Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Nobody is going to take that deal if Big-Six is even a realistic option, no good reason to take a bunch or risks for a stepping stone unless you know the established majors won't be calling. Safer to just sit tight at your regional in most cases.
The FAA will require experienced CA's for the left seat, they will not let a startup hire 2500 hour regional FO's and put them in the left seat of a new-design narrowbody on a new certificate. Startups typically also hire experienced pilots for the right seat initially, on the premise that they will upgrade very quickly.
His B-Plan is going to need plenty of compensation for pilots.
Guessing there are plenty of guys with 3k-5k hours (1k-2k+ TPIC), at regionals waiting on majors to call. Drop the degree requirement (likely won't be one at Moxy) and that opens a door for guys with no degree who are otherwise qualified. I've never seen any "start-up airline pilot minimums" in any FAA rules, and I'd venture to say that a current 121 captain, who has an FAA ATP, and who passes an FAA type ride in the C Series, is qualified in the FAA's eyes to act as a captain at a pt 121 airline, start-up or otherwise. I'd also venture to guess that Neeleman will pay Moxy CAs more than any regional will pay their CAs. If I was at a regional waiting for a major to call, I would possibly gamble with a start up while waiting, depending on the pay/benefits/bases/etc. The seniority, pay, and career expectations likely exceed that of any regional, with the exception of a guy having a possible near-term flow. And for the guys going straight to the left seat of Moxy, waiting for a big 6 to call, to then go be an FO again, may not be appealing. For guys in their first year at a regional, they could go be early FOs at Moxy with a potential quick upgrade, and make probably more money than they are making at said regional in either seat.
Guess we will see in a couple years how it plays out.