Originally Posted by
dbdevkc
You would think there is something else going on here.
Not really. It's akin to the model that many international operators have already used for many years, with ab initial programs. In this case, they're using people who are already certificated, who pass their screening and enter the program and operate their way for 18 months. UAL gets a candidate who's just undergone 20 months of observation, testing, and screening, their way. That's a step up, so far as the airline is concerned, over an ab initial student, and one who arrives with much of the background and qualification and hours already out of the way.
Some of these programs formerly existed as pay-to-play. In this case, the market is good enough that there's no thought to charging applicants; simply putting them to work, and moving them in.
I suspect we'll see a lot more programs along these lines in the near future.
I also strongly suspect that we'll see an economic crash in the not too distant future, with large scale layoffs and furloughs and a lot of wide eyes wondering what happened.
That's part of the problem walking into a job with few qualifications and no experience; one isn't qualified to go anywhere else when the bottom falls out.
And it will.