Originally Posted by
Aero1900
While I agree that Franke is probably smart and knows what he's doing, I question if he comprehends how quickly the market for pilots is changing. He probably all too fondly remembers the days of pilots needing 3000 hours of TPIC to get looked at by the regional. The pay to play and the thousands of pilots willing to accept any flying job no matter the compensation.
Of course, they can just drag out negotiations until it's immediately apparent that they can't fill classes, and then cave in. For them to offer raises a day before they have to, they are leaving money on the table. And for now, they are still easily filling classes.
The pilot shortage isn't going to happen at our F9's level for a long time. I still have regional guys coming up to me in the terminal asking about a job. Even when I try to discourage them I hear, "well every airline's management is like yours" or "but it's a two year upgrade". If F9 has trouble filling classes they can just drop the requirements to FAA mins. Might cost them a little more for insurance but still cheaper than giving us a raise.
If anything Frontier likes it when people leave after a year or two. Second year pay is $28 an hour more than first year. They still save money even with training.