sherpster

What's this mean for a poolie with a march cjo that is under the impression that his class day would be 7 November is there any chance that it could be much later than November? Thanks

UALinIAH

Shouldn't mean anything. Hang in there. They will still need bodies in the right seats of the 737 and 320s. They're just getting things in order with current staffing before bringing in more new hires.

jsled

I hope so! These home projects are breaking the bank!! But it's already heating up as far as flying. I damn near broke 20 hours this month!!!

Sparta

We've been Jeffed up for a long time...I bid reserve in EWR for three months in the winter and averaged 3 days a month (737 Captain). My buddies on the 777 in Dulles are stuck at minimum lines most months. I'm 40% but if you pay me to sit at home....You'll know that the slack had been unJeffed when Sled starts complaining and they announce Cleveland is closing...

Lurchi

what does this mean for hiring going forward? 1000 pilots over manned sounds like a year or more of no hiring to allow 1000 pilots to retire or leave the company. Or maybe it means no hiring now to get things organized then a surge of hiring next year.....any thoughts from someone who understands this? I'm still waiting for a training date with United....is this the writing on the wall to seek employment at Delta instead? how could United possibly be this messed up while everyone else is hiring?

GoCats67

Step back from the ledge!

The winter flying is always down from the summer flying, especially at UA. So, the minimum numbers for a bid with a Fall/winter effective date can be low. More importantly, the minimum numbers on that sheet could be zero's across the board if the company wanted. That would not be complying with the spirit of the contract, but the company is allowed to state whatever minimum they want.

There is a new guy in charge of Manpower Planning (he previously did this job, but that was before the Min/Max bulletin requirement) and he is being extremely cautious with the Min numbers in the Min/Max sheet. Why? because he can and it costs him nothing! It is an easy way to protect himself while he still has a bunch of displacements to contend with off of SFO 747 and IAH 787.

This is certainly frustrating for those of us on the inside as well, as the Min/Max sheet is supposed to give you an idea of where the company would like to go with staffing. But in this case every single 757/767 min number is exactly 20 below the current staffing. So, all they did was throw a number down on the sheet that made sure they wouldn't have to backfill any 767 folks that took the 777 Capt bid. Does that mean we won't have any 767 Capt bids for months to come, NO! It just means they are comfortable with the 767 Capt numbers for the winter months and once this bid and all the displacements happen next month, they will be able to start having bids again that are filling in the gaps that remain after the dust settled. I fully expect we will be back with large monthly vacancy bids all through the Fall and Winter to get ready for next summer.

9 777-300s in the last 6 months, 5 more 777-300s coming this summer, and 3 beyond that for summer of 18. 2 787s this year, 1 more 787 coming this summer (allowing LAX-SIN this fall) and 4 more coming Dec-Feb. Yes, the parking of the 747 fleet has created turmoil, yes closing IAH 787 has created turmoil, but don't turn that into a downturn in the direction of hiring. Does it suck right now because of the uncertainty? YES! But the training center is going to be bursting at the seems this Fall with the fallout from the fleet parking/shift, and then it will be bursting at the seems over the Winter and Spring to get everything else up to where it needs to be by summer of 18.

Lurchi

GoCats thanks for the reply....I am stepping back from the ledge....patiently waiting for a training date and wildly optimistic about the future.

Tao of Funk

Has United they set a date to announce the fleet plan? Will that announcement precede a staffing/hiring plan?

The CPP (Career Progression Program) allows regional pilots from specific airlines to interview for a job at United. If successful the CPP candidates get called for a class in seniority order. In the past CPP candidates received an email from United asking them to update their Airline Applications account for a final review no later than 30 days prior to their prospective class date.

Recently (July 17th) emails were sent to CPP candidates asking them to update their application no later than August 11th. That is 90 days prior to the next scheduled new hire class (November 7th).

Do you think United will add a class before November 7th?

Do you think they're checking the pool to see who may have left the CPP?

I talked to a couple of United pilot friends last winter and they said that United will have a staffing crisis over the summer if they don't hurry up and hire more pilots. How's the staffing this summer?

UALfoLIFE

Manganement is saying the fleet plan will be released in the 4th quarter now. That's been changed about 4 times though. One of the recent updates said they will have a better idea for 2018 staffing in August and yes I think the odds are pretty good they add a class prior to November. Staffing is genenrally predicated on the summer months and they look at that a year prior and then determine the new hire classes needed from what I've seen. This year they really only replaced retirements.

I don't think they're will be a staffing crisis next year but that depends on how fast the max 9s show up.

Interviews have started again and they've added 2 classes a month Jan-Apr of 18.

Tao of Funk

Adding a class would be really good news.

Is the schedule set for deliveries of the Max 9 or is that part of the fleet plan?