249 Unfilled Captain Bids
 

The usual suspects, EWR, DCA, LAX and SFO both 737 and Airbus. Plus ORD and DEN 737.

SFO 756 Captain also unfilled by 7.

About 1,500 total open slots for the new hires over the next 6 months.

This is absolutely crazy.

Shocking but it’s snapshot 1 and we’re in negotiations as well. I’m guessing there are a number of people that want to see real reserve changes before they upgrade. Many are even more gun shy after Tumi 1 made reserves worse. I’m guessing it’ll be 125 unfilled CAs when it closes next week. It may be time for the NC to consider making the pay increase even higher for CA since they can’t fill them.

You on the NC? :D

LOL. No My point is that with the type of flying we have on the NB there isn’t much the company can do to equal the ease of widebody flying. I am for QOL above all else. My point was on the money side ALSO. There has to be a reason to get people to upgrade vs living in the right seat of a wide body until the can jump the trash can. NB flying will never be 1 leg - long layover - 1 leg. I don’t have the answer but atm it’s a pay cut for senior WB FOs to bid NB CA. Plus lose a number of days at home. It may rub some the wrong way but I personally think there should be a larger compensation gap between CA and FO.

Pay ain' the problem!!

Reading comprehension is tough I know but I said RSV sucks. I know QOL for the NB sucks ass since it’s what I do. I agree QOL is the problem. But again there is no way to have the same QOL on a NB fleet at a WB fleet. My “pay increase” would be like possibly adding scales with 5% FURTHER increases for CAs at years 13-15. Something to make the gap mean something. I’m in complete agreement it’s QOL across the system, I’m just saying there needs to be a reason to get a WB FO to give up the days off to upgrade. There isn’t a way to build 25hr 3 day NB trips.

Pay is certainly part of the problem. Depending on longevity we're talking 20-30k between widebody fo and narrowbody ca. Doze for a few dollars less doing one leg days? You pick up three high credit trips and you've made that difference.

Narrowbody used to have one decent layover on a 4 day with 6-10 legs. Currently all layovers are in the 11.5-13.5hr range with 9-12 legs on a 4 day. This also negatively impacts cummutability. Rarely is a “long” layover at a nice location due to frequency of flights to that location. If you have a day off, it’s likely in DSM. Nothing wrong with DSM, but if you never get a CUN, SJD, BOZ, FCA, STT, etc with a long layover, then most of the benefits to enjoying travel are gone. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I like narrowbody, but with the current international travel situation we are carrying the load of business with little time off during a trip.

^^^ THIS ^^^ this might be a rare opportunity for a more junior pilot to put on a 4th stripe while the work rules suck. My gut is reserve rules and pay will improve next contract and bring upgrade times back to reality. Maybe sucking it up for 6-9 months ain’t a bad deal if door #2 has improvements down the road.

Or maybe you should send them their captain slots back along with their Tumi TA. Bidding when you don't really know what you're bidding on is a poor idea.