barabek

It doesn't effect anything other than the ratio between captains and FOs. We still upgrade captains, just at slower rate than hiring FOs. Right now we have 364 captains and 415 FOs (according to the last notice of vacancy). In LAX the disproportion is the biggest (235 CAs and 290 FOs). Not all the CAs are on the line yet, some still in training or waiting for the class, some on a leave. There were 188 CAs bidding for March in LAX and 162 estimated lines. The number of lines has been consistently stable since we received the last airplane delivery, so after all the upgrades are done, considering no attrition, we should be properly staffed on the CA side. The FO side is in my opinion more then properly staffed already. I can't see the exact numbers, but I know that there's almost no open time and more than ample number of reserves. That is happening while probably over 90 FOs are still in training (maybe someone can chime in with the exact numbers). I think the company is simply stacking up on FOs mostly because it takes almost 3 months to train a new hire and as little as 3 weeks to upgrade a captain. The valid question is, why so many FOs? If it's just to replace attrition, then I'm missing something. The attrition increased but it's still not that high (5-10 a month at the most). We are hiring way more then that...