Out of curiosity, at what stage of a shortage. Would AA, all the other large ones have to begin to look further afield into Europe for recruitment. Is that a possibility in the months years ahead with the numbers currently being reported?

American Airlines? Never. Subpar regional paying and QoL yes. PDT has guys on visas from Australia, New Zealand and South America. Probably to expensive to send recruiters to Europe. Plus their licensing is different from what I hear and even these regionals are paying for training.

Chances are zero, or as close to zero so as to be essentially zero.

It would need to be a near apocalyptic shortage before AA, UAL, DAL or any others go that far. Euro land rules are soooo different, that only Captains and FOs with large amounts of time (by Euro standards) would meet the requirements, and most of those would turn their nose up because at that stage, they're probably doing pretty well at home and would turn their nose up at anything that wasn't a direct entry PIC position ("what? I have to start at the bottom of some list?")

Euro style "cadet" or "self funded" programs are a non starter in the US because of the ATP rules. Those aren't ever going to change.

That's just the technical quals. Says nothing of the visa issue, which is challenging. Comparing it to Aussie rules is apples/oranges, since the Aussies get a special visa deal for being best buds with the US.

Euro military types are welcome right now if they can solve the visa issue. This is pretty ironic because they're time is not all that appreciated by airlines on their home turf like they are here.

I should also add, these staffing shortages have nothing to do with a lack of ability to attract pilots. There are plenty of us who have already interviewed with CJOs that have been waiting for 18+ months. Plus thousands lined up behind us hoping for an interview. That’s not even mentioning that AA only has 40-50% of their new hire slots not filled due to flow agreements. Anytime you’re talking to an AA recruiter and not a military pilot near the end of your contract they will probably send you to a wholly owned carrier to flow. The reality is if you want to be at AA that’s probably the best bet as a civilian. Only 10-12% of all new hires are civilians that get hired off the street. Meaning most years you’re competing against 1000s for 80-120 slots. I wrote letters almost every month, updated my app every single day for years. I put in my app after it was professionally reviewed by 2 different companies when I was an FO with less than 300 hours. Wrote a cover letter and sent it out to anyone and everyone who might help me get in. I heard nothing for a couple years until I reached 500 TPIC and got the call. I was extremely fortunate to get the call with that low of time as a pure civilian but it didn’t come with a lack of effort. My main point is AA doesn’t need to look anywhere for pilots and in about 5 years there will be a lot less slots available per year. They are front loading hiring now for the retirements coming up.

The “pilot shortage” that inspired this thread was a result of a training bubble. AA got behind on bringing back and prequalifying furloughed pilots. From everything I see today, that problem is officially solved. Tons of reserves everyday and haven’t seen any premium going out in over a week.

Premium still flows like wine in MiA 737 FO.

Glad to hear

You got that right. Neighbor of mine is on the MIA 737 FO scheduling desk. He is pulling his hair out to get enough coverage.

He says it will continue to be so until all the furloughed FO are requalified, and to a lesser extent until enough new hires get though training. The first should be complete by end of August. The later likely will be through spring or summer of 2022 (unless the Epsilon variant has a major impact on flying.)

All I fly is premium :confused:

https://agimmigration.law/en/aviation/

The tide is changing..

You know one thing I think we should be thinking about more now than ever before as airline pilots is the very same “work life balance” that I hear being touted by workers in other industries. If the average American work week goes from 5 days down to 4 (or possibly even 3 as work from home becomes permanent in some industries) that puts the average number of days off in a month for most Americans at 12 to as much as 15 or 16...

One of the alludes of this job is time off. What happens to that allure when everyone else enjoys the same? I think labor representation should be looking at contractual min days off in the ballpark or around 15 days /month. Management should be interested in it too. If this profession is to survive it will have to become more lucrative and more attractive for those who seek enhanced quality of life over other careers.

hard to take a website seriously when the first paragraph says US airline line pilots make between $300k and $400k….maybe after 30 years and hired at the right time…

I hear what you are saying but my golfing buddies who make similar income as I do(7yr narrow body FO) still work way harder than I do and spend 4-6 holes on conference calls and think it’s great bc they are “golfing”, mean while I am 3 beers in with not a care in the world.

I’d fly premium if it was 200%. Until then I’ll never log into DOTC

Let me guess, MIA 737?

Met a few FOs who claim to be on pace to clear $400k, and a few CAs on pace to clear $700k. One CA sent an email to the vacancy folks trying to pull his 787CA bid, as he doesn’t want the pay cut. Interesting times.

There is a ton of premium in all bases for 737 capt if you want it

Hell, I can’t figure out how to use DOTC anyway.

At what reserve percentage do trips go premium? Who makes that decision?

I don’t know. I will ask sometime.

How easy is it to get long stretch of days off. i.e. taking a leave of absence or dropping a whole month of flying?

What would be your reason given for said LOA? Some guys claim to be able to drop most of their schedule. Very much a multi step process and quite rare

Depends on what schedule you are awarded. One or two day trips on weekdays are far easier to drop or trade than three or four day trips that touch weekends. If your schedule obtains mostly weekend and four day trips, a sick call is usually your only option if you must have a day off. Welcome to the land of red/redder!

This! I would add that your month "off" might be easier if you cross it over between 2 months, i.e. mid Sept through mid Oct...

Don’t forget commuter miss. Commuting doesn’t have to be by airplane. You could miss your commute stuck on the subway, have a leak in your submarine, or get a flat tire on your bike. Won’t get paid but if you really need those days off…

Just don’t sign in for your trip and they will call you two days prior and when you don’t answer they take you off the trip ;)

Just depends on what base you are in. Don't try that in NY...they don't allow commuter misses in NY. Doesn't matter what the CBA says.

That's why everyone gets out of NY as quickly as possible. That, and the likelihood of getting murdered in the subway.

Yup. Now is this the fault of the rogue chief pilots or the APA reps (that amazingly get reelected) that won't "rock the boat"

(pun intended)

you riding the bid sheet?

who doesn’t? I’m not smart enough to figure out DOTC app. I did the makeup list once and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. So now I just fly my line and drop what I can.

what’s this DOTC app you are talking about? I can’t seem to find it in CATCREW

I wouldn’t make a habit out of commuter miss, but sick isn’t the only way to get out of a trip, rogue douchebag LGA chief pilots be damned. And said douchebag chiefs definitely don’t include RM. Can you provide any stats on how many LGA pilots have been terminated specifically because of utilizing (not abusing) the commuter miss section of the contract?

RM is great. No issues there at all.

As far as terminated, a few. Not too many. But they do make your life difficult.

wow....

"4. A pilot who keeps accurate records of his scheduled commuter
flights and otherwise complies with the provisions of
this commuter policy shall not be subject to discipline for
missing trip pairings due to denied boarding.
5. A pilot may use the commuter policy as necessary with no
limitations."

nk

A few. Not many. The point remains- you’d have to really, really try to get fired from AA via blatant, rampant abuse of commuter miss. Pretty much nobody does that. Obviously, if you’re on probation, tread lightly.

People get fired for sitting short call in a city that is 1.5 hour FLIGHT away…. On probation. Never heard of commuter clause firings, but anything can happen as an overzealous probie

This has to be a joke.

LGA is the base where the APA reps actually brag about what good friends with the chiefs they are.

LGA is the base where chiefs call pilots with information they only could have received from the union.

LGA is the base that habitually violates our commuter clause and gets nothing but crickets from our union (they all must be out boating together all the time).

LGA is the base with the reps that tell pilots that want enforcement/change that they should have stayed at their Regional.

So how bad is LGA for someone who does not play any games to begin with? I’m sure I’ll likely get LGA out of the gate and I’ll be a commuter. I commute from ORD, so there’s tons of flights, so I don’t intend to play the one shot game. But this is a little unnerving to hear. I figure with probation and what not of being extra cautious. What other advice do you all have for someone to ensure survival in LGA as a probationary new hire?

The mere fact that you are thinking about “behaving” means you’ll be fine, regardless of what base you get. Granted I was not based there as an FO but have been on the private boards since the merger and have only heard relatively minor burbles about LGA chiefs. LGA reps on the other hand…