Originally Posted by
JetBlast77
So what happens at the end of the year or whenever the fleets are combined? Will a bunch of senior guys slide into the 756 and displace a bunch of junior pilots into different equipment?
Combining the two groups of bidders in a base will have absolutely no impact on the total number of positions. In fact, the 76T in JFK is understaffed by 20 or more pilots so if they were to combine next month the result would be a net increase in 756 positions in EWR.
The plan is to retire older 757s and 3 class 767s over the next 2 years. Those retirements will hit the bases where the flying is predominantly domestic. DEN, LAX, SFO, and to some extent DCA. Total 756/76T flying in EWR should remain the same or possibly even increase while IAH has seen some decline already, but will likely not see much further eroding based on what the planning department has said so far. Meantime, I expect that as vacancy bids come out the pool of senior most FOs looking for their first Captain bid will come heavily out of the 777 and 756 ranks and so too retirements on the UAL side will include many 76T Captains. In other words, my less than perfect Crystal Ball shows a picture wherein no 756 pilots get bumped which is why the company is willing to train 18 a month going forward and also why the company didn't open the BAT to a single wholesale open ended offer to switch. By controlling the stream of movement, they can keep the total supply of 756+76T pilots at or about what they need with the exception of bases like DEN and LAX. As an example of the shift that is occuring just look at DCA where the number of 76T FOs has gone from 240 or so down to 120 or less already (taking into account the BAT awards and laterals already handed out). If not for the BAT in DCA there would have been massive displacements already and that would have freed up dozens of Captain's and FOs to bump anywhere in the system they wanted. All in all, it looks to me like the BAT is one more tool the company has to shelter them from displacements in the 756/76T Fleet.
That opinion plus a buck might buy you a coffee at a cheap diner, but hopefully something in there is useful to someone.
Originally Posted by
AxlF16
They shouldn't place arbitrary limits (eg. 18/month) on our ability to transfer.
I couldn't agree more. Although practically speaking nearly everyone that wanted a BAT already has been awarded the move, and I suspect that by summertime anyone that wanted to move will have been given the opportunity. Could be wrong on that and of course it wouldn't be a new thing . . . me being wrong
