Staffing
- Thread starter wheelsup
- Start date
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
Apparently Eagle is now understaffed again.
They're running us ragged on Reserve. Have a storm with misconnects in a base? Grab people from every other base possible to fill the gap.
Still run out of FOs? Put CAs in the right seat at CA pay. Whoops!
SO yeah. We're recalling, and hiring, and apparently can't do it fast enough. (AGAIN!)
They're running us ragged on Reserve. Have a storm with misconnects in a base? Grab people from every other base possible to fill the gap.
Still run out of FOs? Put CAs in the right seat at CA pay. Whoops!
SO yeah. We're recalling, and hiring, and apparently can't do it fast enough. (AGAIN!)
Cactus_Cutter
Well-Known Member
Fictitious number on a bid packet put there by the scheduling committee but crew scheduling nor has the technology or willingness to keep track when assigning trips to reserve. Serious imbalances over the past few years of reserve people working 90+ and some working 12- per month even when the number was lowered to 40 last fall.
Cactus_Cutter
Well-Known Member
Just curious what has been the leading cause for hiring at Eagle? More flying? People quitting? The Krustys dropping?
Clocks
Well-Known Member
Yeah the number is complete crap. The company doesn't respect it in any way with a few "special" reserve FOs able to break guarantee every month, emailed the union they don't care. At least that's how it ran in 2008.
Cactus_Cutter
Well-Known Member
Not that they didn't care. Just ran an environment of "If you want to work you can and if you don't we won't bother you." The problem is some were so far off the radar it became a 121 currency issue.
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
I'm pretty sure if they COULD do that here, I'd be flying in the right seat about half the time. Seriously. Sadly, they think displacing guys from ATL will "fix it." Honestly, all it's gonna do is drop ATL to the same staffing levels as the rest of the bases. Latest memo says that they're displacing to put ATL staffing in line with what we have on the -200 (5 crews per airplane). I was like WHAT? We've never had 5 crews per airplane on the -200 as long as I've been here. I think at our most "overstaffed" we had 4.5 or so. DTW was below 4 crews per airplane, and even MEM is pushing it now. We've got a TDY in April for CAs into MEM. Crazy talk!
The current plan, from what I hear, is the displacements should be able to handle the uptick in hours during the summer and the downturn in the fall with no plans to hire until 2011. Following that model, we'll be canceling flights in the summer and only junior manning for half as many flights in the fall. They won't hire here until Delta threatens to cancel our -900 contract (again) or we get hit with too many fines/lack of bonuses for canceling flights. By then, it'll be too late since it takes about 2-3 months to get an FO on the line.
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
A moderate combination of all of the above.
1) More flying- new CRJs mean more crews. We're nearly back at total 2008 airframe count (pre-Saab and -135 parking) so we're adding pilots to the ranks that we've lost.
2) People have quit. Some have gone elsewhere, and some just lost hope.
3) The 'Krusties' are dropping. Eagle is anticipating a certain number of 'flowthroughs' to AA when the last round of arbitration based on the elephant toilet paper known as 'Letter 3' is completed. We're looking at 244 slots to flow near immediately, with up to 600 total Eagle Captains with seniority numbers at AA flowing eventually. (With nearly 7000 AA pilots reaching mandatory retirement in the next 10 years, the AE flowthroughs moving up is a cause for staffing adjustment.)
.... also, some are just flat out retiring from Eagle.
That's right, kids. Eagle is now a CAREER AIRLINE!
Yay.
(Told ya so! You heard it here first! :whatever
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
Sad, really.
This tactic is all just so much pouring water from one glass into another, when in reality what we need is more water overall.
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
That's actually a good analogy. With people quitting for various reasons (a few have "escaped" to other places, some have just left the industry altogether) we're even spilling water over the sides in the process....
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
Sign of the times, really. Until management groups really feel the pain of the changing climate in the pilot career field, not much will change.
They will eventually feel the pain, though. Pilots are looking for better payouts sooner rather than later, in this field or another.
Alas, assuming that they'll realize a reactive stance isn't a good idea is awfully optimistic.
