Originally Posted by
scottm
MPL pilots are in cockpits replacing airline pilots already under ICAO. They are quicker and cheaper to train, they are trained and certified for only one airline, locked into that airline so they can't move to a higher paying airline which would force airlines to pay what they are worth. Their training and experience don't count toward becoming an airline pilot, so they will forever be cheap seat fillers paid whatever airlines feel like paying. Airline management dream fulfilled. A stroke of a pen and they will be training for U.S. airlines, but that will only happen if we have a "crisis", right? And they'll only be used on long-haul, 3 & 4 pilot flights, right? Stroke of a pen and everything changes.
And when that happens, another pilot glut and FO stagnation.
While I don't want to totally discount that as a potential stratedgy by the MBA crowd, I don't ever see major contracts being modified to allow something like that. There may be some new hires going to ER's and occasionally larger right now, but not nearly enough to fill the "shortage" by hoping those categories stay junior, even if the regs change.