CADR

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...pilot-shortage

It has begun.
AA dropped 580 flights from Piedmont for March.
This is 100% due to current Piedmont attrition from United and Delta hiring a lot of PDT Captains. It is compounded by the fact that PDT has delayed upgrades of their First Officers and the fact that they are struggling to hire new blood. The secret is out, no reason for new hires to consider PDT due to poor quality of life and sub-par industry standard work rules and practices. Also, there is no reason for current pilots on property to stick around for years and years simply because of "flow".

As I said before, this year will be a make it or break it year for Piedmont. The dying 50 seat fleet type does not help its situation. I'm sure the AA bean counters are watching closely and scheming.

AerChungus

I just interviewed and got an offer to join the cadet program. I thought I would read into the latest and greatest at Piedmont here, and I have to say, I'm pretty surprised. The recruiter said that the flow for new hires is 4 years from DOH. Ideally I would love to fly for Delta and I figured that Piedmont would be a good fit to get TPIC fairly quickly and try for DL for a few years with American as a backup. Endeavor was my dream regional but they did a screening call and gave a TBNT. I'm a little under 650 from mins and figure I'll hit them in December (potentially the reason for the 9E TBNT).
From what I've read here, it sounds like I would be crazy not only to fly for PDT, but to sign a binding contract committing for 10 months on top of that that I won't try to fly for anybody else. Am I off the mark here?

ZeroTT

this is correct

whatever issues Piedmont has, now is not the time to pre-nup ANY regional airline

PeteyT

You're right on the mark. Not only is PDT trailing regional industry in pilot earnings and pilot quality-of-life, making it kind of a dumb decision to come here, any kind of binding contract is even worse

This is an outright, bold-face lie. They should be absolutely ashamed to put out information like that, but they're not. They've been lying to people about the flow since it started. Current flowing pilots have been here almost 7 years.

flybywp

In this current hiring environment, you'd be silly to go somewhere based upon how quickly you MIGHT flow. Go somewhere you will get paid well, upgrade quickly, drive to work, and have a decent QOL.

CADR

Stay away from Piedmont. There was a town hall today with our wonderful management leaders and it is clear they are so out of touch with reality.

They have created the crappy situation that the airline is in by not hiring when they should have, delaying upgrades, and down right refusing to improve the quality of life of the pilots that they have. Now here they are scratching their heads wondering why the attrition is sky rocketing and nobody is staying for the bonuses and “flow”. Also, it’s apparently some mystery to our management leaders as to why new hires would choose to go to a different regional instead of coming to piedmont.

Our management tries to operate from their mindset of it being the 1980s when they were line pilots but they are clearly oblivious that the times have changed and the industry standards are not what they use to be. Piedmont is currently bleeding out and that is only going to continue since management just wants to sit there and refuses to improve the quality of life of its pilots.

SnowmanKiller

How is the hiring/attrition shaping up there? Is PDT shrinking in number of total pilots?

JC145

They are trying to hire but can’t keep up. Attrition has just about tripled from 2019 numbers. Two months ago they were saying it’s the same as 2019. The bloodshed is just getting started as these are numbers from the last few months.

CADR

From our town tall the other day. CA attrition is up 300%, both FO and FA attrition is up 150%.

Is PDT shrinking? The short answer is yes.

How's hiring going? I'd say not great. They are trying to find and hire anyone that they can, but the pool of qualified people is drying up (plus, you'd be stupid to consider PDT over pretty much every other regional right now)

Lastly, a lot of folks with bare minimum experience coming in seem to be having a difficult time in training. That in and of itself is a whole other issue. The training department is struggling to remained staffed with both simulator instructors and line check airmen, and they cannot produce new pilots to the line fast enough. Overall, Piedmont cannot currently staff the flying that it is trying to do, and that trend is only going to continue.

The short staffing is causing a lot of extensions and jr mans and only adding to the already poor quality of life at Piedmont for the flight group. A lot of folks wanted to go to AA but with everything going on it is leading to pretty much everyone saying "screw this" and throwing in apps at Delta, United, Fed Ex, Spirit, ect, and jumping ship the first chance they can for a better quality of life, more days off, higher pay check, and better treatment from companies that actually want them. AA seems reluctant to hire outside the flow unless you meet very specific requirements or check certain diversity boxes. I understand not wanting to hire from their own so to speak and short staff their own wholly-owns, but if they won't hire their own than it seems both Delta and United happily will, AA's loss.

Piedmont, on the other hand, is tearing itself apart, and it is the airline flight department leadership's own doing. Piedmont surviving 2022 in its current form is a fair question to ask these days.

CFIsoonToBeFO

Air Wisconsin will be out of business in 12 months since United didn’t renew their contract. If y’all survive by then, you’ll get more applications. But for now the Company needs to get a new pilot contract on the table ASAP or they need to be planning their golden parachutes to leave quickly.