According to the DCI line check airman on the commute home, this is a true fact regarding their staffing.

From a good friend who is a SLI over at ExpressJet:
1. They cannot get enough guys to show up for NH class to cover their attrition of FOs who are leaving en masse.
2. They have sent almost all instructors back to the line to fly in the right seat to try and keep the schedule going but are falling behind.
3. The senior guys are now looking to leave ahead of a "Comairing" due to a failure to provide the lift. This will just result in a accelerated failure to cover the schedule.

Is this problem even manageable?

Pay raise won't fix it. Too late for that.

Seriously, it's like a reactor core in melt down.

Even if the major partner purchased the regional lift outright, it still doesn't fix the incoming manning problem as it just stems the out flow theoretically.

Ideas?

I keep hearing this as well, but for it to be true we'd have to be replacing the flying in network already I'd think. But with what planes? Everything is 101% load factor already it seems.

I suppose they could keep the 75's a little longer, which supposedly has happened with the 10 charter birds (but then again, they're charter birds, so…) AFAIK we are sill parking some of them.

So where we getting the lift?

Remember when the 4th floor was trying to decide on 717's or A319's and ended up getting 717's?

Canwehaz A319's too?

Remember when they were saying the 717s were contingent on a quick contract?

Sorry not a new hire. Should have said OE. Just on a new jet.

Ok. Got it. ;)

I'm all for 319s. Please! Great for all of us, but they have already started death by a thousands cuts at the regional level.

Maybe even by a hundred gashes at this rate.

As many like to say on this board you have to "connect the dots" so I will add a few dots.

The new hire number has been upped again this year I have this confirmed by a someone in the new hire program. More and bigger classes coming in June.

As for where is the lift coming...think utilization rates as much as air frames. They will be pushing these rates even more this summer. So we will find the lift but that probably won't fix the DCI shortfall because of our own staffing issue. Talked to a person down in ATL who works with staffing that says we will have problems flying our own summer schedule let alone trying to pick up the