Originally Posted by
slough
IMO, Big three will hire way more than 500 each per year. I think the number is going to be 150 per month next year at all three. The mainline operations are more profitable than the regional carriers. Even with the higher wages, they still are the money makers. I don't think they care about paying to repo that plane if it's going to make them 100k the next week carrying people around internationally.
I really hope you're right and I'm smoking crack.
I'll buy you a beer if that happens. I just don't see it though. Hiring that many pilots would represent growth. These guys are getting new planes, but they are buying new planes to replace old ones. The new orders do not represent growth. The other issue is capacity and I'm not talking aircraft capacity. The air transportation system itself is operating near capacity meaning even if the airlines were getting new planes for new flying there is not enough capacity. ADS-B might improve that but that's another 7-10 years away to equip the fleets. There are too many things working against the fallacy of a shortage.