Originally Posted by
airlinegypsy
Thank you. Obviously the big 3 will not have any problem filling classes, but how many spots will be reserved for pilots from Mesa and the like?
The same number that will be reserved for AWAC and CommutAir = ZERO.
CPP at UA doesn't reserve slots at UA. DGI at Delta doesn't reserve slots. There are no reserved slots at any place besides American.
CPP/DGI/Flow is a trap for people who can't see the writing on the wall for the next 3-5 years. American's flow isn't as bad as the other two programs since you don't have to interview again and just have to watch the clock, but it's still a foolish move to make it your primary plan.
At least at American somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-75% of new hire slots are already spoken for. The rest goes to military and a handful of lucky pilots from across the industry.
How long will they be able to pull their current military percentage before the military pilot pool is reduced down to solely the guys getting out at 10 years vs right now where there is a huge spread of guys between 10 and 20 years getting out? That high military percentage will not last too long.
AA, UAL and DAL have people lined up for miles to fly for them, but the shortage at their regionals is already here, hence the bonuses and hiring agreements. It will get worse, and when it does it's a logical step to make service at a regional of their choosing mandatory prior to sitting in the right seat of the mainline. Will it be 100%? Probably not, but pretty close to it in the future is my guess.
If they hire off the street, that's one pilot they have to find/recruit/hire.
If they hire a pilot from a regional that flies their feed, they also have to find another pilot to replace him at the regional he just left, which like you said, is hard now, and getting harder.
It's a lot easier to attract someone to work at mainline than it is to keep attracting a continuous feed of new pilots at a regional when there aren't enough to go around, which is why they hang the Flow/CPP/DGI carrot just barely out of reach of the majority of the guys at the regional and only let in a small trickle of regional guys into the mainline millionaires club each year.
What would you do if you were trying to keep your mainline airline AND your regional airline staffed? Hire one pilot or two?
Originally Posted by
Flying101
It's not the case at UA now but as UA brings more and more programs such as CPP it will lower the odds of a street-hire.
How so?
Street hires and CPP guys have to survive the same interview and meet roughly the same job requirements, and as United drops their requirements, the CPP requirements will probably stay unchanged.
The turndown rates are pretty high too right now.