STOP the lateral moves!
 

Can't you see that the Legacies bank on your hasty moves? XJT planes to TSA, Envoy's to PSA, now Endeavor's to SkyWest and perhaps AWAC. This is designed for you to jump ship to another carrier, stay cheap and even fly the same routes. FOs flock under false hopes of a quick upgrade. Perhaps some may get it, but who's gonna be your FO? There's no way PSA will staff the infusion of 77 RJs even if all of 9E's FOs bail.

Stay where you're at until you move up, let the system crumble, and for f@&$ sakes let the legacies fix this.

Word! Tsa is not getting as many as you think. Were losing planes too. Unless you won't have to commute anymore, statistically doing a lateral is a bad move.

Good post, at 9E there have been many 7+ year FO's bailing to start at the bottom of PSA or compass. Might have been a good move a year ago, but now, PSA and compass will soon have the same problem 9E is having = hiring new pilots and those FOs leaving now will be stuck yet again at the bottom of another regionals seniority list. FOs leaving for allegiance, spirit, JetBlue or any other LCC makes sense, but leaving 7 years of seniority to start at the bottom of another regional, just doesn't make much sense. I get 9E is not the ideal place to work right now, but we have approx 70 CA waiting for a class date at Delta and many others leaving to United, and AA soon. Guys have stuck around and dedicated their time to 9E during the stagnation years, why bail now when the attrition years have just started?

How many do you think they are getting? Other than intuition, what's your source?

Sounds good, but this will never happen. Most people are not going to stay when it looks like their company is going out of business, especially while others are going to theses companies and moving ahead in their careers.

All this pilot unity stuff sounds good but at the end of the day, we are all still competing against each other for jobs beyond the regional level. So it's all about who can get in get their time and get out the fastest, at least that's how it is supposed to work. Unfortunately, for many, the regionals have become a career, and the problem with that is, when it's your companies turn to ride the bottom of the whipsaw wave, after you've invested 10+ years in a place, you start at the bottom again, unless you get hired by mainline.

Things working against us:

1. There are still way more applicants than there are mainline jobs. And we all need that turbine time.

2. Outside of aviation, unless you have a degree or skill in something else, a pilot is an unskilled laborer. This makes starting over, and going through first year pay all over again more attractive than say working retail.

3. Our unions are held hostage by this railroad act, and mgt can drag negotiations out, instead of bargaining in good faith. Mean while they get richer, while we're stuck with the same crap wages and rules. 8 years to negotiate is just ridiculous. I mean this is the first thing that needs to be fixed in my opinion.


Management knows this and will use it against us. Things are getting better now because the pilot supply is thinking a bit. But should that change, it won't be long before a new regional comes in to undercut.

Simple, the EtD; We get hundreds of apps here at 9E, but only single digits actually make it to class.

Bingo. I'm tired of people telling me what I should do/have done with my career.

I'm not going to stagnate my career for the 'greater good.' I want to get hired at a major carrier ASAP, not 10 years from now. Is the 'greater good' going to pay my bills? Is the 'greater good' going to make up the $250,000 difference in my 401K in 40 years? Is the 'greater good' going to get me Christmas off 10 years from now so I can spend it with my family because my seniority won't hold it as a new hire at mainline?

I think going to PSA is a scummy move, but those guys are going to have a job at United/Delta/AA before the FOs who sit at XJT/AE/9E. That's just the facts.

At the end of the day people are going to make the right choices for their family. We should support them making the right choices for their situation.

Also, consider this:
- we had several FO's at Comair jump ship before it was clear that Comair was going out of business (going to 9E, compass, etc) for a faster upgrade. It turned out to be a really great lateral move.

-If I was a 1-4 year FO at a regional that I wasn't thrilled with and I lived in CLT, I would go to PSA in a heartbeat. Even if the upgrade didn't come, the QOL bump from not commuting would make it worth it, for me.

I understand this is a touchy subject for everyone right now, but everyone's situation is different.

Well said!