Originally Posted by
Zaphod Beblebrox
I work for AA and will venture a guess. Mr. Parker was the first to offer a "flow" program as a legacy major carrier. He believes that a properly constructed "flow" program will attract the necessary talent in the pilot pool without having to resort to a "cash war" for pilots. He has stated so in employee meetings. I believe that the reduction in flying by some contract carriers will allow AA to bring more flying on the "wholly owned", Envoy, Piedmont, & PSA, and increase the flow. Envoy already has direct entry captains.
AA will never bring all regional flying in-house. They will always want some contractors out there to keep a lid on costs. It's just that now with the pilot shortage the most effective way to control pilot costs is with the promise of a flow to mainline. AA management believes that it will reduce the pressure on pilot cost demands at contract time.
Zap,
Based on my observations, Parker cracked the code with this "flow" thing. While there's a
wild card aspect to the "when" of the flow, it's a pretty big carrot particularly for the young, low-time guys entering the hunt...gets their interest. If they're starting out, they've got to put in the time/years somewhere so why not at a place with a flow and see what happens? They can always take a run at other carriers in the meantime.
The rumor mill says Delta will announce their "University Pathway Program" later this month. My sources tell me they've been cookin' up this thing for quite a while. They even have a dedicated Manager of Pilot Outreach who oversees things like this. I'll be very curious to see how closely it resembles AA's regional-to-mainline flow thingy...if at all.
Interesting times...