Originally Posted by
CaptKrunch
PSA was in the same boat last march and they were still hiring. I know guys that were on reserve last year this time who had to call in to get time. There were build up lines for LESS that guarantee. So the status of the reserves is not directly linked to recall or hiring. The point of a reserve pilot is to cover flying that becomes open due to sickness or other reasons not to have his own flying. However I do think that in PSA's current situation MGT will keep the guys on the street as long as possible to have a better place to negotiate the contract.
You are right, the point of reserve pilots is for coverage. At a properly run airline that is. This is PSA management we are talking about. Last year we were hiring due to attrition to mainline that never happened, leading to the situation you described. PSA does not use reserves for coverage like they should. Until all reserves are flying over guarantee and flights are getting cancelled, nothing will happen. Trust me I've seen it happen a few times here.
A few years ago we had the same number of airframes, more block hours and fewer pilots. You can do the math.