Originally Posted by CLT Guy

It could happen in the very near future. The number of pilots willing to work at the regionals is shrinking at a pretty fast rate. The majors need to do something to attract pilots to fly the airplanes that feed them. The options for incentives are fairly limited. They have tried bonuses, but they have not really been successful. One of the things that will attract people to fly for their regionals would be the ability to advance to mainline.

Preferential hiring costs the mainline company NOTHING!!! They can still pay garbage wages at the regionals and people will line up to fly there. Heck, they could even pay less and people would do it.

Think about it this way, AAG wants to make sure that their regionals are staffed. How can they do it? What incentives can they offer? Lets say that you want to fly at American. If the only way that you could get to American would be to fly for Envoy or PSA, you would apply at Envoy or PSA. Period. If you had an AA seniority number, you wouldn't care what they paid you for the first couple of years, the schedule/benefits, etc... Your goal would be to work 5 years at the regional and then bid on that wide body slot when it opened.

Originally Posted by eaglefly

That's what I said. Envoy situation specifically though is tenuous and it is in a perilous situation. If that weren't the case, they'd commit the options to you, but they didn't. Now, it seems they've got operatives in a full court press to ring a dinner bell for all pilots that will leave them hungry for many, many years.

Clearly, Envoy is desperate and if they don't get a strong stream of new hires, it will wither on the vine sooner rather then later. Besides, Envoy has several hundred senior pilots on 18-year captains scale raking in $120,000 a year (I used to be one of them). Parker would be a fool to shell that much out for pilots he doesn't have to compared to all the young pilots chasing upgrades for chump change.

With Envoy shrinking and the flow to AA likely to stop for the furloughees, I'd expect no reasonable upgrade opportunities for new-hires for a very long time, despite the fervent pitch of Envoys sales gal here.

Originally Posted by eaglefly

There will be no more flow-thru's at AA that award seniority numbers while still at the regional. Letter 3 was a disaster that won't be repeated, so no one is going from RJ to wide body unless it's a new-hire bid in AA indoc. APA can't tell AAG who to hire, but they do control their seniority list and AAG can't unilaterally institute a leapfrog methodology without APA and AA pilot approval and Parker's got s much chance of getting that as sprouting wings himself and flying around the metroplex like a drunken pelican.

Originally Posted by PilotJ3

So the 90 options are not in the contract? They are in the contract and committed to us.

They haven't activated any options, neither the CRJs or the E175s. The 175s options that are now are for envoy. There have not being other or ther of 175s from AAG. So I expect AAG activate the 90 175 and the 40 CRJ9 options eventually as they get rid of CR2s and 145s.

Originally Posted by eaglefly

The options are just that.......options. That's what I said. They may or may not be exercised. All you have now are expectations and the promises of Doug Parker.

Good luck with that.

Originally Posted by PilotJ3

Theres not much we can do about that. It was either capitulate or get closed.

We put a solid 1 year battle.

Originally Posted by eaglefly

Perhaps, but you are where you are and Envoy's future is a real crapshoot.

Originally Posted by PilotJ3

Same crapshoot that any other regional.

Originally Posted by diva

We will soon get better reserve rules where you start late on your first day coming in and finish early on your last day. This will specially benefit anyone who commutes to/from work. There will also be hard long call lines where you can practically sit on call from home and you'll get 12+ hours to make it inn for work. That's pretty awesome you asking me.