mooney, if people stop leaving and there is no increase in flying, someone will always have to sit reserve. What you guys are saying that if Pinnacle stops hiring for a year the most junior pilot at the company will get a high speed line in 2 months and then no one would be on reserve to cover everyone else for the rest of the year.

 

I am comfortable here. Is that suppose to be a threat or something?

 

No only a select minority have stated those things. That vast majority of Pinnacle pilots don't even come on here and say anything bad about other airlines. It's sad none of you guys correct those that say things like that.

 

There will always be people leaving. Not the 30-40 per month necessarily that we have had in the past, but there are still CA's leaving, either thru another airline, corporate or govt flying job, loss of medical, retirement, and hiring due to military leave, fo's leaving, above reasons etc. I could say that the sky is blue today and you would argue with me that that wont be the case tomorrow because Ukraine just stole some of the former Soviet Union's nukes and might use them tomorrow and then the sky will be red.

I agree tho, dont always paint a rosy picture to a guy new to the industry, but dont paint the extreme far side of gloom and doom either...

 

That is a very good point, but You can't expect to be off of reserve in 2 months unless this industry picks back up

 

I'm not the one trying to correct everyone's perceptions about the airline business. You seem to be on a Quixote-esqe misson to prove everyone wrong. JMO. I'm just laughing at the absurdity of your quest.

 

All that being said, the recuiters and interview team have never promised anyone here that they'd hold a line in x amount of months. They are very upfront about all this. And anyway, who cares? Reserve is a part of this job. Some get it for a long time and some don't. If you're shopping for an airline based on reserve times then you're not in the right industry. That should be far from your greatest priority because it's about as predictable as next weeks power ball #'s.

 

He might not be a 9E guy but he is dead right on the point.

This is for newhires

1.MSP most senior base, FOs getting MSP awarded for SEP-OCT been in the company for 8-12 months, and most of them will go back to reserve.
2.ATL well......even if we manage to pull it off schedules are horrible unless you live 10-15 mins from the airport. Lots of day trips, high speeds etc... too many people on reserve compare to line holders.
3.DTW most junior base, maybe 2 months on reserve then highspeed line for another couple for people than been hired early this year, people being hired right now.........don't know.........maybe 6-8 months on reserve?
4.MEM 50/50 you get it straight out of training. For people hired late last year, 3-6 months on reserve plus a couple more doing high speeds. Newhires right now expect no less than 8-12 months to hold a regular line.
5.People coming to upgrade after 100 hrs.......humm..... if you just got hired........ain't gonna happen.....upgrades are going to come to a sudden stop later this year, and there's a fairly good amount of senior FOs delaying upgrade for QOL issues, but when they see the door about to be closed (soon) I guarantee you they'll jump into upgrade. The hole "mighty" PNCL upgrade in 2 years is only applicable to FOs that have been hired no earlier than 1-1.5 years ago. If you just got hired, don't expect that. Maybe 3-4 years?

I must remind you guys that our attrition rate is minimal right now. The only guys leaving are a few guys in the SW pool, and some going overseas like Emirates etc, but they are only a few and they are leaving very slowly. The upgrades happening right now are just to catch up with the unfilled vacancies 9E has been dragging since last year. Things will change overnight, just like everywhere else.

Good LUCK !

 

What I have learned from this thread.

My Airline sucks.

Your Airline sucks.

Wow, great I feel better. How about a drink. We can continue to complain at the bar, because that is what pilots do best.

 

Tpersuit - Since this indusrty is so cyclical, many airlines go from a "bottom feeder" to an industry leading workplace in a matter of a couple of years. 15 years ago people at Legacy carriers were wondering why some of thier buddies are going to fly boxes in the middle of the night... now those guys are laughing all the way to the bank. Maybe pinnacle will be gone in 4 years, maybe any regional will be gone in 4 years. Maybe Pinnacle will have an industry leading contract that Expressjet and Skywest pilots envy. Point being, stop attacking a pilot group who is working to make this industry better for all of us. Be glad that you were lucky enough to get hired into a company with a good contract during good times. Stop telling people that they are making a good/bad decision because they chose not to commute across the country to reserve at a better (in your slanted opinion) regional.