I would not consider what any airline sets as their "Hiring Standard" to be the standard for all time. When nobody has done any effective hiring for the last few years you could ask for 3 shuttle landings for your first class. Things will change. Until there is a quantum shift in the ease of creating a new pilot, there will be a pilot shortage. But, what we call a shortage is perhaps quite different than what an airline CEO would call. We call it a shortage anything that does not maintain status quo. 10 years ago, airlines were hesitent to abandon any route for fear that another airline would pounce on it for that "illusive" dream of market share. Have you heard that term lately? Nowadays, its about yield. On any given flight, on any given airline, there is an entire tier structure of what people paid to sit on the very same flight. If I was an airline CEO, I would care less about finding someone that would pay $99 to fly from NYC to LAX. What I would care about is how could I fill a plane with paxs that will pay $999 to fly 1000 miles.
So, where am I going with this? Airlines want to shrink! Offer less seats and those that are willing to pay, go. You all have seen this non-reving. How much easier was it 10 years ago? Sure the CRJ burns a bit more than larger aircraft. But, on these terms above, I believe the whole Delta RJ scope has everything to do with shrinking the airline do to lack of pilots rather than fuel burn. I got news for guys like the General Lee. When you start flying larger aircraft on shorter routes, their fuel burn will tank too. But, because the seats have been cut so much, there are very few low yield paxs on board, so you win. Hopefully, this will allow for higher compensation.
Bottom line, whatever standards are set this year will be different next.
So, where am I going with this? Airlines want to shrink! Offer less seats and those that are willing to pay, go. You all have seen this non-reving. How much easier was it 10 years ago? Sure the CRJ burns a bit more than larger aircraft. But, on these terms above, I believe the whole Delta RJ scope has everything to do with shrinking the airline do to lack of pilots rather than fuel burn. I got news for guys like the General Lee. When you start flying larger aircraft on shorter routes, their fuel burn will tank too. But, because the seats have been cut so much, there are very few low yield paxs on board, so you win. Hopefully, this will allow for higher compensation.
Bottom line, whatever standards are set this year will be different next.
