Originally Posted by SilkBra

9000 pilots on furlough and 8 years of flight instructing? Right after 9/11 these boards were loaded with thoughts like these and they proved to be untrue then, and they will be untrue in the future. People love to throw out the high furlough numbers. At Allegiant alone we have about 20-30 furloughed TWA, a number of pilots furloughed from Independence Air/ACA, a handful of furloughed Midwest and some furloughed USAir. While they are fuloughed they are also employed now and many probably will never leave. I think every pilot on the list that has a number at American is a captain. If they did leave it would just open up jobs at Allegiant. So that scary 9000 furloughed number is now less. Many of that 9000 are not just sitting around waiting for the original carrier to go back. They are not all in line for the job that you want. Many may have been in the industry longer than you but they will not get the job you want because they don't want a rough commute. Many cannot make a good resume and will never be called by HR. Many will get called and bomb in the interview. Many are simply not hireable because they have bad things on their record. Many will lose their medical while on furlough, some may retire. Some will just simply leave the industry.

After 9/11 and the 1st Gulf War in 1991 many were furloughed and the industry looked horrible. Then within a few years hiring was wide open again. But what about all those RJ pilots with 1000's of hours on PIC time? Won't they get all the jobs at the legacies first? NO. No they won't. They are not all in front of you. This held true during the last hiring boom. Many have multiple kids, lots of bills, wife that doesn't work, credit card debt, mortgage debt, and whatever combo of those things and they will simply never even be able to take any kind of pay cut. Going from $60,000 per year to even $50,000 per year as a first year major airline First Officer is simply not a reality for them. Some are now in their 50's and the move out of the jet regional just doesn't make sense. Some could never handle being a copilot again. Some have DUI's/DWI's/sex harrassment/manslaughter on their records and they could never make it through an interview at another airline. Some know that if they ever became a commuting pilot it would result in instant divorce.

Also consider that not all furloughed pilots are of the same quals. After 9/11 it was allegedly impossible to get a job anywhere with all those qualified furloughed pilots out there. Many were not all that qualified. United and others hired many pilots with total time in the 2000's with zero PIC time. These pilots were not the first ones to get the openings at Jetblue and SWA when they started hiring. Many regional pilots got these slots because they were the ones with the PIC time.