Originally Posted by
sailingfun
Gloppy, to try and inject some cheer into the hiring process 150 of the first 300 pilots hired were senior to anyone hired after 06. The next 600 will all be junior. Bids put out late summer for fall classes will be surprisingly junior and then the 330 training will start adding even more movement. In addition the company is stating there will be another widebody RFP by the end of the year, something not previously planned until 2017.
I like to try and balance hopeful optimism with historic pessimism enough to end up with realism in a difficult to predict environment such as this.
That said,
anything and everything when it comes down to hiring, even for attrition, and especially growth. Non 717 growth is even better, but I'm still not convinced its going to happen. 10 A330's isn't enough to make a dent (ok it makes a dent but depends on many other things…the future of the ER especially) and could easilly come out in the wash with a slight change in utilization or a tiny reduction in another category. Any additional widebody RFP and we'll really have to mind the deets, otherwise we may end up guessing wrong
I do agree that there will be continued hiring and that the future for now does look quite bright for hiring and advancement. Current pilots are going to finally see some positive movement, and new hires are going to have a stellar career. Most likely.
Far beyond the benefits of seniority list movement, I hope for our sake our company can move beyond the soon to be radically obsolete era of capacity dicipline margin fluffing and into an era of competing and winning, with a combination of excellent products and service as well as flat out brute force where necessary. The former being necessary for prosperity. The latter being necessary for long term survival.