AA recalls starting to increase

[aa73]

Two April recall classes now... 20 in the April 2 class, 30 in the April 15 class for a total of 50 in April. Up to #1430 or so out of 2750 furloughed.

73

 

[spacecadet1]

But the bad news is that retirements have practically stopped in March. The ugly face of age 65 will become apparent soon. If you have a decent income outside this business, it may be wise to defer recall, and invest your efforts in a career where they are appreciated.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

Well let's just hope none of them curl up in first class for a little cat nap while on duty like one of the recently recalled F/A's did.

 

[plunger]

Whats up with American? Every other major has not only recalled everyone but has been hiring for a while now. What's taking American so long? Just curious. I'm only a regional FO and don't know much about the majors.

 

[aa73]

March only had 13 early outs. April will probably have more, based on the stock market/B fund unit value from three months ago. Either way you cut it, there will probably always be some early outs every month in the near future.

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[aa73]

Whats up with American? Every other major has not only recalled everyone but has been hiring for a while now. What's taking American so long? Just curious. I'm only a regional FO and don't know much about the majors.

Plunger. Allow me. AMR had the most pilots on furlough (2750.) The big difference is... Every other airline decided to take advantage of recent positive cash flows and grew, added routes, took some new deliveries (except maybe UAL.) AMR has been slowly shrinking since 2001. They have parked or sold aircraft to competitors. They have seen their NYC market share dwindle to DAL and CAL's delight. In short, AMR does not have a long term strategy of growth. They are more concerned with whacking labor upside the head and defending their yearly PUP bonuses - which are based on the stock price, which - SURPRISE! - tends to rise when routes/capacity are cut.

Case in point - AMR is sitting on over $6B in cash. They are either preparing for a pilot strike or a big a$$ merger. But growth is not part of these plans, and that is why we have been so slow in recalling pilots.

Now factor in the 143 early outs (retirements) on Feb 1. These pilots came mostly from 767 and 777 CA bid statuses. They left AA critically short on manning. As a result, AA begins canceling HIGHLY PRESTIGIOUS 767/777 int'l routes - AA's bread and butter! - over the spring and summer months, due to lack of manning. February alone saw a bunch of LHR 777 flights cancelled...

So we have an airline that is not really interested in preserving market share, instead focusing on shrinking, whacking labor and keeping the stock price up. All this while DAL announces something like 10 new int'l routes per month, while taking deliveries of new 777LRs with massive pilot hiring. AA would rather cancel routes/flights and park aircraft. Painful, I tell ya! Now you know why AA pilots have a new motto: "Won't be fooled again!" (The Who) and our new war cry.

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[L'il J.Seinfeld]

Plunger. Allow me. AMR had the most pilots on furlough (2750.) The big difference is... Every other airline decided to take advantage of recent positive cash flows and grew, added routes, took some new deliveries (except maybe UAL.) AMR has been slowly shrinking since 2001. They have parked or sold aircraft to competitors. They have seen their NYC market share dwindle to DAL and CAL's delight. In short, AMR does not have a long term strategy of growth. They are more concerned with whacking labor upside the head and defending their yearly PUP bonuses - which are based on the stock price, which - SURPRISE! - tends to rise when routes/capacity are cut.

Case in point - AMR is sitting on over $6B in cash. They are either preparing for a pilot strike or a big a$$ merger. But growth is not part of these plans, and that is why we have been so slow in recalling pilots.

Now factor in the 143 early outs (retirements) on Feb 1. These pilots came mostly from 767 and 777 CA bid statuses. They left AA critically short on manning. As a result, AA begins canceling HIGHLY PRESTIGIOUS 767/777 int'l routes - AA's bread and butter! - over the spring and summer months, due to lack of manning. February alone saw a bunch of LHR 777 flights cancelled...

So we have an airline that is not really interested in preserving market share, instead focusing on shrinking, whacking labor and keeping the stock price up. All this while DAL announces something like 10 new int'l routes per month, while taking deliveries of new 777LRs with massive pilot hiring. AA would rather cancel routes/flights and park aircraft. Painful, I tell ya! Now you know why AA pilots have a new motto: "Won't be fooled again!" (The Who) and our new war cry.

73

Mgt's exclusive purpose is to maximize shareholder value by getting/keeping the stock up. AMR's management is the best in the business. The proof being that AMR did not file bankruptcy while all the others did. AMR furloughed like mad and "shrank to profitability" post 9/11, and did not default on their debts and contracts like the others.

 

[Andy]

Glad to hear the recalls are increasing. Hopefully you guys will burn through the list quickly - I imagine that you're seeing a lot of deferrals.

 

[Cpt Oveur]

Is Mark Hetterman still going into recurrent classes and saying "you pilots just don't understand how management bonuses work?" I'm sure that makes the pilot group real happy. They really do need to start added more routes. They're sitting on a ton of route authorities that they either used to serve themself or from TWA that they still have access to.

 

[FreightGod]

Well let's just hope none of them curl up in first class for a little cat nap while on duty like one of the recently recalled F/A's did

She was probably TWA. Them gals had a habit of hanging out in 1st. class seats while on duty.
The world owes them something...I guess.