Quote:
Originally Posted by Bahamasflyer
For the ULCC/LCC category, I'd guess you are talking Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier?
Mid-tier: JB, Alaska, Kalitta?
And top tier: All the big 6?
I think I'm close but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Generally, that's about right. I'm not going to name names, someone might disagree, and one person's bottom tier could very legitimately be another person's mid-tier. Top tier = Big-Six, that's not really subject to debate IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bahamasflyer
On a side note......do you think that in 5 years that the big 6 will relax their standards to the same level that the ULCC/LCC levels are at present day, except still requiring a 4 yr deg?
Maybe sort of. The top tier will ALWAYS (in any foreseeable alternate reality) have the ability to be picky. Everybody else will have to take all comers.
What trait(s) they'll chose to be picky about is the real question...
The current emphasis on feel-good stuff like volunteering is more of an HR excursion. The HR folks came up with this idea that they could get away from the traditional pilot stereotype, but unfortunately for them the cultural roots of the traditional "right stuff" model also aligns very well with safety. You can throw a few outliers into the system, and they'll learn and be assimilated but you can't throw out the long-established pilot culture unless you want to start writing VERY large checks (Billions with a B). There are numerous available real-world case studies overseas which will tell you everything you need to know about that.
Some of the touchy-feely stuff is relevant to "good employee" but if they have a shortage of applicants with core pilot credentials, I'm pretty sure they'll drop the touchy-feely criteria very quickly. They'll likely stick to their guns on the degree, with rare exceptions for rare candidates with otherwise great resumes.
They'll still also prefer some of the traditional pilot/military officer "whole person" credentials, like leadership, athletics, etc. Cultural inertia if nothing else.
But the additional complexity for the legacies is staffing their regional flying... they may have to start giving mainline seniority numbers to attract the flies. AA mainline pilots are already complaining about what's flowing up to them...