Most new hires (myself included) are eating through savings to make first year doable. More so now due to inflation increasing the cost of almost everything by 20%+. I’m an adult with responsibilities like kids and an aging parent I care for. Eating through savings while staring at a possibly nasty recession next year that may very well lead to furloughs. So eat through savings on probation and then face furlough with no money… Or eat through less savings on probation by picking up Green Slips (a negotiated contractual provision) and have some money for a potential furlough. Want to fix the issue of new hire pilots picking up Green Slips? Fix first year pay. It’s abysmal. And raising it to $100 /hour first year to be in parity with what regional FOs are now making is a joke too.

And for the record I haven’t even been picking up Green Slips. But I certainly don’t fault those who do.