Trowserchilli

Add LTD to that. Which now if you want it own occupation for 5 years is costing us a lot.

We were out negotiated by our peers on their contracts in almost every category.

fcoolaiddrinker

Reassignment was going to change one way or another. Better to handcuff company when we could with the language. There were so many reassignment disputes it was heading to arbitration and IMO would have been lost. But you can’t just say that before arbitration as a union so it couldn’t be conveyed to the group. Had that happened more than likely the company would have gained the ability to reassign much more liberally than they can now. So I’m taking that off the list of loses and putting that in industry standard column because no way we were keeping the ability for our employer to not reach us at work.

jbrian24

Thanks for the info, I too am waiting for training to start, however I feel like acknowledging that picking a future date of April or any other without taking in consideration the load rates does no good. If load rates continue to be stagnant, bringing back aircraft will get pushed back. There not going to bring back aircraft to fly empty again. I feel like the only true indicator of when we get called in for training will be once load rates are near normal or close to it.

WaterRooster

It wasn’t a random date. It was a timeframe that we were given in internal communications. Of course absolutely everything hinges on a recovery

JoeFever1

All BB and everyone cares about right now is spring and summer bookings. Planes are coming and they are figuring out all and any ways they can use them. New cities, routes, frequency, etc. I’d be shocked if there wasn’t a Feb or March class.

TOGALOCK

Of course everything is subject to change, but you need to remember that staffing and fleet planning are based on projections. Not the here and now. It wasn’t all too many years ago that we were hiring and training in full force, yet offering voluntary month-to-month leaves of absence because we were overstaffed.

While we are all still hearing about airlines continuing to cut back service and routes, that is all taking place within the legacies. They are still struggling to control their massive cash bleeding. Meanwhile in the world of LCCs and ULCCs … the likes of Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant, JetBlue, etc. have all been able to get our houses in order. All of our financial losses have gone from an arterial hemorrhage to a slow finger bleed. While the legacies are still trying to stand up after the punch, the U/LCCs are looking at how to take advantage of the current situation. It’s unfortunate to say, but every big downturn in this industry has offered opportunity for the underdogs. I have no doubt that Southwest would have always continued to grow and become extremely successful, but if it weren’t for 9/11, they may not have exploded into the massive and unstoppable powerhouse that they are today. The “Great Recession” provided incredible opportunity for Spirit. They were hiring and growing (With Indigo at the helm, I might add) while every other airline was furloughing.

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic there is finally light at the end of the tunnel, despite the current surge in cases. Thankfully, Frontier now has a little bit of financial wiggle room in the “spend money to make money” department and it looks like they are planning to do just that. I’m not naïve enough to believe that we will be the next Southwest (although, if a merger with Spirit ever became a reality…), but there is about to be some massive opportunity for growth.

Also, to quickly address your concern on loads… Although I’m on voluntary leave until April, I’m still keeping a daily pulse on the industry and this company. It’s no surprise that I’m generally a positive type poster on here, but the current loads I’m seeing on our internal web everyday are exceeding even my expectations. There has no doubt been a dip recently, but people are still filling the planes we have flying at levels that I would have never expected. I’ll use ORD as an example since it’s our smallest base and easiest to determine, but current planned loads for all of tomorrow’s flights touching ORD are running at just over 83% load factor. Now, I can’t tell you RASM, but those are the current butts in seats

It’s also worth noting that the staffing adjustment award for January just published a few days ago and we will actually have a net increase in active pilots. The return of pilots on COLA (voluntary leave) did not cause any additional displacements of pilots to COLA-0 (our “safe space” word for furlough) as it has in previous months.

As I said in my last post though, it’s not all unicorns and butterflies. There has been talk of hiring pilots into zero-hour lines if things don’t pick up as quickly as hoped. How that will work for consolidation I have no idea. But, if you’re currently employed in a flying job, you may be left with a tough decision when that phone call comes. Although, I would remind you that by year two here, you would be making more than a senior captain at any regional. So, if you do have the wherewithal to take a hit for a few months, it may very well pay off exponentially in the future.

RJDriver900

Sorry if this has been addressed. I've gone back through a lot of pages and not sure how the downturn may have changed this. When hiring was taking place what bases were junior and most new hires going to?

Prior to the downturn I had my eyes set on LCC's strictly because I live close to MCO and driving an hour and a half sure beats commuting to the NE. Really had no ambitions of legacy or widebody. Just a good QOL with decent pay.

TOGALOCK

Currently, the most junior FO at the company is MCO based. I went back to the July seniority list to make sure it wasn’t a result of displacement shuffles and it does look like MCO was, in fact, their original award. If you don’t get MCO right out of the gate, you can likely plan on getting it pretty quickly as long as hiring were to continue. If you don’t get MCO, my money would be on MIA or PHL as your first award. A lot will depend on your class size and where you fall seniority wise within it.

RJDriver900

Thanks for the info! Is seniority in class based on age or SSN? If its SSN is higher or lower better?

TOGALOCK

Age. The more gray hair or progressed male pattern baldness the better.