Airline Pilot Central Forums - AA Hiring update

FLIGHT DEPARTMENT HOTLINE
August 24, 2013

Good morning, this is CA John Hale with the Flight Department Hotline for Saturday, August 24.

Times like these make me think of that old Chinese proverb – “May you live in interesting times.” That could be either a good or a bad thing, but however you view it, someone must have put that on us because we certainly are living in interesting times. It’s like those flights where you’re on the approach, you know you’re going to grease the landing, you flare, and then…. the runway is suddenly coming up to meet you.

This is one of those times. The DOJ lawsuit on our merger with US Airways has certainly made for an interesting approach. The final outcome is likely a few months away, but as we deal with this uncertainty, I encourage you to not let this distraction interfere with your normal excellent performance. Your work – and the work of all our frontline employees – over these past few months has really made a positive difference in our operation and in our bottom line. And, as we enter the dog days of summer, I want to say thank you. Collectively, we’ve put out a great product. Sure, we’ve had some misses, but overall this has been an extremely successful summer. We’ve seen increased passenger revenue, declared a 2nd Quarter net profit – best 2nd quarter in our airline’s history, and we’re still taking on new airplanes – 17 between June and August alone. And, there’s more on the way! At this time, we are schedule to receive 20 new Airbus – 15 319s and five 321Ts. The 737 deliveries will continue at a rate of about three a month for the remainder of the year, and the 777-300 deliveries will begin again in December.

To top all of that off, we are firming up plans for new hires. This will be a formal recruitment process, with the first steps taking place online before the applicant moves into the final phases of the recruitment process here at the Flight Academy. At this point in time, the first class is scheduled to start in late fall and then two classes a month at least through the summer of 2014.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say again – it’s an exciting time to be a part of American Airlines. I know we’ve all anxiously looked forward to better days for many years. I’d suggest that they are upon us. As I look around, I see hope in people’s faces. There is a bounce in their steps. Recognition that they put in the hard work and now, there is reason to believe in a bright future. I have to say, I’m with them in that.

That’s all for today. Thanks for calling. And, as always, take care of each other and have some fun out there. We’ll talk again soon.

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