Add Delta to the list.

https://skift.com/2023/12/30/delta-s...ring-for-2024/

United and American are the two places to be when it comes to movement and hiring at the legacies. Delta started their hiring spree prior to Covid and is adequately staffed for retirements. The Cargo guys over hired due to Covid demand and Spirit will have almost 1/3 of its fleet grounded. We seemed to have slowed down due to aircraft delays, mismanagement by the company and always trying to run as lean as possible. All different reasons but the end result being the same. This contract is going to take awhile, BL’s cadet programs seem to be doing its job and staffing us properly. Instead of making us a competitive destination, they just lower the standard. I find it hard to believe the NC will be able to pull off anything industry standard unfortunately due to the lack of leverage the cadet programs have done for hiring.

I agree it seems to be getting more and more challenging to move forward on a contract as things normalize.

We have the cadet program, but why did people not show up to class prior to the last contract? What is the difference between CFIs then and now?

I sure love people coming here for a free type rating and losing half a 60 person class within a year, that will staff us.

it’s not a free type rating. They have to payback 15k+ interest.

seems like most who come here even from the cadet program say its just a nice type and a way to get airbus time before going elsewhere quickly...

Im not sure.

I have family and friends working F9. As a cadet myself, I plan to Fly F9 for a few years and see where it goes. Three years on the payback. If the airline continues to grow with new hires coming in behind me, I'll probably stay. But if it becomes a seniority slog, I'd rather do that at United. Either way, I'm pretty happy with the cadet program. I know there are two opinions on how the current guys feel about it.

I wonder if there are delays waiting for the results of the JBLU and Spirit merger. These delays came at the end of December after the trial.

spirit would have pilots to fly the new planes. We became a publicly traded company to merge with spirit. If the JBLU/spirit merger fails we would hop on spirit in a moment. I think we’re waiting to see the results of the trial in January which is why they say more info to come in January. We shall see.

No. If B6-NK fails, a merger for us would be years away. They aren't delaying classes for staffing requirements two years from now.
They are doing the spring schedule and running pairings plans.

Another useless email update this morning.