Originally Posted by
DilsonWic
They want to be able to staff their regional flying, and using the flow to do just that. Maybe in a few years, if the economy holds up, there will be more hiring for OTS guys. Just the reality of it right now.
This.
The flow isn’t about filling seats at mainline. It’s about keeping costs at the regionals low and attracting a steady supply of applicants. There are a lot of savings to be realized by having WO regionals / flow programs.
It isn’t as if they are giving their WO pilots a class at AA out of the kindness of their hearts. It’s purely a financial decision for them. While I personally don’t have many big complaints about my time at the WO I work at, generally speaking our contracts / pay / QOL are behind what other regionals are paying. No one comes to and stays at the WOs because they’re the best regionals. We’re mostly here for the flow. If the flow goes away so will many of AA’s WO regional pilots.