Take this with an equally large grain of salt, but I’ve also talked to a couple of new LCA’s. Both said that the vast majority of their classes applied for the position to get their foot in the door anticipating a much better deal before TA1 came out. They also said that most in their class planned to quit and return to flying the line if the deal wasn’t up to their expectations. My understanding is also that most current LCA’s were not only upset about TA1 paying by the leg, but they were also upset that the override wasn’t higher. Still others have been LCA’s a long time and all of this movement has opened opportunities to move onto other equipment. Long story short is that the training department isn’t on solid ground with a large expansion around the corner.

My guess is that the Tumi rates would probably keep people in the position if paid by the trip, but all the LCA’s in the world won’t make people want to bid new positions. Until we get a contract that incentivizes people to upgrade, we will continue to have unfilled captain vacancies. People aren’t going to want to bid into the unknown, and the current contract just isn’t good enough to change.