Hiring news for ASA

[e120pilot]

asapilot,

Just to clarify....the junior Captain on the latest prelim went to someone who's been here almost 3 years. I agree it will almost for sure go way senior to that. The most junior FO to get the 700 in DFW has been here about a year.

For those of you waiting, I think there will be an announcement soon about new airplanes. Most likely this will be for delivery in 05 and beyond, so it probably won't directly affect hiring in the short term. However, hopefully we'll keep the airplanes coming to get everyone moving again. Things have been stagnant here for quite a while, so it'll be nice to see some growth.

In the coming weeks, Skip Barnette (CEO) will be doing a road show on the state of the company, so hopefully some good info will come out of that.

 

[asapilot]

e120pilot-

I think this award will be an interesting one. I think last month no one really wanted to bite on it because there was some uncertainty about how many aircraft we'd be seeing and when they'd be showing up when the award came out. Based on what I'd been hearing, I decided to take the chance because I didn't think there'd be more vacancies before the end of the year. Now that we've had 20 Captain vacancies in the past month on the -700, I think the senior guys will take the leap in greater numbers.

The question I want answered is where else we're going to go in the -700 from DFW. The new awards increase the number of -700 Captains in DFW by about 60%, so there must be something in the works.

Deliveries beyond '04 would need to be announced about now like you said since we need some lead time to exercise the options we have. Drew was adamant last month that we had no plans to exercise the options because we couldn't get the funding for them, but just watching his body language and wording, there was definitely a bulls**t element to it, so we'll see.

I heard the hiring will start in April, but a month or two here or there is probably reasonable. Of course, crew planning is a bit of a misnomer. There's more reacting than there is planning.

 

[rjcap]

They have supposedly been told that we will hire 150 in 2004, and interviews will begin in Jan. Classes in June/July

Old news !

Poolies should be manning their phones. New hire class in February.

The DFW CR700 CPT position will continue to go junior. Basicaly the bottom will drop out of it. Senior pilots on the 200 lose pay, schedule options and days off by going to the 700. All 700 awards will go to Seniority 800 + excluding a few domicile crossovers.

Mark my words.

 

[asapilot]

Hmmm....

All 700 awards will go to Seniority 800 + excluding a few domicile crossovers.

OK, for the sake of keeping this thread active, I'll bite on this...

I don't necessarily think you're wrong about this in general, but I'd be willing to be the number will be closer to 650-700. It's true that right now there's not a truly compelling reason for senior guys to go the -700, especially from a scheduling standpoint. I myself flip-flop back and forth on whether I did the right thing by going to the -700. I already had good QOL and with the service we're getting back from Skywest, thing would have just gotten better. I think this is the main reason most guys will stay on the -200, new cities and better bidding options. I kind of wish I'd stayed now, but I'm from CA and I have lots of friends out there, so I'm looking forward to a change. Plus, I can't wait for the day when I have a trip where I don't look down and go "Hey, there's the Mississippi River again..." You're right though, most of the really senior guys will likely just sit tight. We've already had a lot of domicile switchers on the -700, I expect they'll be more.

Since you said "Mark my words", I guess it's only fair I make a bold prediction as well, so here we go...

I think Comair is going to be "punished" for not going for the concessions management wanted from them. Expect to see more than our confirmed 15 -700s delivered in '04.

 

[asarjfo]

Not to be put a damper on the all the new hire rumors, but we are overstaffed everywhere. There were 215 hard lines last month on the CR2 in ATL with about 20 or so relief lines. At last count there are over 300 captains and that many FO's, so that leaves about 60-65 guys on reserve for each seat ( just a few too many). I think they are still pretty fat on the -700, and somebody posted that the CR2 in DFW is overstaffed by about 90.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to get some more new hire classes going.....I just don't see the company adding too much fat right now.

As for us getting Comair deliveries, I really hope this does not happen. If they danggle the carrot in front of our face we need to tell them to stick it the same place the Comair guys/gals did!!!

Of course all this could change if Skip has some "BIG" news during the state of the company talks.

We shall see!

 

[e120pilot]

I don't think we're as fat on pilots as everyone thinks. I know there are over 300 captains on the 200 in ATL, but they continue to give new awards for ATL CR2 CA. If they were overstaffed, they wouldn't be giving these awards out. With the way our wonderful scheduling department utilizes reserves, they need a need a bunch.

In DFW, we are definitely not overstaffed by 90. That was the number back in August when they displaced everyone off the E120. On the latest prelim, there are 192 FOs in DFW on the 200. We currently have 136 hard lines (under normal staffing there would probably be around 15 relief lines). That only leaves a little over 40 FOs on reserve. I'd say we're probably not more than around 20 over now. When you consider it'll take 2 months to get a new hire on the line, I think you'll see new hire classes sooner rather that later. If I was a betting man, I'd say Feb (but of course that's just my guess).

As far as us getting "Comair's" airplanes next year, I don't see why you would be against it. There is no carrot being dangled here. We're not doing anything to undercut them. If DCI wants to give ASA more jets, I say bring em on. I haven't heard anyone at Comair complain about ASA shrinking this year (21 new jets with about 30 E120 retirements), while Comair gets over 30 growth aircraft. I don't blame the Comair pilots for this, but I'm certainly not going to complain if we gets some growth finally. Additionally, depending on where these new aircraft are going to be deployed, it may be more advantagous for ASA to fly them. Time will tell how this one plays out.

I think Comair might be short sighted by refusing to at least discuss things with their management. I know this isn't a popular stand, but you've gotta face reality. We don't get paid what we deserve, we get paid the going rate for our services. Just as mainline Delta has seen...when that rate is too high, mgmt will find someone cheaper to do it. I know it sucks but that's the free market for ya.

The fact is that as a DCI carrier, we have little leverage to negotiate with DAL. Sure, we can tell them to stick it, but they'll just send any new airplanes to another portfolio carrier. This is the reason I would never consider a regional a career airline. If you have no way of controlling your destiny, then you have no power. Look at two of the best regionals 10 years ago....ALG and PDT. They made great strides in raising the bar for regional pilots. Unfortunately, that high bar (among other factors) has made them less than ideal for growth. So now we watch as they slowly go away. If you're a regional carrier, a lack of growth is the kiss of death. Not to mention, a career regional FO is not my idea of a good time.

I think the next few months will be interesting as all this plays out.

 

[asarjfo]

When I reffered to receiving "Comair's" jets, I assumed that the company would come to us with some sort of concession deal for the 700 since our rate is not much lower than Comair's current rate. I guess that I forgot to mention that part.

As for the rest of your post, I say "BRING ON THE NEWHIRES!!!". I hope your predicition comes true and we have new people on the property soon!!!

Good Luck to all

 

[d.fitz]

FWIW - I talked to the ASA reps at the ERAU job fair and they are definitely in an interview mode.

She said that competitive mins are 3000TT....

150 or so to be hired next year...

 

[exeagle]

I have heard the 150# from several people as well. Sounds like the magic number. Time will tell....

 

[FL000]

She said that competitive mins are 3000TT....

Damm, I'd just barely get in the door and I've been there for several years!