The multi type fleet training churn:
Joe Smith, a CA flying the 787 is coming up on retirement. He’s going to get the last flight water cannons and all that. Of course the 787 will still have to be staffed. Someone will require an upgrade - and maybe a new type rating. But of course it doesn’t end there.
Fred Schulz, currently a CA flying the 767 has always wanted to fly the 787. Why not? It’s damn near $60 an hour better pay, and while he will slide down in seniority relative to his CA group, he’s still senior enough to avoid reserve. So he puts in his bid for the open 787 spot. But of course, it doesn’t end there.
Cindi Schroeder is a CA flying 319s. A 767 slot will pay her another $20k a year, $23k counting the 401k. And she’s senior enough to not go on reserve. H€||, why not?
Ernie Anderson is a junior 787 FO. He’s on reserve still, after four years. With more senior guys from the other fleets jumping in over him, he’s going to be on reserve forever in the 787 fleet. But he’s senior enough to be a line holding CA in the A320 fleet - which would be a $60 an hour increase in pay. And in a few years, when he is senior enough to hold a line, he can always come back to the 787 as a CA. Hell, why not?
Greta Cunningham is a new hire. They offer her a 787 slot. Granted, it’s in a high cost of living area and the first year pay is the same as everyone else’s, and she’s going to be on reserve for years, but after that first year she’ll be making $35 an hour more than other FOs with her seniority. (It doesn’t occur to her that if it were that great a deal, other more senior FOs would have already jumped on it). Oh, H€||, why not?
……
Overall, this one retirement has generated four type ratings and 1 upgrade for United.
The comparable ULCC retirement (or attrition) generates one type rating and one upgrade. Additionally, you only need one type training program and sims avoiding a lot of overhead. Now, granted, that won’t do much good without a more competitive pay scale, but the idea that the legacies are going to exhaust the training capacity of the ULCCs seems a little far fetched. They have problems of their own.
my opinion. YMMV.