Originally Posted by
Flislow
Yes but that seniority progression is still happening at other airlines. Yes, the few years post COVID was a rocket ship everywhere. I don’t expect that here. But everywhere else is growing. I even have friends at SWA that got hired the exact same month I did and are at 50% in base, with the company following through on hiring hundreds this year- and this is one of the slower places. Meanwhile, I’m moving backwards in the junior base (where I live) with literally no inclination as to when/if this place will ever meaningfully hire. It goes beyond painful schedule wise; it’s literally having to work a ton extra as an FO to attain a desirable lifestyle in a HCOL metro. Contract needs immense value added for this. Learning of all the missed opportunities here prior to my tenure just blows my mind.
Combination of stuff.
1) Retirements, we don't have any. Industry demographics across airlines have been well known for decades.
2) Boeing.
3) Mergers. 80 VX planes went away and that's still impacting folks in CA. HA SLI hasn't hit yet, but the company is already looking at overlap... growth that *might* have otherwise happened at AS is likely on wait-and-see pending fleet consolidation.
4) AS is inherently pretty conservative and cautious, although the current bosses clearly recognize the need to get larger. But organic growth is hard (limited gates, slots, and airplane delivery slots industry wide).
Some of this you should have known before you came here. Even after 2 & 4 reared their heads, you still had time to leave for greener pastures. Although I will say that big three are pretty good at sniffing out applicants who carry a lot of angst around... better figure out how to smooth that over before you interview (go read the post in the DL forum for an example).