327 Pilots are listed to retire in 2018, based on
United Seniority Progression

Throw in 20-30 deaths/Medicals and maybe another 30-50 early retirements and '400' easily covers that.
Keep in mind, we also will have returning furloughs/mil leaves.

2 months ago the 'rumor' of an impending announcement of 30-40 used Airbus.. and hiring of 1200+ next year.
Then the rumor of new 76-3's
Fast forward to Dec of 2017.. nothing to see here, move along.

Reality is, as long as we are hiring to keep up with retirements, guess we should be happy.
We're not Delta.. we're United. At least we're not American.
LOL

Motch

Great point.

Purely my speculation, based on lots of hearsay, rumors, and bits and pieces of news facts:

I think the company believed they were about to win a bid on Air Berlin busses...and then got the rug pulled out from under them when Lufthansa bid more. A large Bus deal is probably dead.

Best guess: we will get three ex-Hawaiian 767-300s. Hopefully in-place for next summer. Not a done-deal, but getting close.

757-300 rumor: Thomas Cook jets; never a strong case, but I’m told we had mechs/pilots look at them. Crickets....likely dead.

New 767s: never thought I’d say this, but not impossible. Back-burner; likely dependent on whether other used 767s can be sourced, and other fleet acquisitions.

My post has zero to do with manpower and the posting of vacancy bids. I don't believe the issues at TK will have any affect on the "posting" or need for a vacancy. Manpower indeed controls who goes to training and when. The after effect of Activation and the myriad of training isssues once you get your bid, I stand by the facts above.

Nobody has a &$@!?$& clue what the numbers are.

So I had our Director of Flight Standards on my flight last night. I asked him about the FOX debacle and he said that the issues are real but largely over blown. He said Harvey had a big impact on 787 training because a lot of instructors came from IAH and missed training events and qualification events because of the shut down. He said that the 787 training is mostly caught up now.

He also said that we are actively trying to get those rumored Airbii. His words were that rumor is "real". Also, we are very close to acquiring the three 767s from HA. He said that most likely scenario is that we'll get the three airplanes in the next 6-9 mos. but will likely put 666 in the desert. So add three, remove one.

Meanwhile Delta is buying 200 more airbus...new. Man we seem to be getting behind in every way, shape and form.

That 321 NEO is just a really stretched out 319....oh wait...I was thinking of the guppyMAX 10s...nevermind.

First its 100 firm 100 options. Not 200 and we have 161 brand new 737s coming starting in April. Care to explain how we are falling behind?

Hiring numbers, PR control, FA combining, TK mess, A350 delays delays, oh and 161 guppies that no one likes flying. More complaints from FA and PAX about guppies than I can count. Just venting though, but we do seem like we are behind on the curve.