Originally Posted by
Freedom2A
I know for a fact that recent flights have cancelled due to lack of crews. Junior manning has seen an increase (I've seen various pilots with JM coded in their trips.). Pilots on their last day of reserve bidding RAP2/3 thinking they won't get used, but then get called in for airport standby and ultimately a JM overnight. How often has this been going on in the last 30-60 days?............... I get it. It's the typical airline staffing model. Just have enough to get through the summer. Nothing new under the sun. Holiday staffing, like today July 4, is the exception. Funny when you pay crews 1.5x, there is virtually no open time, no sick calls or dropped trips and airplanes aren't breaking. Then there are over 15 CA trips in open time starting tomorrow. *Tongue in cheek!*
It could be worse, much worse. Mesa is furloughing. Piedmont has stopped hiring and is a big question mark. Spirit is on the verge of furloughs. The remaining LCCs are on a hold for various reasons. It's feast or famine. We were force upgrading last year. Now upgrades are going senior-ish again. Just shows how quick things can turn.
When Boeing gets their sh!t in order, hiring is going to be crazy again. We've seen it before. Some of these regionals are going to be caught off guard (again). That's almost guaranteed.
It is amazing how holiday pay results in 0% reserve utilization. I'd like to see someone try 125% on weekends. It would be hilarious to see them go senior.
Let's hope aircraft deliveries pick up! My big question is what is happening with forward bookings in the fall? I haven't seen it discussed by management. If demand falls off then these airplane orders become replacements instead of growth or even worse they get deferred. I expect them to keep slipping anyway. Even Airbus is admitting that their supply chains are a disaster and they will not meet delivery targets.
The next big question mark is where all the 175s are going to end up. There is already a large scope clause violation penalty coming.