Originally Posted by
aewanabe
Seems like we're talking past each other a bit, and don't necessarily disagree on the salient points, but more the philosophy. The adjunct program as it was originally envisioned 4, 6, 8 years ago(it's been reinvigorated a few times) was supposed to have guys teach and fly on a close to 50/50 basis, not 2-3 months per year. I'm sure it's harder to keep up on the courseware if it's less often, but that's a leadership/structure issue that could easily be fixed.
The problem seems to mostly be flight operations not being able to release guys to training on a regular basis, especially the MCO guys. One person leaving MCO increases the bid divisor quite a bit, so it's not easy to get 2 or 3 of them off line at the same time.
Honestly, IMO it absolutely is a scope issue. You as a guy that got hired to fly the line first then transitioned to JBU aren't taking away a job from any JB pilot. But your example also proves my point; with 2 years on property you have better QOL being an instructor at JBU than a guy with equivalent seniority who just happened to be based in MCO. Doubly so if you were on the 320. That's why I want all those jobs available for line guys, and not off the street non-SLI. The months where an adjunct guy bids his line don't really bother the normal line guys; he/she just bids and flies what their seniority normally holds in their assigned base.
That assumes every instructor lives in Orlando, and it forgets the fact that anyone can apply for the full-time positions as a line pilot when they open. I'm not circumventing anything since everyone had the opportunity to apply for this position when it was open 2 years ago.
Of course there would be more opportunities open to line guys if all instructors were hired from the line, and I'm not opposed to that in principle. But we will have to negotiate that in our next CBA, and I'm not sure how much people will be willing to give to gain something like that in the CBA. Maybe it is a bigger deal to most than I think it is, but I believe most people would rather focus on other issues first, like healthcare, work rules, etc.
You seem to keep ignoring where I've agreed not every line guy would be a great instructor, but again, that's what the interview, selection and training process are for. And the line about let locals apply when they send the emails out is a bit of a non-sequitur. You know as well as I do (probably better) that most vacancies at JBU are not advertised to the pilot group at large.
I didn't know anyone at JBU when I applied. All I did to get my position was reply to an email from training inviting people to apply from the line with my resume. Every position that has been open for adjuncts since then was advertised to the line. I haven't seen any positions open that weren't advertised since I've been at JBU, frankly. Keep in mind there has been a big change in leadership at JBU, and that things are run a bit differently now, so that may be part of the disconnect.
For the newhires reading this back-and-forth, the bottom line is your training will be a pretty good experience no matter where your instructor came from. I'm personally a skeptical guy at times, and passionately want our pilots to have the best instructors and most varied employment opportunities. Having said that, sans one bad apple on the 190 fleet and a couple guys that were mailing it in a bit, I would rate all my interactions with JBU guys as being average to excellent. The program is set up with the intention of making sure
you have every opportunity to succeed.
I agree with that whole heartedly. We are here for you to succeed, and will help out in any way we can to get you through training as smoothly as possible. Good luck to all the new hires, and all the people trying to get on. It's a good company, and things should only get better going forward.