Originally Posted by
GeeWizDriver
What growth? Our hiring for the last 18 months has been below the departure rate which is why our pilot list continues to shrink. I don't expect much change on that score.
That was a direct result of the 2018 Amended agreement and was one of the many company goals of that negotiation, just like the 2015 contract was intended to shrink body count.
We have a handful more airplanes on property than a year ago since all the new arrivals have been offset by the shutdown of the Falcon and the drawdown of the X and the Excel. We are one economic hiccup or devastating election result away from fleet shrinkage.
A) Regarding attrition vs. hiring.
Everything has a balance.
Hiring is good. Economically and morale wise, hiring is good. Hiring the right amount is better. Many NJA pilots are preparing their exit strategy due to age over the next decade to 15 years. As those departures occur, the company can address hiring needs. Why has hiring been less than attrition? We still have a crew surplus (company wide) that is correcting... some fleets could use pilots now but that need can be tempered with extra days and OT, etc.
As more jets arrive, more crews will be needed, hence the reason hiring was just doubly increased this month.
B) After the merger of NJI and NJA, the combined NJA was grossly overmanned once integration of the seniority list was completed. The merit of more jobs (empty seniority) with suppressed flying and earning levels as a result is debatable.
Given the options available the company to deal with overstaffing, which would you choose as a line pilot?
1) Furlough and enjoy all of the negative stigma that comes with it.
2) CBA 2015 and now IBI
Reduce body count and increase crew utilization are synonymous terms.
C) Regarding the NET of JETS we have of disposals vs totals delivered. Every jet we take delivery of strengthens the future of this company and the careers of it employees. Every one.
That being said, there are limits to the number of jets we can get in a given period of time. We aren’t the only customer in some cases and in others, well, even Textron can only make so many jets a day. That being said, tremendous strides are being made in the area of fleet replacement.
Longitude is onboarding soon and will replace the X (24) and some Sovereigns (44). 150 are on order/option. The 350s continue at a trickle. Phenoms are near 80 now with about 10 coming a year. Latitude is coming amazingly fast and could easily reach 200 in size... already 100 spoken for! The 650 seems to be encountering a second wind on the news of Hemisphere. Have you noticed the large Captain bid a week or so ago? The Global 5000/6000 continues at a measurable pace. Who could forget the 7500?
At some point, the number of jets will net much higher than the levels we’ve seen in the last couple of years (massive disposals). The fires are becoming stoked for a very profitable period in this companies history. Fleet replacement was one of the most important things needing accomplished and we’ve more than turned the corner in its progress.
When the XL/XLS, Sovereign and X numbers are increasingly minimized over the next year, I think you’ll see more of that OEM delivery effort start to show a higher fleet count than the 420/460 NJA has had since 2015 or so.
Today, we stand at 441. Many scoffed at even that number being achieved again not that long ago.
I’m sure we’ll have similar discussions once we pass 500 jets. 500 “won’t be enough” and it’ll “be a travesty that the company won’t pay 300k a year on 7n7”. Can you imagine?! 🙂