Originally Posted by
303flyboy
Soon as we take our 100/200 whatever the number now is girls and guys of ELS and stop handing out COLA 35s to those who want it I believe it. That being said.. sure looks like it
IF things go as the company seems to be planning, I would be willing to bet that COLA (probably unpaid this time) offerings will continue for awhile. All the ELS/COLA-0 pilots will be back and we would likely be greatly overstaffed with the suppressed demand if we continued to bring on new pilots. Remember, it was only up until a couple of years ago that we were hiring, yet we were overstaffed and offering COLAs during the busy summer months. The company has, in the past, hired for future expected need and then voluntarily sheds the workforce to the extent needed or the extent possible. It’s really the only way the company is going to be able to take on the new planes and be spooled up and ready to fly them right away when the demand picks up.
I also found it interesting that the January COLA-35 offerings only had a single month option. I was fully expecting one month and three month options. To me, that says that the company is wanting to keep their staffing flexible and not have additional pilots committed to being out until April.