Of course they could easily work out the details of "Flow " agreement if they gave a wit about you guys.....ALPA would sign off on it tomorrow....They could do the same for the FA's, the Mechs and the Dispatchers......It would not get you longevity for travel but at least
it would honor your contribution......any number of things at their disposal......They choose to go with option "Zero"....
Why any of you would op for a career at the "super regional" Alaska Airlines when all of the major airlines are hiring escapes logic and reason

 

It's the same thing Delta did to the Endeavor pilots... and it's been a coin flip at best getting a job offer. I wouldn't pay a penny for this "opportunity" Frankly I don't think I'd want it for free even.

 

Why would any major take flow through from their own regional? Usually these flow through folks are the most senior, most experienced captains: check airmen, sim instructors, training captains. Now your regional that already has a problem finding qualified people (nobody is going to work in this industry for the abysmal wages that are being offered, bonusses are not the solution) is going to lose its cadre of people that can train and safeguard the bottom of the left and right seat seniority lists? It takes a lot of time to regrow this group of people. So why take it away? Once at the major, they are just a number on the bottom of the seniority list, so why not take them from the competition?
The whole flow through interview guarantee is just a carrot. Doesn't cost much to set up interviews, but it really boosts morale. Typing an email address on top of a "thanks but no thanks" letter takes what - 10 seconds?

 

Flow works because it dramatically increase pilot recruitment at the regional. Flow also reduces pilot costs at the regional because there aren't as many high time "lifers" collection maximum pay rates.

The brain drain, as you rightly point out, does present challenges to the training department. The bright side is that you will find replacements from the broader applicant pool. The key is management grooming future instructors early.

Think of the time a pilot spends at a regional as an extended interview for the mainline carrier. Another way of thinking of flow is that currently management is saying you're good enough to fly our passengers on a regional plane, but you're not good enough to fly those same passengers on the mainline aircraft. Good luck defending that one in a liability case.

 

I disagree with this. I don't like flow throughs, because it guarantees a job to any pilot at that regional who just waits long enough. I'd rather major airlines hire the most competitive candidates. No degree? No job. No one will recommend you because you are a bad pilot to fly with? No job. Giving a guaranteed interview vs. a flow through is a way of weeding out the bad applicants. I'd much rather have it this way. American (the airline doing the most flow throughs right now) is going to get a lot of terrible pilots in a few years.

 

Hate to break it to you but the majors aren't going to have much of a choice soon. They could hire every regional pilot today and they will still be screwed.

A masters degree isn't going to make you a better pilot than someone without one, nor will standing hours in line at 5 job fairs or rescuing baby seals on your time off.

Flying experience makes you a better pilot, quite simply.

 

Because if Alaska doesn't take their Horizon pilots, then they will go to AA/UAL/DAL/FedEx/UPS/SWA/HA, and the PAX that were flying on the Horizon plane feeding Alaska, will now be on a feeder for AA/UAL/DAL/SWA, because Horizon will have a grounded plane, for lack of pilots.

 

I would bet my next paycheck that you are wrong. As long as the majors are the top paying airlines, they will get thousands of applicants and have their pick of who they want to hire. Which is good! I want my major airline to be selective in who they hire. It's the beauty about paying people more than most other companies. You get to be selective in who you hire. The legacy airlines have never ran out of applicants, and I don't see it happening, certainly not with 20,000+ regional pilots to feed them.

 

Have you looked at and added up the retirement numbers? The majors will need to hire At least as many people that are currently at regionals just to keep up with retirements. That's not including growth. Will they run out of applicants? Not likely. But they will not get to be very selective in the near future.

 

If your airline pays SIGNIFICANTLY more than anyone else, then you will be fine. But, currently, AA/UAL/DAL/SWA/AKAir/Hawaiian/UPS/FedEx all pay more or less about the same. There are NOT ENOUGH pilots to fill the slots at the above 8 carriers, going forward.

Here are a couple of examples:
According to a Hawaiian airlines pilot, in Jan of last year, Hawaiian had thousands of resumes on file. By Mar, they had HUNDREDS of resumes on file. In the matter of a few months, their hiring pool shrank dramatically, which it had never done before in modern history.
UPS has a very good contract. My buddy, at AWAC, said one of his AWAC fellow pilots was in a new hire class at UPS. The day after they announced everyone got 747 based in ANC, TEN of the pilots quit, and left for other opportunities.
Delta, UAL, SWA, Hawaiian, FedEx and UPS, have all had no shows for new-hire class, as well as pilots leaving very early in their first year.
China, and other overseas carriers, are very desperate for pilots, and keep raising pay higher and higher and higher, which will mean some American pilots will leave the US and not be available to the majors as candidates.
The global demand for pilots is rapidly outstripping the supply, which is affecting ALL organizations that require pilots.