Originally Posted by
coodrough568
I think your equation misses the fact that the WO pilot has 1) already been making them money for a few years, so they’ve probably already paid off that training cost at AA and re-recruiting cost at the WO, and 2) (for what little it’s worth) we’ve been using the same FOM/AOM and are familiar with DECS/CCI and all the other out dated junk AA runs on
There's no calculation in their minds that you've "already made them some money so now they owe you something".
Being "familiar" with the operation saves them no money, you have to get exactly the same training as any other new hire. If a new-hire has to learn a bunch of manuals and systems, that's a personal problem, not a management problem.
The only calculation they make is "how can we make our next move as cheaply as possible?" If flowing someone and thereby incurring a new-hire AND an upgrade training event at the WO in ADDITION to the mainline new-hire event is more costly than just hiring a fighter-pilot, they're going to hire the fighter pilot. Worse if they're having trouble recruiting for the regional, even more incentive to throttle the flow and hire from Skywest if needed.