Originally Posted by MtnFlying

So, here's some more food for thought and a follow on question to see if it has gotten any better post LOE. I was a 12/28/21 new hire on the CRJ. Our class got through training in relatively quick time with most finishing in about 9 weeks. Then came the vacation as we sat for 4+ months waiting for IOE. I finished LOE on March 6th and didn't see my first trip with a LCA until July 17th. I never made it to the final line check because I saw the freight train coming and was lucky enough to be able to jump over to my preferred job with a large 135/91K company flying Challenger 300's and 350's in August and have zero regrets.

I'm still in contact with my classmates and there are some that are still sitting on reserve, while others have finally started seeing some composite lines awarded. Have one friend that is based out of IAH and he flew 8 hours in Nov and Dec combined, even with trying to chase as much open time as he could. With the number of lines shrinking across the system, expect to be on reserve for a long time after finishing training. The imbalance is very real.

Would love to know what the current LOE to IOE wait times look like and has the number of LCA's increased or are they all still leaving faster then the FAA will approve replacements?

Not trying to throw cold water on everyone's enthusiasm, but you need to go in with that info tucked into your back pocket and not be shocked about delays or even the amount of flying once you get out of training. SkyWest was/is a great company to work for and I believe they will come out of this turmoil better than the others. How long that takes is anyone's guess at this point.

Best of luck to all of you!

Originally Posted by Aeroengie

You picked the most senior CRJ FO base and you’re surprised reserve is taking a long time?

Originally Posted by Turbosina

Well the simple reality is this:

• We have waayyyyyy more FOs in the pipeline than the company actually needs (sorry...this should be no surprise to anyone)

• Training capacity is just getting back up to speed after all the forced CA upgrades. But -- with all FOs on property now being assigned an upgrade class date as soon as they hit 750-800 hours 121 time, a *significant* portion of training capacity is now being devoted to upgrades, for the foreseeable future. Most of those people will be doing short courses, but even the short course still requires a total of 12 procedures trainer + sim sessions, and there are only so many PT and sim instructors on property.

Bottom line, the age-old advice of "Go to whichever airline offers you the first class date" is as accurate today as it ever was. I feel for those who already resigned their previous jobs and are now being delayed from starting class here.

Originally Posted by Utah

To me there still seems to be a need for CRJ FOs in SLC, ATL, DTW, COS, and some of the CA domiciles. SLC could easily handle another 20-30.

By this time, management has to be looking at summer block hours. They must have an idea on how much we'll be able to handle. I'm sure they can see PRIA request for pilots that won't be leaving for months and already have an idea on attrition as well as the number of upgrade eligible FOs. We've got enough aircraft for a 6000-pilot airline yet may only be able to staff half that. Unless mainline hiring drastically slows due to a recession, we will be a smaller airline.

Originally Posted by domino

Downsizing and restructuring takes time. It could be a Long year. Stats show 60% chance we are are already in a recession and 84% chance we will be in one in 3-4 months if not already. The brakes will be applied further. Don’t plan on 2023 being a good year to aviation.