Originally Posted by
Hoss
Trust me, there hasn't been much (if any) shifting of flying BACK to mainline. The numbers don't lie. At the peak in late 2001, there were nearly 14,150 pilots at AA. The number has dropped to a total of 8,643 with around 7,841 active line pilots. I don't have the eagle numbers in front of me, but suffice it to say that Eagle has increased in size dramatically since 2001. Eagle is recalling and rumored to be hiring next year while there are NO recalls on the horizon at AA. In fact, the latest rumor is 200 additional furloughs. Eagle is also taking delivery of an additional 22 CRSs beginning next year. Do you really think there will be ANY shifting of flying back to mainline?
Last I checked Eagle is limited in size to a certain percentage of AA flying; correct? So, they have not, nor have they ever, grown beyond that restriction. They have been continuosly hiring over the years because the job is so crappy that they had a very high turnover rate. Yes, they have hired a few thousand pilots over the last several years... and they have lost just as many as well; it was a status quo holding operation. Eagle increased in size because they purchased their subcontractors and made one airline out of several smaller ones, nobody has done any serious growing since 2001. Eagle has parked more planes than the 22 CRJ's they are getting. Last time I checked ATW, AA has been accepting 3-4 new 737's each month for the past several months that I've been watching it. As for routes, they go back and forth all the time. For example, I used to ride Eagle to Austin from RDU to visit family, for the past few years now I've been much happier to be riding the MD80 on the same route...