Originally Posted by
Dragon7
TK is a huge footprint to support, and is actually a big issue for management in our negotiations. They want contract non seniority list instructors. Those two issues mean TK will continue to operate year round. Maybe TK instructors fly a little more in the summer, but they aren’t at TK because they want to fly a lot. Hiring continues year round for the foreseeable future.
That worries me. Why? Because that proves to me that management doesn't get it. They don't get the value of having our pilots fly in and out of these places. Having "TK instructors" who are not line pilots would potentially open us up to the following:
1. Instructors fresh out of college with no experience "teaching us". No benefit, no knowledge, resulting in no credibility.
2. Retired pilots who want to find a way to "get back onto the line". Think of the friends of pfred…. Think of those special pilots at CAL who were soley approved to go around the age 60 retirement age by being in the training department. Those pilots approved only by the Houston FSDO office and no other FAA FSDO.
3. Lowest bidder training (you get what you pay for).
4. A bunch of foreign nationals who speak poor English
5. Loss of control by ALPA and the ALPA training committee, no input, no oversight, no membership into the association.
I would say that if management wants this, then management doesn't care about quality. Just do CBT's for everything and lets watch our IPAD's. Stupid!