OO pressuring mainline carriers to not hire
 

Substantiated rumor: This rumor has been confirmed by multiple sources at Delta, SkyWest, and other mainline carriers. Chip and Co are allegedly pressuring mainline carriers to stop hiring from OO in order to get more people to upgrade. If you have OO on your resume past or present, a hiring freeze has been implemented at Delta (at least) to stem the flow of pilots leaving for LCC/ULCC to get to Delta specifically, but also United, American, and Southwest.

This amounts to Chip and Co actively sabotaging the careers of their pilot group. Of course no public statement has been made or will be made, but there is much more talk of it happening than just this post.

Forgetting the anti-trust legalities that come into play, if this is true, this should be a huge red flag to anyone trying to work at OO. This should make anyone working at OO absolutely livid as management is actively trying to slow their pilots' career progression.

Tfayd…. This place is turning into a walking L.

Wasn't there a carrier that did this in the past, got sued by the pilot group and had to pay millions in fines?

Haven't been in the business long enough to know, but if it is somehow proven beyond a reasonable doubt, I expect we'll see another big law suit.

I went out on a trip and heard this from my FA too yesterday. Her boyfriend is in the training department and mentioned something similar.

And the most recent SAPA call said that the partners might get rid of the guaranteed interviews too and no chance of making it a flow either.

That's shady and hopefully OO gets the schwack they deserve; but don't fret. AA is hiring plenty of OO folks. There were double digit guys/gals from OO in my indoc class.

Actual OO pilots know this is not a rumor. This was codified with the GPI program. Was there an official announcement? No, but we can read between the lines.

There are two factors at play. The first is that Delta has its own problems, which requires (and has for many years) a stop in training during the summer months. Those who interviewed in March have September class dates, which was an initial sign of metering. Then there were the people who left for an LCC and were hired by Delta immediately after they completed their type rating at the LCC. This latter pathway is no longer effective either.

There is likely no legal basis to prevent two companies from keeping one’s employees from transferring to the other. This is a fundamental business model weak spot that they are addressing in this way. That said, there are better ways to do it, especially if they could preserve seniority of those who are being metered.

I’m no shill for management, but when you take a look at the big picture, if Delta has an ability to hire pilots from non-partner sources, this preserves their reliability. Mainline Delta has had extensive cancelations since the post-COVID recovery (go read their threads about it) and are relying on regionals to carry as much of a workload as possible.

If you want to avoid the consequences of this business arrangement but still want Part 121 experience and an eventual job at Delta, this may or may not be the best place to go. Things like this are usually temporary. Skywest wants senior pilots gone and out of here as quickly as feasible, except that until they get their CA supply replenished, such a thing is infeasible. Delta wants pilots just as much as Skywest wants their senior guys gone, so when market forces permit that, all of this will go away.

Sued by the pilot group, you mean like by the union?

This has been talked about before.. if interlay true attrition would not be at 250+ a month… there is some merit to it but more to the fact OO wants DL to stop hiring guys that leave for a LLC then get on DL.. thats the hurt point…The big regionals need that to get fixed and then they feel they won’t have a bleeding problem as most will stay. Upgrade and then get to the Major of there choice.

Perhaps.

Not seeing as many life after posts lately for the big three.

Either way though, the majors are going to fill classes. They will likely maintain whatever backroom agreement until it isn’t working for them. If OO cant fly the block or they cant fill classes, its all over.