Got built too large based on IAH-S America. 6 months later route planning decided that shockingly Sparky made more money going far across Pacific and back then sitting in S America for 18 hours.

 

I like to slam UAL as much as anybody. 15 years ago I thought flight ops was pretty good, but the rest was a yard sale. Now, I think the business side is OK, but flight ops is the yard sale.

The world is always changing. Network planning has to try to put us where the world will be in the future. I think they are doing at least an OK job, maybe far better than that. Our job is a lot easier.

I think Network planning needs to slow their changes so manpower can keep up. Other than that, I am just a wheel turner, and gear puller.

Flight ops needs to be incinerated, starting with El Jefe of flight ops.

 

Not defending management, as they certainly are not perfect, but I would simply point out that the variables involved and the data available are quite complex. Could Network planning forsee the availability of 777-300s? Could they plan for an English Brexit vote which slowed the European economy? Could they forsee terror attacks in Europe that may have reduced Atlantic traffic, or how about negative interest rates in Japan that drove the Yen up against the dollar by 20% thereby making Asian travelers more likely to buy tickets on US carriers. Did most folks believe oil would stay so low for so long and slow the Houston economy like it has?

Just saying a 100 or so displacements out of 12,000 pilots doesn't seem too awful a cost when you consider the possible benefits the company may be getting from optimizing equipment to routes every quarter or so.

 

Well-said.

 

I would expect to see the IAH 787 FO's slide over to IAH 777 FO. I believe everyone has the seniority to do that. The plan was to add 50 777 FO's to IAH. The latest vacancy filled 38 of the 50 to cover the two LHR flights from IAH. Looks like 12 displacements to 777 would meet the staffing plan.

 

^^^^ this ^^^^

 

With this team that means they will have another vacancy bid of 20 777 FOs, and then bump 100 787 FOs and complain that they are overstaffed in 777 FO in IAH and then solve it by bumping more Guppy Captains.

 

Most of this mess happened before the WB fences dropped... there was a lot of artificial seniority going around and caused this imbalance, and many others, that is finally getting fixed.

 

In today's FOU.....

Upcoming IAH 787 first officer displacements
After careful consideration, given the lack of attrition in the IAH 787 first officer category, we have made ALPA aware of our intent to displace up to 75 IAH 787 first officers. We expect this will happen in a series of three displacements of equal size. We plan to stagger them within the vacancy process, to help address the current overstaffing situation.
We never take these decisions lightly, as we understand the strain they place on our pilots and their families, and will seek to under-displace to account for attrition a couple of years out.
We will update you as soon as we know more.

 

You should be running the airline. Seriously.....