Originally Posted by
AAdog
A friend of mine and former AA 737 Captain just last week had his final SIM ride. He will start his line IOE this week. He was hired May 5th as a DEC for EK.....
DOG
Yes, but PL interviewed a long time ago and had a long notice period before starting. There are still a few trickling in that way.
There is no outright recruitment for DECs like there was a few years ago up until last year. Some are getting hired, but the recruitment is for First Officers now. You won't see any advertisements for Captain positions. As Skyone says, a highly qualified guy might get looked at for a DEC position, but no more of this nonsense hiring B737 and A320 domestic pilots into the left seat of a B777.
B777 upgrades have gone over three years now. They'll be approaching four before too long. Still not bad in the big scheme of things, but this is how it's going to be going forward.
I'm still predicting DECs on the Airbus by sometime mid to late next year. Unless they decide to park the entire A340-500 fleet, then maybe it will wait until 2010.
....and yes, there is a possibility that the A340-500 fleet will get parked. It's a very inefficient aircraft and it could be replaced with the A380s as they come on-line or as more B777-200LRs arrive.
Typhoonpilot