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Originally Posted by
sailingfun
Delta has 900 pilots in the pool and is still turning down qualified candidates and it’s still difficult to get a interview. We are also going to cut hiring in half sometime early next year. If the temporary pay at regionals stops one pilot from applying at Delta I would be surprised and we certainly would not want to hire that guy because he would be almost brain dead.
We also have a rapidly building reputation of an airline whose best hiring times have passed. The 13,XXX+ guys/gals I fly with who are mid-30s or older certainly realize their career progression will pale in comparison to what me and my peers are getting. They take some comfort in the fact that our financial position is far better than the rest of the legacy carriers, but not in line with SWA, FDX, and UPS. I'm telling them that if FDX or UPS calls they should seriously consider going (I'm not a fan of SWA but I'm sure some would leave us to go there as well). Those two companies are still in growth mode, and their business models will better support a downturn than ours, and will excel in another covid like environment where we are toast.
While management clearly does not see the need for a rock-solid contract right now, it is in their best interests to do this, soon. AAL is getting ready for 2000/yr hiring for 4-5 years. As bad as their financial situation is, that will be a preferred destination over us by next summer. If Kirby does go through with his growth plan, add UAL to the list. We could be the #6 choice soon enough.