Originally Posted by
Ollie Onion
^^^ why? That is how a lot of big airlines around the world are or have been structured, why is Air NZ so special that Jets and Turboprops shouldn’t be mixed?
And what makes an SO seat so special that it gets paid enough money to ensure a good chunk of pilots would rather sit there than move to an A320 FO spot?
I'm struggling to think of any Airlines who combine Jets + Props, but I don't claim to know every Airline in the world. That being said, what benefit does a Cadet get going from a 787 SO to ATR FO? What are they going to learn on the Widebody that's relevant to the Link operation? It's purely a means to slash the SO salary and we all know it. Further more, it would move ~200 jobs to the bottom of the Seniority list meaning anyone who wants to fly Longhual would need to wait for an FO position, which would be ~1000 places up the list if we combine them.
Lastly, do the SO's really have it that good? Or has the Airbus simply become undesirable due to poor rostering? If you honestly believe that SO's are avoiding the Bus because they have it too good on the Widebody, then why are A320 Commands forecast to drop as low as 3 years as Captains flee the Fleet for Widebody FO positions?