Mad Doggy Dog
Well-Known Member
Hi everybody, this is Steve Dickson with a special Flight Operations update for Tuesday, May 4th.
Today I'd like to announce that later this year we'll begin hiring pilots after the summer schedule ramps down in late August. Right now we anticipate we'll need an additional 240 pilots based on forecasted retirements along with a planned increase in pilot block hours, so that we are adequately staffed for the summer 2011 schedule.
As you know, last year was difficult for the entire airline industry. With the economic downturn came a reduction in our flying. This reduction resulted in Flight Ops being somewhat overstaffed during the shoulder months, but we made the decision not to furlough. That decision allowed us to stay well positioned so that with any economic improvement, anticipation of potential pilot retirements, and long lead times required for pilot hiring we would still be able to support increased flying. These are the types of commitments that we made throughout the company during the recession and we appreciate your flexibility as work through this as we did everything possible to avoid furloughs.
Now that we see an improving economy, the network plan for late 2010 flying has changed, resulting in an increase in the amount of widebody flying instead of the previous reduction that resulted in the bid posted at the end of last year and awarded just after SOC. The updated Network plan for late 2010 flying now calls for posting additional positions in widebody aircraft, rather than the push down to narrowbodies we saw in that bid. We anticipate posting the next Advance Entitlement/Surplus bid in the next few days which will position us for flying this revised network schedule.
So in preparation for the summer of 2011, which believe it or not, from a staffing perspective, is right around the corner, we've conducted a thorough analysis over the last several weeks to determine total pilots needed for the amount of block hours we expect to fly over the next 15 months. With this announcement of hiring comes the opportunity for furlough bypass pilots to return to Delta and for other pilots who desire employment with us, the opportunity to join our ranks.
If you know a pilot who you think would be a great candidate for us to consider, make sure you tell him or her to go online to airlineapps.com and fill out an application. Additional information on hiring requirements is available on the Flight Ops pilot selection web page as well as on delta.com. You will be hearing more details about the next AE/Surplus bid in the next few days so stay tuned.
Well, that's it for today. As always, thanks for everything you're doing on the line every day for our passengers and for each other. Please fly safe, thanks for calling in and I'll talk to you again on Friday.
P.S.
Don't listen to anything Doug Taylor or Mad Doggy Dog tells you about flying. Those guys are total goofballs!
[last paragraph embelished somewhat]
Today I'd like to announce that later this year we'll begin hiring pilots after the summer schedule ramps down in late August. Right now we anticipate we'll need an additional 240 pilots based on forecasted retirements along with a planned increase in pilot block hours, so that we are adequately staffed for the summer 2011 schedule.
As you know, last year was difficult for the entire airline industry. With the economic downturn came a reduction in our flying. This reduction resulted in Flight Ops being somewhat overstaffed during the shoulder months, but we made the decision not to furlough. That decision allowed us to stay well positioned so that with any economic improvement, anticipation of potential pilot retirements, and long lead times required for pilot hiring we would still be able to support increased flying. These are the types of commitments that we made throughout the company during the recession and we appreciate your flexibility as work through this as we did everything possible to avoid furloughs.
Now that we see an improving economy, the network plan for late 2010 flying has changed, resulting in an increase in the amount of widebody flying instead of the previous reduction that resulted in the bid posted at the end of last year and awarded just after SOC. The updated Network plan for late 2010 flying now calls for posting additional positions in widebody aircraft, rather than the push down to narrowbodies we saw in that bid. We anticipate posting the next Advance Entitlement/Surplus bid in the next few days which will position us for flying this revised network schedule.
So in preparation for the summer of 2011, which believe it or not, from a staffing perspective, is right around the corner, we've conducted a thorough analysis over the last several weeks to determine total pilots needed for the amount of block hours we expect to fly over the next 15 months. With this announcement of hiring comes the opportunity for furlough bypass pilots to return to Delta and for other pilots who desire employment with us, the opportunity to join our ranks.
If you know a pilot who you think would be a great candidate for us to consider, make sure you tell him or her to go online to airlineapps.com and fill out an application. Additional information on hiring requirements is available on the Flight Ops pilot selection web page as well as on delta.com. You will be hearing more details about the next AE/Surplus bid in the next few days so stay tuned.
Well, that's it for today. As always, thanks for everything you're doing on the line every day for our passengers and for each other. Please fly safe, thanks for calling in and I'll talk to you again on Friday.
P.S.
Don't listen to anything Doug Taylor or Mad Doggy Dog tells you about flying. Those guys are total goofballs!
[last paragraph embelished somewhat]
