Originally Posted by
RJSAviator76
How the hell do you go from needing 1400 pilots this year to furloughing 2500?
Some of these airlines are using the same models for staffing that said we'd lose 2.2 million people in this country due to COVID-19.
Um, that +1,400 number was pre-Covid when demand was high for airline travel. It has since plummeted (about 10% traveling compared to the normal amounts. TSA's site shows 200k pax daily or so compared to 2.5mil last year same date). And since this virus is here to stay for quite some time and vaccines at least 12 months away, the airlines have to project to next summer and estimate what travel demand, capacity looks like, and decide on active pilot requirements. That's why furlough numbers are projected for summer 2021 active pilot requirements. The sad part is at least for the big 3, they'd rather cut not enough than too much because then they would not be able to benefit from a quick recovery if that ends up being the case. The downside is these are initial baselines from which furloughs can get worse. United alluded to this when they put their displacement bid out.