Originally Posted by
MinRest
This is a fixed AS mindset. I understand why you have it, how it was developed and imprinted in so many people who have been at AS for a long time. That being said, you are assuming that AS is buying HA under the same plan as VX and that is simply not the case. HA isn't even a competitor to AS. They don't threaten AS anywhere, there is no need to buy this airline to shrink. You are also assuming that AS doesn't plan to grow, which they do. There will be trimming the fat like any merger but what you are proposing is once again, spending billions on an airline just to X it from existence. At no point during the AS/VX merger did hiring freeze for years even when VX was erased. We still need pilots, we still need airplanes terribly, and both airlines have growth projections.
We are also not getting monthly downgrade and displacement threats. We did get one because management can't figure out how to staff with PBS and the new reserve rules. We cannot be overstaffed at the same time as canceling flights due to lack of proper staffing...
I count 3 times downgrades were threatened since the beginning of 2024:
1) Reserves being restricted from open time pick up was "to prevent downgrades" according to an MEC rep. Sadly Premium time was issued while these junior pilots remained restricted. Not a good look for the MEC.
2) An email from mgmt directly threatening downgrades this spring. Due to FO's on reserve being out of position when converted from long call to short call. Doesn't make sense to me but here we are.
3) The most recent pilot call downgrades were mentioned as a viable option to control overstaffing but to what extent I do not know.
So not monthly but more than quarterly. It's very demoralizing for junior captains and probably not great for FO retention. At least for the FOs who have stopped drinking the Kool Aid.
I'm guessing we will see a threat of downgrades for the Fall with a possible reduction bid as well.