We have about 770 less pilots then when the ISL was released. We also have 50 less DC9's, 16 less 747-200's(3 man crew), and massively reduced block hours.

I think the CRJ900 is garbage. But it was probably easier to terminate leases on CRJ100/200's with Bombardier in exchange for CRJ900's.

We Need to Have Experienced Pilots
 

Good on Sully for his letter to WSJ:

LETTERS December 6, 2012, 3:42 p.m. ET

Regarding your Nov. 29 article on an impending pilot "shortage" ("Industry Fights New-Pilot Mandates," Corporate News) safety standards shouldn't be lowered to accommodate the airlines. The authors portray aspiring aviators as victims of new legislation requiring pilots to have 1,500 hours of flying experience before being entrusted with the lives of passengers. Experience matters. If my first officer Jeff Skiles and I had less experience when we safely landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January 2009, we could not have had the same outcome.
The new mandates are the result of a decade of crashes needlessly taking lives and were passed by the House and Senate in a single day, a remarkable achievement in this political climate. The industry's claims of a regional-airline pilot shortage amount to a cynical effort to weaken these new congressionally mandated safety standards, and perpetuate the myth of a pilot shortage so they can continue not paying adequate wages. The fact is, when new pilots get into the right seat of a regional jet, they are still getting on-the-job training with you as a passenger in the back. When new-hire regional pilots have only a few-hundred hours in the cockpit they have not yet experienced many cycles of the seasons of the year, or the real world of operational flying beyond a sterile training environment.
The solution is to offer wages and create working conditions that attract well-qualified pilots. We must not lower the standards, but find a way to meet them. And let's not forget the real victims, those who have lost their lives in regional airline crashes.

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III
Danville, Calif.

well. .. my kid found the computer. thought it was a trampoline.. . just guess how that turned out.

1. What does a TA roadshow have to do with mil leave and furlough bypass guys returning to their contractually protected positions that they had many years ago and with no changes to the PWA in those sections?

2. I personally spoke with AK in his office and he told me point blank that BYP and MIL are returning at a higher than expected rate and thus we do not need "off the street" hiring.

So, forget about "hiring". It is about "staffing". We have a list of plenty of pilots already hired that were not being used to actually "staff" the airline. When those pilots exercise their contractual right to return to the line, it has the same effect as "hiring" a pilot onto the bottom of the list.

Once the BYP and MIL lists have been exhausted, the company will then being to "staff" the airline through external methods.


My apologies to those who already understand these concepts, but there a few pilots who choose to apply emotion to subjects that are based purely on objective fact.

Oh man. :( Well, I know what you're getting for Christmas. :D

Yeah, a trampoline.

Butch Jones? Who the he!! is Butch freakin' Jones? I've at least heard of Malzhan...

On the first run our last AE had 257 displacements. By juggling the numbers they held a few folks (backfilled) and got the pain down to 100 displacements. Only 62 First Officers moved to Captain.

Next bid will close the Atlanta 767 category and reduce A320 staffing. The 101 Captains and 116 First Officers on the 767 are senior. They will start the 717 with 100 crews. I'll be surprised if they get through that bid without 450 displacements. A lot will hinge on how many they put on the 7ER.

Is it correct to represent these as "new" Captain positions when the only thing new for the Captain is learning to flare about 40 feet lower to the ground than they have for the last decade.

Look forward to learning more about the Boeing 727 and F4 ... :rolleyes: Recently even been learning about Convairs ... ( no, not kidding )

All that flying currently being done on the domestic 767 has to go somewhere. I'll go out on a limb and say that I believe it is not going to the 717.... so... I would think it fair to surmise that many of those domestic 767 guys WILL be going to the 7ER. There MIGHT be a few that don't.. but I'll wager many just get a new qual.