Originally Posted by
FirstClass
It's just not that important. People are coming for the quick upgrade. As soon as the hiring picks up again, we'll be back to 30 pilots every two weeks being pushed through.
Excuse me for saying so, but it would seem quick upgrade or direct entry trumps flow through. The numbers seem to prove that out. I liken it to pilots being most concerned with what options are directly in front of them at the moment. Since you can't depend on anything long term in this business, it seems to make sense.
What would you do if given the following two choices with what we know to be accurate today?
A.) Go to a carrier slated to receive 70 more airplanes over the next two years and be captain immediately or if you don't have the sic time know that the moment you hit your 1000 sic hours you will be captain
-or-
B.) Go to a carrier with flow that may or may not be turned off at any time with a much longer upgrade time and for that matter said carrier has pilots on FO reserve for 4 years along with a current flow time of 16 years?
It absolutely is important for many reasons. If we don't improve our contract while other carriers do, we will slowly become less and less attractive to potential new hires. We aren't the only carrier offering a quick upgrade at the moment. And that carrot will basically be gone by the spring.