A few surprises to me at least. LAS had unfilled CAs. Had 756CA SFO go unfilled. IAH managed to get 45 people and no unfilled. Creeping up on 600 Guppy CAs in IAH. Crazy

 

They should've opened Phoenix instead of Vegas.

 

We don't need a base in PHX...we have to leave room for Mesa so they can keep THEIR PHX base. Nothing to see here, we've convened a circular firing squad to keep us busy while important things slip by.

 

The company can open new bases from here to Tim-Buk-Tu but nothing changes with the unfilled Captain and global reserve F/O slots until there are drastic changes to the reserve rules.

 

The company is trying every foolish little trick in the book to fill these vacancies except the most obvious solution - an industry leading contract. In the end they’ll end up paying double or triple. Bonuses all around nonetheless.

 

A trend item I have seen and heard is to make changes to our awful reserve system. Global is terrible. Get rid of FSB.

What else can we do to make it go senior? Or make it awesome?

 

Allow reserve days to all be stacked in a row, company decides where your FAR day goes.
First out/last out preference for reserve bidding by seniority.
Second flight positive space commuting if on UAL.
Contractual control over the G line.
Limit on SCR per month, pay associated with it.

 

Make pairings pilots actually want to fly, not crappy 4 day trips that start at 6am and finish at 10pm. The vast majority of pairings/trips have gone downhill over the years. They’re not desirable for commuters OR pilots who live in base. Focus on building quality trips that even junior guys will tolerate and people will upgrade. Keep building 4 days that start early and end late and no one that can remotely hold decent trips will make the move unless money is the only motivating factor. I realize there will always be a need for trips that start early OR end late, but with some effort we can manage the trips that require both - those are the ones which are brutal for in base pilots and commuters alike. In essence, we need more 1 and 2 day trips for locals, and more high time commutable 4 day trips for commuters. Do that and your upgrade problem is solved.

This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of our terrible reserve rules - which also need a complete overhaul. The idea that a day off can be assigned for work/rolled is insane. The idea that scheduling can assign short call/field standby “at will” is insane. My days off are exactly that - MINE. My days for working should have at least some semblance of predictability ie no short calls being reset to be back on rest/duty on the other end of your circadian rhythm. The idea of field standby at a major airline is unacceptable. The fact we allow scheduling to assign it without any penalty or compensation is ridiculous. If we continue down this road we will continue to have massive amounts of unfilled Captain vacancies. Money alone will not fix the problem. Quality of life will be the determining factor. IMHO - worth what you paid for it.

 

Regionals are tossing Captain trainees $150k bonuses. I think UAL could do that as a lump sum on the day you pass your LOE. That would draw a few flies to the flame.

 

This.

Well said and succinct.