Thread: Let it thaw!
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Old 01-13-2010, 07:17 PM
  #3  
yamahas3
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Joined APC: Sep 2009
Position: Furloughed
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There are only a few things that will cause major industry movement, and none of them seem to be coming soon.

- Retirements / Attrition. Have to wait a few years for that to kick in, and we need a solid economy where airlines decide they should hire to replace rather than shrink.

- More airplanes at mainline. No major orders on their way at any major and no signs of scope being brought back in.

- Recall of furloughs. There are thousands of furloughs out there waiting to be called back to various majors before off the street hiring can really get moving.


Each one of these takes quite a bit of time to get going and they're not even showing signs right now. The only hiring taking place now or in the foreseeable future will be at...

- Bottom feeders. They suffer attrition due horrible QOL/pay and people jumping ship to go anywhere, or growth due to undercutting others. Not really what I'd consider to be something positive. ie: Colgan.

- Niche Carriers. No matter what the industry/economy is doing, there is always some niche that is booming at any particular time. But these boom times can come to a halt very quickly and you can end up on the street before you know it. You also have to be prepared to do "weird" work if you want a job in "weird" times... ie: Omni, International Contract Flying

- Up and coming / smaller players. These are our best bets but they are sometimes risky and can't hire nearly enough pilots to cause industry-wide movement. Though they can be occasionally like winning the lottery for a lucky few for those that get on with an airline that can successfully increase its market share. ie: Hawaiian, Virgin America, Allegiant

- Other than Part 121. These jobs are few and far between, difficult to obtain, and often do not have reliable career potential. There simply aren't enough of them out there to create noticeable industry-wide movement.



Aside from a few jobs, most of these do not present top of the line QOL, pay, or long term career opportunity/stability that most of us are looking for. Though things seem like they may be getting better, the realistic part of me says we have AT LEAST 2-3 years before hiring really starts going again, and that is dependent on us not having any more financial / economic issues in the industry or country.
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