Originally Posted by
GoodJet
This is our reality until the situation at Boeing turns around. Once the engine inlet design is finalized: 480 market days until FAA approval. So even with the project finished it will be at minimum two years until the FAA stamps the paperwork. Thankfully we don't have any MAX 7s on order. This will affect the MAX 10s though. Also Boeing is not authorized to increase production of the MAX 8 or 9. So the delivery schedule won't be looking good for a long time. No hiring or movement for a few years.
I would like to add on to this that HA is aproximately 20% overstaffed for current flying according to their own forum. Nearly half of their seniority list commutes from CONUS, LOWER 48, MAINLAND, STATESIDE (whatever term doesn't offend Hawaiian sensibilities) to HNL according to their own forum. 717's are old and innefiicient, A330-200s are old and inneficient, 787's have production problems as well, and Amazon contract is a 50/50 at best business proposition that Alaska will want to keep around, merger math is never 1+1= 2, and the possiblity of flailing global demand for travel. Hope you like where you are on the seniority list. As someone sitting just under upgrade, its a significant dissapointment. My gut tells me this merger will prohibit me from getting out at 60 as I was hoping. I have no one to blame but myself for staying and should have trusted my gut and made the leap 4+ years ago when I saw all the 2nd and 3rd order negative effects the VA merger had on this pilot group from both sides of the aisle. In hindsight the correct decision seems obvious.