm sure they'll put out the press release saying they are keeping all the current planes and all the new ones are growth. I'm sure you've been fed those rumors as well. The -200s will get parked though because there will be no one to fly them, unless there is a recession (they might get parked anyways to reduce capacity) but then the mainline doors close and then you get to live with your pay caps.

Announcements mean nothing, ask Eagle how close they got to their announced hiring of 600 pilots in a year.