PSA Recruiter

I am going to start a new thread about this, since it is spread out across 3 other threads right now and a little messy.

As of last month, upgrade times were just about 24 months.

According to the upgrade award that was just posted this afternoon, someone that was hired October 26, 2015 was just awarded an upgrade. That would put it at about 20 months until upgrade right now.

The truth is that a lot of senior FOs do not want to give up the SAP, and would rather sit as an FO for a few more months until they can hold a line once they then upgrade. It will be interesting to see how far it will fall in time, and where it will stabilize.

Another upgrade announcement was also posted for a class of 12 that will start in a few weeks. We have been upgrading 26-31 a month, with a total of 199 upgrades awarded thus far in 2017.

Thedude86

It's about to get real.

From the last captain award to the award that came out today we've gone through about 70 FOs on the seniority list. If that trend continues we'll be at April 2016 hires on the very next award, which would mean upgrade times will drop to 15 months in just 2 weeks from now. Those pilots probably didn't start IOE until June or July so I'd be very surprised if they have more than 700-800 hours of 121 time unless they came from another airline.

If there aren't enough previous airline guys/gals to fill the void the company could be up a "creek" in just 2 weeks from today.

Thedude86

Actually, it would be the end of May 2016 hires. So in 2 weeks there's a good chance upgrade will drop to 12-13 months. There will HAVE to be previous airline FOs in the next award or the company will not fill all of the Captain vacancies.

In my opinion the company will be lucky to fill all the spots on the next award. I'd say 2 more awards tops before *%#> hits the fan.

Braniff DC8

You had my interest now you have my attention!

Being CRJ rated, and a former Captain on the Barbie dream jet (albeit for a short time before the airline tipped over and fell into the swamp, but the third one stood up), what does this mean for old timers like moi?

I've read reserve for five years? As Ken? (That means Capt)
Junior base(s) DAY TYS and CVG would be hard to get to for me?
Quality of life on Reserve? Can you move say days off, swap, drop and pick up, fly or TDY at other bases?
I'm interested in the pass travel at the Imperial fleet most of all, CJO, not so much. Being a 707 engineer in New York does nothing for me.
Are the recent changes in the health bennies going to be fixed as thats important as well?

Thank you.

jshoneycutt

It is amazing how things can turn on a dime in this game. I am just getting in after 10 years behind a desk and have learned there is nothing you can plan for in this career. Just start early and keep pushing. If you did not draw the golden ticket, it might take a little longer than others, but so long as you keep working on yourself as a pilot, doors will continue to open.

Thedude86

I can answer a few of your questions...

What it means for "old timers" is that anyone in just a few short weeks with 1,000 hours of 121 time will be able to upgrade. Although, I have a feeling if you're not currently on property I would guess you have missed the boat. I think they company is going to raise captain pay to entice the qualified FOs to change their bid status to Captain which would cause the upgrade time to go back up to 2-2.5 years. That's only IF (big if) the company raises captain pay. If they continue to drag their feet and keep captain pay where it is....then I'd say come on over. There will be captain spot waiting for you.

I will also add that if you don't need PIC time to enhance you're resumé or don't care about going to a major, I think it's pointless to come in for a captain position unless the company changes the captain pay. I'm on pace to only make 400 bucks less than a reserve captain this year and I get 15-17 days off every month. If was willing to pick up ONE day of flying each month I would actually take a $2,500 PAY CUT to upgrade and sit reserve with 4-6 days off less each month. You asked about reserve time as a captain. I would guess the junior FOs upgrading now will be on reserve for a minimum of 3 years. The DECs we hired 2 years ago are still on reserve and they probably have AT LEAST 1 more year before they can hold a line.

As far as swapping reserve days I can't tell you much because I don't know what the captain reserve looks like. But for FOs in CLT I'd say there's only been around 10 days each month that have enough coverage that will allow you to swap. You can't drop reserve days. You can pick up flying in your base or other bases, but only on your days off. On your reserve days you can request first out or last out (I think it's debatable whether the company honors that).

The travel benefits are pretty good. Being a wholly owned gives us the same priority as American employees. The only difference is if you have to sit in the actual jumpseat. We get priority on PSA jumpseats. They get priority on their jumpseats.

As far as the health coverage goes I have no idea.

Thedude86

To add a little perspective....

Subtracting the new hires in training there are 1270 pilots on the seniority list. The most junior FO awarded a captain position yesterday was #911. That's almost the bottom 25%

TallFlyer

127 Active FOs on the list that are senior to the most junior award and don't have a CA bid in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FlyingSlowly

Sounds like an incentive ($$$$$) problem to me.

Just hope that the bottom of the list keeps growing...and that management works out issues with the union quickly for that to happen...

Thedude86

The company will have to do something, and it's going to take more than applying the 7,500 Captain bonus to new upgrades. If I wanted to give up 4-6 days off a month I can still make more than the 7,500 as an FO.

If they want more FOs to be willing to sit reserve they gotta make it worth it. I doubt the company will do it, but increasing the flow would be one way to decrease the time on reserve. That would cause more FOs to stop bypassing without having to entice them with pay. I think it's a little late for that to work though. They should have done that 2-3 months ago. Even if they doubled or tripled the flow tomorrow it would still take awhile to hold a line as a captain even for some of the more senior FOs.