I don’t believe the rub is with a flow not being qualified. More of a need to set eyes on someone to see if our Captains will want to choke them out by the 4th day. Perhaps a guaranteed number of class slots for those that have passed a interview in “flow” order. While interviews won’t catch all bad apples it would be worth it if they got one.

Being I am merely another peon my opinion is of little to no significance.

It appears most of the WO pilots wait for AA because they coincedentally become competitive for the majors after the 5-7 yr mark in time. They realize they can simply step into AA rather than go anywhere else. Many live in AA bases already. And, they are VERY aware of the attrition at AA.
It is a very compelling reason to wait for the flow for those hired 5-7 yrs ago. I totally get it.
Five and more years flying an ancient 145 in the northeast makes them very experienced aviators.

Some flows are jerks. Some military guys are jerks. Some street hires are jerks. The bulk of each group is outstanding. If someone slips past the training department with a ****-poor attitude or technical skill, it’s up to the Captains they fly with to give them a come to Jesus talk. If they still can’t cut it, write them up. Why is this so difficult?

How do you “write up” someone?

I can tell some good flowback stories.... Carry on!

I think it has less to do with that and more to do with the flow thru being the path of least resistance. If the end outcome is the same (job with mainline) then most do not really care to go out of their way to get there, especially if it involves any significant amount of effort (finishing a degree, interview prep course, job fairs, etc). At least that is what I have seen with the pilots that I personally know flowing up.

There are ambitious go getters and then there are those waiting around because it's easy.

Who cares if they finish a degree, pay for an interview prep course, or go to a job fair? As long as they are good to fly with and a good pilot, then why would anyone care about those other things?

I would venture to guess Pro-Standards.

Lets offer another analogy: halloween candy

You come home with all your goodies. You eat 10% of your candy. Is the rest of it crap that no one would eat? No. It’s candy. It’s yummy. Sure maybe there’s one or two crappy things but it’s yummy candy.

BUT ... the bestest yummiest candy mostly gets eaten first. Not all of the good stuff. Not saying what was left is bad. But stuff that goes first is most of the awesome stuff.

You're right, nobody does care at all. However you stated that "a lot of us" are flowing up because they want to work for AA, and from the pilots that I know personally (and would venture to guess this applies to pretty much everyone over there), they just want a guaranteed avenue out of the regionals and on to a career airline. That same flow thru could be to DL, UA, Alaska, FedEx, etc...and most pilots would not care any less since it's low risk and easy. Hence the path of least resistance comment. It is what it is.

And good for them, it leaves other options off the table but the general consensus is that it gets them out of the regional rat race.