Quote:
Originally Posted by sanicom3205
It's all about how you play the game. I know Piedmont guys who busted their tails on overnights and did everything they could to get out. That 6 months you mention could very well be the difference between a wicked commute or a leisurely drive, furlough or continued employment, career captain vs career FO.... you get where I'm going. When the music stops, there's always that first guy to get kicked to the street, stuck in the right seat, or forced into a 6 hour flight across the country to get in position for short call reserve in LAX. You never know where that line is going to be drawn, but every number betters your odds. Again, it's subjective but in my book the goal was to get through that door as fast as possible. If AA is your goal, there are limited avenues to get there. Flow, military, WO hired outside of the flow are the three best chances in my opinion.
I completely agree and that was one of the primary reasons I came to PDT in the first place. Plus, it was a guaranteed domicile in PHL or CLT (easiest possible commutes from where I live with the cheapest crashpads), and no reserve. Even through COVID I can count on one hand how many hotels I've ever paid for out of pocket and I've never had a crash pad. What scared me was the music stopped when I was an FO getting min guarantee on the bottom of the payscale, commuting to reserve, in a company known to have a low quality of life, at the beginning of what could've been another Lost Decade. Miraculously, maybe because of CARES, luck, timing, a combination, COVID looks more like a 1-2 year speed bump. I've viewed PDT as a high risk/high reward career path, and for at least a year COVID appeared to be the worst-case scenario you outlined above. My concern now is that we'll be short staffed for years, which leads to "fly now, grieve later," adversarial relationships with management, etc, when it could all be avoided. This adds another dimension to quality of life, especially considering they dock our pay at the drop of a hat, if we don't do whatever is in the company's best interest, no matter how contractually questionable it may be. We can grieve it, but that takes months to resolve and the best we'll do from a grievance is get what we were supposed to be entitled to anyway. Although docking pay isn't technically disciplinary action, it definitely sends that message, which is insulting when you're trying to be a good employee whose basically bartering for things that are already in your contract.
The flow at PDT is/was a fair deal in exchange for the quality of life. You show up here, work hard for 4-5 years, and get a guaranteed job at AA, which has always been my career goal. It's a good deal for AA because they can perpetually staff their regional at <5 year payscale, they get a steady flow of 121 pilots with the ideal career progression, and regardless of resume fodder, anyone who can fly 121 6-leg days for 5 years without issues (considering they can see all your training/disciplinary records) is more of a known quantity than anyone they could hire off the street. But when the flow stopped, PDT's biggest carrot became a much bigger gamble and I think new hires are going to take that heavily into account when they have other options. I think PDT should either start hiring now, when there's less competition, or they're going to have to really sweeten the pot later. Either way they're going to have to pay for new pilots, it's just one avenue is being understaffed with all the associated drama and chaos and the other is a more predictable quality of life.