I think you may be minimizing the burden on these Airbus transitioning pilots a bit. We have cancelled transition classes before and we have kept upgraded pilots in the right seat for months on end. However, never have we sent a group through ground school, FTD, sim, and a type ride only to send them back to a completely different aircraft whose limitations and operating characteristics have long been forgotten. There is a safety issue there.

Also, these "extenuating circumstances" were self-induced. Anyone who has been here more than 6 months knows that AAY plans everything for best-case scenario. There is no slack built into training, certification, or even the daily schedule. Why is that? It's because the people who know what's going on aren't the ones in charge. The operation is run by marketing and accounting, not by the experienced airline managers we have here. The bean counters say "do it" and everyone else jumps. While the government shutdown isn't the company's fault, it's been almost 2 months since it happened and things are still stalled out here with the Airbus. The only ones who have taken the blame for the large disruptions as of late are the government and the pilots (see the press release this week for the PGD fiasco). There has been zero admission of fault by management.

I absolutely agree that we need to stop farming out flying to a 3rd party. However, throwing pilots back in the sim for a practice session and a PC in a totally different aircraft before chucking them back out on the line is a haphazard response to a manufactured crisis.