Originally Posted by
BoilerWings
I guess I'm wondering what happened at Eagle to cause such a large shortage of pilots. It seems like 2 years ago (or even a year ago) mins were 1000/100. And how they're 400/50. If they had no problem a year ago, what changed to cause such a great need? Have that many people left Eagle to make a lateral move? In the past, what has been the primary driver of hiring has been growth, with no growth, why the shortage?
It's not just Eagle. As someone else said, Eagle lowered mins to be competitive with other regionals. Staffing had been tight for QUITE some time, but of course management didn't see it that way; and when it's tight for a long time, and then people start leaving...well, of course doesn't get better.
Some people left for the majors, a lot of flowbacks were recalled, etc. But now that growth is stagnant as there are no new aircraft orders, and most flowbacks are gone, upgrade time will not come down much from what it is, so more FO's are now making "lateral" moves, thereby exacerbating the problem with staffing.