This will not be implemented until Fall of '24 anyway - if you look at the implementation schedule, lots of things will happen before we start doing this. This gives everyone who is planning on applying to United the understanding that, and especially if they are young, they may get a CA award right out of training. If they still choose to apply and take a class date at United, they are well aware they may become accelerated pilots. Free will and choice is abundant here. Nobody is forcing people to apply to United, especially if they don't want to upgrade or have no prior PIC experience at a regional (which we are starting to see now). If we end up having applicants play Russian roulette with their first year here, knowing full well there was a chance they could be given a CA slot, then that's on them - nobody forced them to apply.

Just as a parallel, Delta has been upgrading 3.5 month new hires under the age of 25 into their 737s in JFK/LGA/EWR for years now. Heck, they had a 4 month upgrade on the Mad dog just prior to Covid with no 350 hour pre-requisite on Delta metal, no 100 hour OE, as long as they had the 1000 hours of 121 SIC which is a pre-requisite to upgrade at a 121 carrier.

You keep forgetting they still have to pass training, IOE, another full course, OE, FAA observations and so on and so on. Our training department is pretty good at weeding out people they feel have no business being in the left seat, if that is the case. The new TA also has a clause that nobody that gets short qual'ed can be accelerated, and this provides further protection to people's concerns.

Lots of people are talking about this being the poison pill of the TA - but we're a year away from this implementation, and whoever is on property at the time will have understood the provision and accepted it if they chose to come here.