The bitter sweet part is that we are still hiring. Spoke with a recruiter who told
Me things have picked up since they offered the bonuses and the company is going to ride those until they no longer work. Even if we are only getting 20 /month (they want 40) we are covering attrition plus a small amount of growth. I fully expect the number needed for attrition to grow through the remainder of 2016 and certainly in 2017. I think them taking the flow back from 5 to 2 has rattled some CAs. A lot of people (myself included) don't think the company will abide by the contract if it means gutting their pilot group. So I think you'll see many more of our CAs who would of maybe just stuck around for the flow really make an effort to get out at this point.

 

How many -900s are you expecting that have yet to be delivered? Also what's the story/timeline for getting the rest of Envoy's -700s?

 

Is my memory serving me correct or don't they have to catchup the people who were held back on the flow by the end of the year?

 

I don't know the exact remaining number of 900s to be delivered but maybe 6 or 7? We are being told that the remaining Envoy 700s are being deferred until January 2017. However, unless they start doing something in the next few months to really start getting people to want to come here again then we won't be able to staff them and my guess is they will go somewhere else like AWAC, SkyWest, or Mesa. I've been told that they plan on announcing ORD sometime soon as a recruiting tool to get more commuters interested in this place. But ORD is sort of predicated on our being able to staff and grow AND receive the remaining Envoy 700s that AAG wants transferred. So the company may be playing with fire on that one.

 

Supposedly. But that would be 8 "extra" CAs leaving right when they are supposedly wanting to open a new base and start taking more airplanes. I'm not so sure they will just let it work the way it is supposed to.

 

Per the LOA:
They are required to flow 5 (but no more than 8) a month for every MONTH a new pilot position class is offered, not class. At the most they have to flow 60 each year, based on our CA numbers.

Speculation:
The question is are these furlough classes considered "new pilot position" classes since they are including flows or does AA see the flow spots offered as a "bonus" to the flow? Depending on how many months AA offers furlough classes and if AA doesn't consider these classes to be "new position" classes, that's 5 flows each month AA doesn't have to make up for. AA could essentially be viewing this as a chance to get a little ahead of the flow numbers if things need to slow down at their WO to manage the staffing issues.

Just this man's interpretation of the contract and murky view of the crystal ball.

 

Latest Facebook recruitment video is not just an average line pilot at PSA, but an actual recruiter telling her "story." Just think about that when trying to believe the bs she is telling. They need to get new pilots just barely holding a line or reserve, with student loans to pay to tell their story about how life at PSA is. Not someone ahead of the hiring curve with everything paid for by mommy and daddy.

 

So just fly it (the CRJ) and grieve it?

 

While SAP has its limitations, if you know how to work around them you can get what you want. I'm bidding about 40% in my current seat and base and managed to get my number 1 choice of line, and after SAP I've got 18 days off next month. And yes, I had multiple denials before I got there.

But you're correct in that new hires won't see that for a while, whereas I've always been round 1 since I got hired.

 

To give you "up to date" info, as of this moment, you will not hold CLT out of training. I started first of the year and most of my class is just wrapping up IOE and there are a few that still can not hold CLT yet. They are getting closer, but not yet. There was a vacancy bid just announced with some more openings in CLT, but I dont know how many people above them are trying to get to CLT.

With regards to your reserves flying question, those of us on short call have been getting some trips, but Im not sure if thats just because they are trying to get us consolidated (100 hours). Someone else told me scheduling doesnt care about that, and if you dont remind them when you check in, they will sometimes let you hang out to dry. Otherwise, ive had trips so far. See the other comment someone made about how they use reserves inefficiently, thats a fairly accurate assessment, based on my new guy knowledge.