Originally Posted by
ZeroTT
Maybe you’re seeing it differently, but at the moment i see a lot more issues retaining captains and LCA’s than recruiting noobs.
Decreasing the number of regionals will not increase the number of captains and LCAs, it will merely increase the number of captains and LCAs flowing from the now-deceased regionals to the majors. Unless you are willing to give these people the same seniority and longevity they had at their previous carrier - which would result in pushing down the seniority of everyone else, why would they want to go to another regional? For that matter, why would they anyway? When a profession lives by seniority, they need to start at the bottom as infrequently as possible. Everybody in the regionals will need to do that once when they get to the majors anyway. No sense doing it twice and certainly not for regional wages.
Seriously, there are whole threads describing the disadvantages of becoming a DEC.
Prospective DECs:
To expect people to do that in this environment is ridiculous. To be a CA at a regional you generally need 1000 hrs of 121 SIC time and that puts most at AT LEAST 2500 hours total time. Such a person is better off going to an ACMI or ULCC - even if their ultimate goal is the Big Six - than stagnating as a junior captain on reserve at a regional as they are passed over by more senior FOs upgrading. Better off economically, and better off career wise. Getting a new type in something heavier than 50 or 76 pax will do you a lot more good career wise than being the low guy regional Captain on reserve for 3-4 years.