Originally Posted by
billyho
Actually they are starting to make changes at Piedmont. It was rumored about 6 months ago and it looks like it's happening. Training Dept is become more and more a mirror of American. They basically want it to become a seamless transition into American from Piedmont. They already seen an increase in class sizes so I really think it's getting ready to go full swing since they can now start hiring right into the jet with Street Captain also.
Going to interesting but looks like they are starting finally to do all the right things. Plus now I've heard they have access to more 145 simulators.
Street captains are a time bomb, especially in this environment.
They are great at first, but before long, you have FO's that want to upgrade but can't because people that are junior to them took all of the CA slots. Then, when things start moving again, the street captains are stuck on eternal reserve.
So, you have street captains looking to go somewhere else because they are sick and tired of reserve life. At the same time, you have junior FO's that are unable to upgrade and are looking to leave. If the market is good for pilots (which it will be), they all start to leave at the same time.
This has happened many times at airlines, and is happening at PSA right now. Street captains are never a good thing. They just temporarily delay the pain and suffering. In the end, you are better off growing naturally.
Plus, from the sounds of it, PDT really isn't going to grow much at all. It is just swapping out Dash's for 145's. Isn't it going to be a 1 for 1 swap? If not, do you have the specific announcement to say that it is not and how many airplanes you will be getting?