Originally Posted by
daOldMan
Hiring is only part of the problem. The classes that are starting now already have 6-7+ weeks wait before they go to training. A backlog only 2 months into the hiring resuming. By the time Christmas hits, it will likely be 10-12 week wait. While this may be great for some (sit home getting paid), it will certainly cause operational problems later.
Plus, for those getting hired now, they will spend a lot more time at the bottom of the list and stuck on reserve somewhere they don't want to be while those junior to them are stuck in the training pipeline.
Most people expect AA to skip months of new hire classes in 2022. This will help the shortages at the regionals (less will flow) and give the training department time to catch up.
That's pre pilot shortage thinking, they can't afford to stop classes even if the wait for sims is 9 months. They have to keep adding pilots to the list every month indefinitely, United has already said they don't care about training backlogs just get the pilots on property. It is going to get real interesting soon, my hope is the 76 seat RJs end up at mainline and that may be the only option. You can't park an A319, A220, or even an E190 at many of the Eagle designated gates in most hubs without a lot of $ to reconfigure the terminals.