Guitar Guy
Charvel - San Dimas
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2004
- Posts
- 1,770
The Ultras are going away but I don't know the rate. The Encore+'s are coming at the rate of one per month for the next 3-4 years. XLS+ deliveries start late summer or early fall. I believe that we get a few more X's in the next year or so but we retire a few, so that may about a wash for a while although I believe we start some net gains in the X in a few years. Also, the Sovereign fleet is growing. I believe the Falcon fleet will be growing once the 2000LX is certified and Dassault starts deliveries.
Your question about seniority in a shrinking fleet is interesting. Most likely, you wouldn't gain much seniority in something like the Ultra. That said, U-boat pilots are bailing for other fleets and/or upgrade, so depending on the rate at which that happens vs. the rate at which airframes are sold off, the company could have to hire. Plus if one stays in the Ultra long enough, that person might get to experience a displacement bid.
I think, though, that getting into a larger aircraft (like the G200 or maybe the Sovereign or X) may not be a place to gain relative seniority either. With the long wait to upgrade, a number of existing SIC's are bidding to the bigger planes. So if someone got into one of those soon, that person might find himself stuck at the bottom of the list in that fleet.
My guess is that if a new-hire wanted to accrue relative seniority quickly for vacation and schedule bidding, then the XL/XLS, Encore+ and maybe the 800/900XP (Collins) might be the fleets to do that in. The XLS+ would be another fleet in that mix, but I don't know when they'll offer that to new-hires - that may not occur until next year.
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Must have struck a nerve.
