horrido27

Agree that the post of parking 100 aircraft is out in left field. But I disagree when you say “the company is not hurting for Captains”
They are. Unfilled Capt slots shows there is a problem.
Sure, they can manipulate the G Line and move flying around via Deadheads and overnights, but that is not efficient nor economical.

The BEST way to solve their Captain problem AND be both efficient & economical is to offer us a ILC23 that shows the Dignity & Respect that comes with the position- Professional Airline Pilot.

Motch

MasterOfPuppets

just to add to this….imagine how many years a IAH 737 junior CA is going to be in reserve!

once the contract is signed and upgrades start going to a more reasonable seniority, the company will start to move the flying back to its natural flow.

IAH has 200+ more 737 CAs than it has ever had since the merger. We may not see IAH 737 CA bids for YEARS as it is right sized. And that is just one seat in one base.

iahflyr

Just bid back to FO at the end of your seat lock. It’s not like you are stuck there forever. Enjoy the 300k+ earnings while seniority allows you to fly what you want to fly.

Like many people said above, there is no concern by the company about a captain shortage.

ugleeual

agree 100%… lots of opportunity out there.

Race Bannon

Agree about the complaining. Nobody likes a constant whiner. So, when things get back to more of a stovepipe seniority, someone is still going to be in the bottom 15% of BES. Will they be allowed to complain?

The question really is..."Do the reserve rules suck, does the flying suck, does visiting reserve suck, do reroutes suck, does the variability of the G_line suck, does the lack of teeth regarding, "the company may" suck"? Regardless of your seniority number?

Do things need to be improved, or not, for the bottom end of ALL BES? There-in lies the real question. Because someone will always be in the bottom, even if it's by their own volition with 25 YOS.

Iregretnothing

I don’t really understand the whole “don’t upgrade because we’re fighting for a contract” thing. You’re essentially telling someone to give up a life changing pay raise to force the company’s hand, yet I see hardly any current captains leaving the left seat. Why not? Money perhaps? It’s amazing how hostile pilots can be towards there fellow pilots. If you tell me not to upgrade I will tell you to downgrade. If your response is “no, I earned where I am” I’ll tell you to **** right off. Also many people who didn’t have a United stripe on 9/11 spent the better part of two decades with an American flag on their shoulder as a direct result. 9/11 effected literally EVERYBODY, not just United captains. Unfortunately, in this business you “earn” where you are based off of seniority and availability and telling other pilots not to take an upgrade would be something I consider a violation with regards to the RLA. However, I do agree that one should not complain about the consequences of an upgrade. If you’re junior, you should know what you’re getting into. I would never upgrade if I had to commute…period…dot, but that’s just me. The people I don’t want to see complain are the guys who wait until after the contracts done and now all of a sudden can’t upgrade because all the slots are full, if it works out like that.

MasterOfPuppets

good post!

and what I quoted above is exactly what is going to happen. The contract will be signed and upgrades will dry up everywhere but on the coasts and senior pilots will be crying that there are no CA bids to be had.

you want it come get it now…..

ThumbsUp

Most people don’t begrudge others for taking an upgrade a year in, but it does solve the perceived company problem of unfilled captain seats. Just conjecture on my part, but I don’t think there is a problem and the few taking upgrades are filling the requirements. If that weren’t happening, we would have a better bargaining position.

Race Bannon

Or if senior guys would quit picking up any extra fly whether it's premium or not. It's always more convenient for someone else to bite the bullet.

Zoomie

Have you seen the number of deliveries that we have coming this year and for the next 5 years?

Upgrades will not dry up for the next 5-10 unless theirs a black swan event that kills the airlines or unless we "run out" of pilots to hire.

Is this Quigley on here trying to sell guys on how great it will be to sit reserve indefinitely?

Everyone should do what they want, but to say that upgrades will dry up after a contract is histerical.

Maybe it will go from 12 months on property to 2-3 years, but would you rather do year 2-3 as a senior FO or a CA on reserve. If you hate your family or you are a "money is everything" person, go ahead and take the upgrade, because I don't see reserve getting that much better here. I'd like the NC to surprise me though.