Maybe thousands is a bit on the high side...but I could come up with a class of 30 overnight just by picking up the phone and rounding up all my ATA buddies from the assorted outfits they are flying at now. 767 Captains at Ethiopian and Nippon Cargo Air, 777 Captains at Korean, 747 Captains at Kalitta. Throw in Etihad, Skymark, FlyDubai, Qatari, etc. There are plenty that would love to work in the states again. United won't touch these guys because of the desired qualification of a 4 year degree. ALPA had negotiated preferential interviews with CAL back when they took our 757-300s and a number of 737-800s. There were a lot of guys that took advantage of the interviews back in 2005-2006 but many are still working overseas for long stretches at a time.

I can't believe UAL can't widen the net a little to bring these guys in.

 

Why don't they just get a degree? I'm assuming it can be done online.

 

Pretty much. However, some of the CPP's that interviewed recently and have been "accepted to move on" don't have a degree.

^^^^^^ read vvvvvvvv


The issue is, the "average" RJ CA that checks all the basic qualification boxes is, well, in the LARGEST applicant pool/silo of "average".

Well, have you heard of the CPP at UAL? What an amazing concept.

Say it with me, carrrrrrrrrrrot dannnnnnnnnnnngle...............

 

John, those who were "accepted to move on" in the CPP must get their degree before they can be offered a position.

 

Sorry, I read the language but don't remember seeing that EXACTLY.

Do you have the quote handy? I don't right now.

ETA, was able to dig it out;

There may have been a change, a VERY RECENT CHANGE. But the language is so gray/vague and ambiguous that it's ALL UP TO the HR and hiring people, at their discretion.

 

Keep the regionals staffed? Different companies, and management wants to keep it that way.

Also, the main reason we are moving away from express flying the short haul, is economics. They are no longer competitive on costs--maybe never were. Many of us knew that from the beginning, but it became fashionable to outsource everything they could, regardless of costs.

Costs have finally taken over. It's better to fly a guppy on the route, than a 50 seat RJ. And the guppy takes up the same runway space and slots as an RJ.

 

The current interpretation by both companies right now is that you must complete your degree before you transition. Once accepted and your degree is finished, you may transition. I am currently in the CPP and I just recently finished my degree. In my interview the interviewer congratulated me and said "perfect timing too since it is a requirement of the program". Our union told us that the qualifications united deems an equivalent are for people with foreign degrees. They may modify the agreement as they see fit so the degree may not be a requirement in the future but it is for right now.

 

Here's the problem:
Let's say AA decides to keep all their regional pilots at their regional, to fly feed for them. Basically, they will all leave for DAL/UAL/SWA/FedEx, etc. So, they lose the pilot both from the regional, and from the AA family, so the AA customers they were flying will now fly for a competing airline.

It is better to move your own regional pilots up, than lose them to a competitor....

 

If you owned your regional feed, and if you were in charge of hiring, which most majors are not. Lose them to a competitor? How much do you value a reliable source of pilots?

Right now, market forces set the hiring requirements and threshold of qualifications. If at some point the pool of applicants is reduced, market forces will react to protect that source. We might well be there.

Unless you control the end to end process, keeping them "in the family" really doesn't apply, and has a cost to it, that for now, majors don't seem willing to pay--but it's a nice idea.

 

.... without a college degree!