The thousand dollars a month or $750 depending on how many hours a person has needs be multipled by 700 cadets, so roughly $600K a month. Times 12 months, that is $7 million a year and is a significant balance sheet item.

And I don’t suppose any FO hires (non cadet) have heard anything one way or the other?

I would rather see it as a severence check lining Barry's pocket as he's shown the door once and for all... small price to pay if you ask me.

We are supposed to know more after the first. As a cadet myself it's correct in saying we don't exactly have anywhere else to go... If we want to fly larger airplanes anyway. The smart ones took the stipend and put it in a seperate account. If it turns to **** quick, there are other places to work.

What's your source on that rumor?

They want to mix it up to give cadets people to leverage if they're struggling. Perhaps the company is seeing enough success out of the low time/CFI types to justify it. Business wise allows them to retain pilots for longer (lower time, money owed if they depart early).

I could see it being true but not entirely sure I buy it. Regionals are largely only hiring their cadets so who knows. My mentor said that they're weighing options on March class size, I have no idea if he knows what he's talking about. But the hope is that those of us with a March start wont end up being pushed back despite the Feb class getting put into March.

Fingers crossed we hear an update next week... Well, a good update.

It is not a rumor. I have seen the email confirming Feb class is cancelled. Won't post it here because it has recruiter's name and prospective hire name.

A few members in my training group during our A320 rating, had to delay training for personal reasons. They then were put into Feb, then Feb ended up being cancelled. The reason being that they think there won't be as much need for pilots with with out and back model. Word from them is that they were told to expect news about that after the first, and that training going forward would have "more cadets"
Previously, I know they had only a small bucket of cadets in each class. They wanted to have a balance with more experienced applicants.

One in particular cadet got jerked around by ATP for the A320 type, and booted him after the CTP. F9 told ATP to get it fixed or the training with them stops. It didn't get fixed - so I'm not sure what the state of the ATP A320 type rating situation is moving forward. That other cadet was taken care of by F9 in other means, put into the Feb class - but then flight ops canned it. There is a disconnect between flight ops, and the people managing the cadet program and class dates. Lack of communication seems to be quite common around here.

Not talking about Feb class cancellation, but the suggestion that they want to put more weighting into hiring cadets as opposed to OTS hiring.

Well, I hope we get some good news. As someone slated for the March class, I'm hoping not to get pushed back yet again. But I get that is just how things go sometimes. Couple more months of instructing wont hurt.. that much.

Hopefully you get some good news. Not sure if the Cadets are managed differently but I successfully interviewed in Aug, compliance completed in Sept. Class keep getting pushed with no class date still. Direct hire FO. Luckily I have what I need to start looking elsewhere. Hoping the folks that are in the cadet pool get some better news soon for 2024. Good luck.

I hope you do as well. F9 is a bit of a mess on hiring it seems. I signed my cadet paperwork 5/1/23, compliance completed in Nov, and class slated for 1/17/24.
I am slightly worried they might downsize the class. Personally, I know about 10 or so other cadets who will be in my class.

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.

Sorry to hear that. What did it mention? Anything of note at all?

Just the same email they sent last year stating we are in a pool, they are working on 2024 classes, and to keep an eye out OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS for an update. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I'm an FO direct hire, September CJO. Currently flying 767 cargo and not sure how much longer I can take it here. F9 checks all the boxes for me and I dont want to job hop, but that's a long wait!

Just saw the email that the Feb class got cancelled confirming what you and Warhawker said. Best of luck to those in the pool.

Try and keep positive. Flying rubber dog sh t to China will prepare you well for the F9 experience.

I audibly laughed at this - thank you

Because you needed an ATP and starting pay was $39 an hour during the last negotiations.

Hate to tell ya man but it doesn’t just magically get better after you start class. In fact, management will treat you even worse once they actually employ you. Displacement bids, opening/ closing bases, disciplinary meetings for sick calls, the list goes on. If you have any other options I would recommend pursuing them.

They have a class of 40 staring Jan 17th and have normal classes March and after. Playing catch up in February per the email that went out to the training department today.

They scrapped the Feb class two weeks ago, as you probably are aware. Any idea if that means I'm going to be displaced from my March class? I signed for it in November.. No emails indicating I'm gonna be pushed back (yet), but hopeful that wont happen. Especially if they're ramping up to 60 per. Visiting HQ for compliance stuff less than two weeks from now.

Class updates?
 

Just wondering if anyone has any updated info about upcoming class start dates versus when they were originally hired into the pool?

Interviewed and CJO in Aug. In the upcoming Mar class. Direct hire FO.

Interviewed in September, no class date, direct hire.

How long was it for you guys from the time you submitted the application to the interview? F9 checks lots of boxes for me too with home base option being the most important, I wonder if they are scheduling any interviews.

I can't remember exactly but it wasn't long after I got my fixed wing ATP and resubmitted my resume. 2 weeks maybe? I had rotor ATP, 2,700ish total hours, and military background too. Not sure if that help speed up the process or not.

Thank you for the information. I have a contract with my current regional airline until November, so I wanted to know what the timeline is, considering the hiring slowdown and other factors. I have almost 4000 hours of flight time with ATP, of which 1000 are turbine hours, and some are military rotor hours as well. When you say resubmitting your resume, do you mean updating your airline apps?

Anytime, my pleasure. Yes, just meant updating the one on airlineapps.com.

Awesome, well DJ, I wish you the best in class soon. Do you mind if I pm'med questions to you along the way?

Not at all, glad to help.

Sent you a PM DJ 👍

I started an application with them in May or June i beleive, and updated it regulary throughtout the summer. I interviewed in September, got the CJO at the end of the day. I just got put into the 4/15 class last week. When i interviewed i think it was like 1800 TT, 450 121 time, unrestricted ATP. Worth noting that I had a couple of internal recs, I'm sure that helped. Sounds like the march class was full, and april now is as well. not sure how it looks going forward.