Originally Posted by
Azorian
Pardon my ignorance, but what sense does a hiring freeze make?
sure, perhaps if they are fat on FOs a hiring freeze for FOs... but a hiring freeze all around?
smells of fish
It's not a hiring freeze all around. It's to cap the number of FOs coming in that aren't near upgrade time. We are fat on FOs and don't have the Captains. Limiting the number of FOs in order to snag high time guys to upgrade and allow sim time for current FOs to upgrade. Here is an excerpt from an ALPA email addressing this:
Rumor Control – New Hire Class Sizes
Of late, much has been made about the last new hire class being 'only' 31 pilots, down from what seems to be a perceived "normal" of well over 50. While, a class of 31 isn't abnormally below the numbers we've seen over the average of the last year, the company has indicated their ability/desire to transition towards smaller numbers in each class. Given the lack of captain-qualified first officers, it doesn't make sense to over-populate the ranks of first officers. In today's environment, we can't imagine the company furloughing FOs, however that is exactly what we would be looking at if they continued to hire 100+ pilots per month (as FOs) and were unable to upgrade a similar number of Captains. The operation would quickly become lopsided, and furloughs could result.
We continue to advocate with management that they recognize the value in compensating our pilots as the industry's leaders, along with recognizing our commitment and sacrifice to AAG by providing unmatched career progression, to create an organic path from newhire to FO to CA. But, until management has a tangible reason to change their attitude towards what matters most to the pilots, there's no logical business reason (in management's eyes) to change what they believe is working for them. And since their classes are full, there is little attrition, and the operation is as dependable as ever, there is little incentive for change.
Rather than make economic and QOL improvements that inspire pilots to upgrade at the first chance, they have chosen to simply throttle-down newhire classes. With fewer new FOs, the Company is better able to match the number of newhires with the small number of FOs that can be involuntarily assigned to CA each month.
Despite the uphill battle, the Envoy MEC will never stop fighting for what's best for our pilots, and each Envoy pilot should never sell themselves short of what they deserve.
Bottom line, this company doesn't need more FOs. They need CAs.