Per the article, AA to hire 2.500 new pilots over the next 5 years.
" In a letter to employees Wednesday, CEO Tom Horton said American Airlines will hire new pilots to staff new international and domestic routes. Company spokesman Bruce Hicks said about 1,500 of the new hires would replace retiring pilots, or jobs that open up due to attrition. American has about 7,500 active pilots today.
"The new American will be doing even more international flying, providing greater opportunities for career advancement and increased income for our people," Horton said in the letter. "
ItalianFlyer From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 951 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (7 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 1893 times:
Great news (much needed ) for the folks at AA. First the F/A hirin announcement...now flight ops. Do you all think that the story behind the story here is that AMR is planning for a 'go at it alone' strategy? (The other scinario would be that this is to back-fill attrition while leaving a merger option on the table. ) The number of FAs announced (1,500) would kind of support the attrition theory...but 2,500 on the pilot side seems high.
ORDBOSEWR From United States of America, joined Jun 2011, 304 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (7 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 1785 times:
Quoting YYZBound (Reply 2): But one minute we have to lay off thousands of crewmembers to cut costs..
...now we have to hire.
Sometimes I think my airline is using a Fisher-Price calculator to get its numbers
I would argue it comes down to seniority and the cost of those employees.
It is cheaper to hire new employees AND pay early payouts to get more senior folks to retire. That is simple economics with the labor contracts that most airlines have. This is due to changes in what plans (retirement, health, etc) are available to each employee.
ripcordd From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 1029 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (7 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 1769 times:
This was one of AA's problems no new hires of any kind for like 10 years, in return you have all senior topped out employees with no way of bringing down labour costs, bam offer a buy out and they are hiring again. As long as they can turn not only the fleet over but also the employees over this will keep costs lower. The only thing they wont be hiring for is MX and Fleet Service since most of their jobs are outsourced now and they were not given as nice of buyout packages as the FA's were so a lot less took it.
aluminumtubing From United States of America, joined Jul 2008, 323 posts, RR: 11 Reply 6, posted (7 months 3 weeks 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 1713 times:
Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 5): How many pilots do AA still have an furlough? I thought that it was something like 1000?
Yes, that number is close.
Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 5): Wouldn't they be recalled before they start hiring?
That is correct, the furloughed pilots would be offered recall prior to the hiring of new pilots.
But one minute we have to lay off thousands of crewmembers to cut costs..
...now we have to hire.
Sometimes I think my airline is using a Fisher-Price calculator to get its numbers
They are just following DL and UA's lead, only a few years behind. AA has the highest labor to cost ratios in the domestic airline group. Quite honestly, I would venture a guess that they wouldn't be in such a financial pinch if they offered a buy out a few years ago.
Some people flamed me a few years ago for saying that it was a great idea, but look at DL now and the financial announcement they made yesterday. Not too shabby for a company who almost liquidated 3 or 4 years ago.
PI4EVER From United States of America, joined May 2009, 599 posts, RR: 2 Reply 8, posted (7 months 3 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 1349 times:
And as xjramper aptly pointed out with the DL example, US did the same thing. Unfortunately, the pain being experienced at AA right now by many employee groups is littered with the lives and careers of employees affected by this very action previously at many other airlines. Been there, done that. It is not easy, its not nice, and unfortunately for some its just business.
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