SkabbySnakey

Noooooo, not the K-cups!

Wdc0001

I just got hired at Envoy and it from talking with some of the pilots around the HQ it definitely sounds like aren’t hurting.

A few pilots echoed that an Envoy CLT base was a year into negotiations and would expect it within the next year or two. An absorption of PSA and Piedmont was imminent due to the cost of flying the 145s and as soon as Piedmont gets its deliveries of 175s that Envoy would just absorb them.

They all said that soon as that happens It only made since for American to absorb Envoy. Apparently Delta is working on negotiations to absorb Endeavor already.

SkabbySnakey

It is just so fun to read the wishful rumors they feed to the newhires in the training center

Buford Justice

Wdc001...welcome to the airlines. You've been served a big glass of koolaid. It's not doom and gloom here, but your not getting on the APA seniority list anytime quick either. Ignore the rumor mill. Sure, we may merge with Piedmont in a couple years, but I think it stops there. Mgmt needs 2 regionals to play off each other, to keep costs down when the industry has enough staffing. Also, the union doesn't negotiate bases. The company decides based on how many departures per day whether a base is needed or not. They either open CLT or they don't, there's nothing to negotiate.
like I said, it's not doom and gloom, but at the end of the day, it's a regional.

AGDP

Can you explain this a bit more? It seems like hiring continues - just a consolidation of orientation with indoc, at least from the rumor mill.

mesteve

That’s what they told me last week when I was there.

And I left with a “pre-employment offer” with all of the same stipulations as a CJO, but a CJO starts a clock towards getting a bonus, this doesn’t…

10PAT

I have a buddy flying for Endeavor who is good friends with one of their HR/recruiting agents – not quite sure of her official title – but I sent them an app and haven’t heard anything back. He called her for me, and she said that they have had a flood of Spirit guys joining as FOs. Endeavor jumped them over all of the CFIs whether they were part of STEP or not. They’re still training and hiring like crazy, they’re just all 121-experienced guys at the moment. I imagine it’s probably similar at Envoy, regardless of what they “say” is the priority (DECs->Cadets->High-time FOs->off-the-street). DECs and prior 121 FOs are probably the ones in the class dates right now. They’ll get to us lowly CFIs eventually.

Ravenwing

Aren't you a Mesa pilot? You have been asking questions on the Envoy board since December, what took you so long to make the move? Did they give you an interview or just the logbook review?

I agree that a lot of the rumors are wishful thinking, and the recruiters will tell you an overly positive story. Envoy is one of the better regional airlines and has a good training program, but it's still a regional. You will get better QOL when you make it to the legacies and LCCs. I was jealous jumpseating recently when the AA pilots showed me their schedules. I don't think a merger with AA is likely. ALPA has had meetings about the possibility to show solidarity, but ALPA isn't the one making the decision. It isn't just about the pilots, the AA wholly owned have many cheaper labor groups than mainline and it would cost a lot of money to incorporate all of them. Flow to AA is currently 6-7 years but that can easily change. It's certainly a good backup plan. Merging with Piedmont is a possibility down the road but likely while they are flying E145s.

I understood that most of the Spirit pilots facing furlough were low time pilots who haven't been flying much on reserve. For there to be a big exodus from Spirit to the regionals with hiring bonuses being phased out things would have to be very grim there. Or maybe enough jumped to cause Envoy to phase out the signing bonus? Spirit has great scheduling, I am sure Envoy's scheduling will be disappointing. Scheduling is a lot better than I remember it being at Mesa 16 years ago, especially for the FOs holding hard lines and trading trips after 3-6 months on reserve. But your experience will depend on your seat, base, relative seniority, and whether you live in base. It's always better for those who live in base and have seniority, just not as good as Spirit.

amcnd

Envoy, wings west, Simmons, Marquette, executive, bizex…. “Waiting to get absorbed into American cense 1992”…..(maybe even longer)

Ravenwing

I meant to say I think merging with Piedmont is unlikely while they are flying E145s. All we know for sure is that AA plans to retire all 50 seat aircraft by 2030. They could also shut down Piedmont. It will be interesting to see when and if Piedmont gets E175s on their certificate; I haven't found anything in writing guaranteeing any of the new E175s are definitely going to Piedmont. Commutair bought an E170 but hasn't been able to get a contract to fly it for United. In this case AA is the one deciding what will happen to Piedmont and I am sure the decision will be based on what makes sense financially to them rather than what makes sense to pilot careers. Mergers and pilot seniority list integrations are always messy with bad feelings on both sides.