Zapphod Beblebrox
Inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
American Airlines’ regionals offer $15,000 signing bonus to new pilots
Jun 13, 2016
ATW Photo Gallery-In the News-June 2016
American Airlines’ three wholly owned regional affiliates—Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines and PSA Airlines—simultaneously announced they will pay a $15,000 bonus to all newly hired pilots, effective immediately.
The move comes amid the backdrop of US regional airlines having increasing difficulty hiring new pilots. Citing FAA’s requirement that pilots accumulate 1,500 flight hours before becoming a commercial airline pilot and other factors, Regional Airline Association (RAA) president Faye Malarkey Black said US regionals sought to hire 5,000 new pilots in 2015, but actually were able hire fewer than 3,000 because of a “considerable decline in the quality of eligible pilot candidates.”
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union has called on US regionals to offer higher starting salaries as a way to alleviate the pilot hiring problem.
American’s regionals are touting the signing bonus, plus a career path to mainline American cockpits, as a drawing card for flight deck crew.
“We’re hoping that the $15,000 signing bonus will encourage more pilots to look at Piedmont as a career choice,” Lyle Hogg, the CEO of Salisbury, Maryland-based Piedmont, said in a statement. “Piedmont offers a very quick upgrade from first officer to captain and a guaranteed job at American Airlines in a few years, so it’s a great career option.”
Irving, Texas-based Envoy said in a statement that “with our flow-through program to the mainline, [newly hired pilots] can enter training at American Airlines in less than six years from hire.”
In addition to the hiring bonus, Piedmont and Dayton, Ohio-based PSA also announced a $5,000 bonus for referring a pilot who is ultimately hired. “It’s a great opportunity for all of our employees to participate in our recruiting efforts,” Hogg said. “Any employee can recommend a friend or family member pilot through our human resources department and get rewarded with a bonus for doing so.”
Piedmont is seeking to hire more than 200 pilots in 2016.
The good news: They are paying 15,000 dollars. The bad news, or possible bad news, the flow is not contractual. There is no contractual enforceable agreement. Each wholy owned has an agreement between its pilot group and its independently managed certificate holder management team. If for some unforeseen reason the hiring binge were to stop, the flows stop or can even go away. There is no enforceable contract language between the regional pilot and the mainline.
Parker will uphold the agreement, as long as it is in his best interest to do so. There was no negotiation over this bonus, the company just decided to do it.
I commute from PIT to DCA. We are down from 5 flights a day to three because Republic cannot staff. I am driving more that I thought I would have to. We are starting to feel it.
Jun 13, 2016
ATW Photo Gallery-In the News-June 2016
American Airlines’ three wholly owned regional affiliates—Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines and PSA Airlines—simultaneously announced they will pay a $15,000 bonus to all newly hired pilots, effective immediately.
The move comes amid the backdrop of US regional airlines having increasing difficulty hiring new pilots. Citing FAA’s requirement that pilots accumulate 1,500 flight hours before becoming a commercial airline pilot and other factors, Regional Airline Association (RAA) president Faye Malarkey Black said US regionals sought to hire 5,000 new pilots in 2015, but actually were able hire fewer than 3,000 because of a “considerable decline in the quality of eligible pilot candidates.”
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union has called on US regionals to offer higher starting salaries as a way to alleviate the pilot hiring problem.
American’s regionals are touting the signing bonus, plus a career path to mainline American cockpits, as a drawing card for flight deck crew.
“We’re hoping that the $15,000 signing bonus will encourage more pilots to look at Piedmont as a career choice,” Lyle Hogg, the CEO of Salisbury, Maryland-based Piedmont, said in a statement. “Piedmont offers a very quick upgrade from first officer to captain and a guaranteed job at American Airlines in a few years, so it’s a great career option.”
Irving, Texas-based Envoy said in a statement that “with our flow-through program to the mainline, [newly hired pilots] can enter training at American Airlines in less than six years from hire.”
In addition to the hiring bonus, Piedmont and Dayton, Ohio-based PSA also announced a $5,000 bonus for referring a pilot who is ultimately hired. “It’s a great opportunity for all of our employees to participate in our recruiting efforts,” Hogg said. “Any employee can recommend a friend or family member pilot through our human resources department and get rewarded with a bonus for doing so.”
Piedmont is seeking to hire more than 200 pilots in 2016.
The good news: They are paying 15,000 dollars. The bad news, or possible bad news, the flow is not contractual. There is no contractual enforceable agreement. Each wholy owned has an agreement between its pilot group and its independently managed certificate holder management team. If for some unforeseen reason the hiring binge were to stop, the flows stop or can even go away. There is no enforceable contract language between the regional pilot and the mainline.
Parker will uphold the agreement, as long as it is in his best interest to do so. There was no negotiation over this bonus, the company just decided to do it.
I commute from PIT to DCA. We are down from 5 flights a day to three because Republic cannot staff. I am driving more that I thought I would have to. We are starting to feel it.
