chrisreedrules
Master Blaster
I can't for the life of my find a PSA thread to post this in, so here it is.
PSA Airlines now offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus for new hires. I don't know any details or if there are any strings attached. Just saw that on the company website.
New(ish) info:
*Cincinnati crew base opening January 1st. It is currently our most junior base on the FO side.
*Our preferential interview has turned into a direct flow (ala Piedmont and Envoy). Starting in January it will be 5 /month and it goes up to a maximum of 8 /month depending on the amount of active CAs we currently have on property. Most expect it to go up to about 7 by the end of 2016 and maybe to 8 sometime in 2017 depending on how many pilots we are able to hire. We will also be back to the negotiating table in 2016 to discuss the current metric and perhaps increase our flow.
*Training backlog is completely gone. New hires can expect to get through training pretty quick.
*Taking delivery of new 900s every month in 2016, and Envoy's 700s are scheduled to continue delivery by the end of 2016. Although there is speculation that they may be deferred further for the remaining CRJ900 options AAG has.
*Upgrade times have remained low for those with the prerequisite time. Half of my January class has either upgraded or moved on to other opportunities. And still more will be upgrading in the coming months when they have their 1,000 121 SIC. Those of us who started with zero 121 time back in January have flown an average of about 300-350 hours in 2015. We are all holding lines now so we will likely upgrade by early 2017 as long as everything keeps rolling the way it is.
My take on things for 2016:
Everything that I was told would happen when I came on here at PSA has happened. I got my base of choice quickly out of training. I haven't say much reserve (maybe 3 or 4 months of short call reserve and 1 month of long call). Upgrade times will gradually increase through 2016. However, with steady attrition off the top of our seniority list from pilots flowing up to American and still more pilots leaving for other opportunities, there will be continuous movement and upgrades here for a long while to come. And you must also take into account new aircraft deliveries scheduled through 2017. And to the point of aircraft deliveries, 900s are scheduled through the end of 2016 (with options for more) and AAG is still planning on transferring the remaining Envoy 700s in 2017. There is a lot of talk about what will happen to the 200s here. I think that ultimately, 50-seaters will be almost completely gone by 2020. Not just at PSA, but almost everywhere. There are no plans for the PSA 200s to go anywhere, but I would bet the nickel in my pocket that if hiring becomes a challenge, the company will begin to retire the 200 on a one-for-one basis to keep the deliveries of the 900s or Envoy's 700s coming. They are simply more profitable, and we have already begun flying 700s on routes that used to be primarily flown on 200s. I also think the company will likely offer a larger new-hire bonus by summer of 2016 as hiring becomes more and more challenging.
Anyway, that's most of the relevant latest scuttle butt and my opinion on things.
PSA Airlines now offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus for new hires. I don't know any details or if there are any strings attached. Just saw that on the company website.
New(ish) info:
*Cincinnati crew base opening January 1st. It is currently our most junior base on the FO side.
*Our preferential interview has turned into a direct flow (ala Piedmont and Envoy). Starting in January it will be 5 /month and it goes up to a maximum of 8 /month depending on the amount of active CAs we currently have on property. Most expect it to go up to about 7 by the end of 2016 and maybe to 8 sometime in 2017 depending on how many pilots we are able to hire. We will also be back to the negotiating table in 2016 to discuss the current metric and perhaps increase our flow.
*Training backlog is completely gone. New hires can expect to get through training pretty quick.
*Taking delivery of new 900s every month in 2016, and Envoy's 700s are scheduled to continue delivery by the end of 2016. Although there is speculation that they may be deferred further for the remaining CRJ900 options AAG has.
*Upgrade times have remained low for those with the prerequisite time. Half of my January class has either upgraded or moved on to other opportunities. And still more will be upgrading in the coming months when they have their 1,000 121 SIC. Those of us who started with zero 121 time back in January have flown an average of about 300-350 hours in 2015. We are all holding lines now so we will likely upgrade by early 2017 as long as everything keeps rolling the way it is.
My take on things for 2016:
Everything that I was told would happen when I came on here at PSA has happened. I got my base of choice quickly out of training. I haven't say much reserve (maybe 3 or 4 months of short call reserve and 1 month of long call). Upgrade times will gradually increase through 2016. However, with steady attrition off the top of our seniority list from pilots flowing up to American and still more pilots leaving for other opportunities, there will be continuous movement and upgrades here for a long while to come. And you must also take into account new aircraft deliveries scheduled through 2017. And to the point of aircraft deliveries, 900s are scheduled through the end of 2016 (with options for more) and AAG is still planning on transferring the remaining Envoy 700s in 2017. There is a lot of talk about what will happen to the 200s here. I think that ultimately, 50-seaters will be almost completely gone by 2020. Not just at PSA, but almost everywhere. There are no plans for the PSA 200s to go anywhere, but I would bet the nickel in my pocket that if hiring becomes a challenge, the company will begin to retire the 200 on a one-for-one basis to keep the deliveries of the 900s or Envoy's 700s coming. They are simply more profitable, and we have already begun flying 700s on routes that used to be primarily flown on 200s. I also think the company will likely offer a larger new-hire bonus by summer of 2016 as hiring becomes more and more challenging.
Anyway, that's most of the relevant latest scuttle butt and my opinion on things.
