Originally Posted by
TimSmith
Wow...you may be the first unhappy camper I have met here. I hear Mesa is hiring and you can make captain in 6-9 minutes.
Seriously though, you may see upgrade at 9 years on an aircraft with an APU, but that is your decision. First available upgrade for a new hire this year will be around 5 years. Why? Our numbers for the past few years show roughly 70+ people leave a year. We are supposed to be taking delivery of 80 something NET increase of aircraft, but due to manufacturer's delays it is probably going to be 40 net increase. The main impediment to upgrades is the PIC merry go-round. Seat locks going to 39 months, this will slow down the merry go-round and open slots for true upgrades. So expansion plus attrition will add up to 180 upgrades needed per year. New hire today has about 1000 numbers ahead of him/her. The most restrictive bottleneck is the training slots and those will open up as the economy slows and the new seat lock takes effect.
Therefore, go have a beer and try to cheer up! Life IS good man!!!
Spot on Tim. I think some guys just love dealing out doom and gloom. I can see upgrades going 4-5 years for FIRST available based on simple math with the 60/40 crew ratio and projected hiring. The upgrades are slow now as the company tries to adjust to that ratio but it should pick up by the end of the year assuming hiring goes as planned. Of course all this can change in a NY min. But life IS good!