Just flew with a Eagle captain in the jump seat. Not only is Eagle having difficulty finding new FO's, but they are also offering job placement services for the most senior captains, presumably to get rid of the top paid pilots, which would only exacerbate the pilot shortage at Eagle. This captain had no clue as to why AMR was doing this. Something is up.

 

Well thats pretty simple..they are trying to get the top guys to move on to allow some of the 8 year FO's to upgrade .... with the long upgrades people will bypass working for eagle FO pay for another regional with much shorter upgrades to get PIC turbine time.

 

they are trying to reduce costs. back in january they had this report come out that showed how they compared to other large regionals like skywest, xpress jet, and rah. The findings were that eagle costs significantly more because they have higher seniority crews. The report also said that to make them more cost compettitve with the other regionals they needed to get rid of the senior ca's and fo's to bring down the amount of money they are spending on the crews per flight.

 

Just what I thought, Homesick, not having Mommy & Daddy, will take a toll on you real quick.
Besides, When you apply to Eagle they did ask if you are willing to relocate to SanJuan.No one
forced ya.

 

True I wasnt forced to take the job but I did not have a choice. And I did not run back home to my parents, I left so that I could spend more time at home and eventually not have to commute and maybe be a captain one day.

 

Yes you had a choice. You could have quit right on the spot before heading down there. Im glad that things are working out for you now. But dont discourage any pilot thats willing to give it a shot.

 

The point of the thread is that Eagle is short of pilots. I don't think AMR cares about it's 8 year Eagle co-pilots, or it's pilot shortage. If they did, they did they would have raised pay a long time ago and they wouldn't be fiddling around with meager $500 bonuses.

They are making the pilot shortage much worse by getting rid of pilots on both ends. Back in 2000, AA put on the table a commuter supplement LOA, a concept that would somehow make AA and Eagle one big happy family. If I had to speculate, could be something like that is on the horizon. Getting rid of the senior pilots makes that concept a little easier. JMHO

 

I disagree, I think he should share his experience. Even if - no, especially if it might discourage someone from going to SJU.

"The rock" is definitly not for everyone. His perspective is valid, and a valuable piece of information for someone considering going to SJU. Likewise, his bad experience there has prompted others to relate thier good experiences. Which they would not have done if not for his "discouraging" post.

 

Eagle is at best a huge road block to an aspiring Major Airline pilot's career path or a career killer as I saw it.

You seem to always defend a career at Eagle one way or the other on this board. I think it would be fairer to have everyone tell their side, which is probably overwhelmingly negative in parity with inverse order of the Eagle seniority list, than to have someone with their own agenda to purport the wonders of Eagle life and career. Anyone who has done any investigation as to the state of Eagle would call that bluff.

Don’t Eagle pilots get a bonus from the company for people that they recommend and get hired? Since Eagle’s staffing is awful, wouldn’t it desperately help an Eagle pilot to have more new hires on board, FO’s and CA’s alike? Haven’t some upgrades been canceled due to lack of staffing of FO’s? Aren’t there CA’s having to fly the right seat because of the shortage of FO’s? The answer to those questions would sound like reasons for trying to encourage pilots to go to Eagle, not because it is in their best interest.

 

Unfortunately, they have recently had to cancel some Saab upgrades because they couldnt afford to remove FOs from jet flying to upgrade them to prop CA. Basically we are so short on FOs we cant have them upgrade to CA, but at the same time they are trying to get rid of all our senior CAs. Something is definitely up and they are expecting either a MASSIVE influx of applicants, or a MASSIVE reduction in aircraft. As stated by OldFreightDawg, I believe some sort of career progression opportunity from AE to AA will be negotiated, something better than the existing letter 3. Either way, it will be interesting.