Originally Posted by
FleetSnarl
Retirement "wave"? Lol.
Compared to what?
Compared to UA, DL, AA? Might want to check the retirement numbers at the
legacies and then compare it to the retirement numbers at
Southwest. Scroll to the bottom to view the retirements each year.
Do you still call Southwest retirements a "wave"?
At its peak, AA will retire approx 6.5 percent of its pilots in a single year. Huge movement.
At its peak, SWA will retire approx 4.1 percent of its pilots in a single year. Not AA movement, but not something to ignore, either. The retirement waves at the respective airlines are pretty similar over the years, SWAs just trails by a couple of years and has a younger pilot group, so it is spread out over a longer period.
So yes, I would call it a wave. AA is like a tsunami, SW is like a pretty sweet swell.
Those reading this who get hired towards the back end of that wave at AA/DL/UA are going to be stuck in the right seat for a very long time. Delta has front loaded a lot of hiring with young pilots, so they are already seeing that stunted seniority growth in the future to a degree. While I know that seems far off, go back 10 years on this forum and read some of the posts. Eye opening.