Originally Posted by
Ollie Onion
It is just a very strange attitude that you don’t think a pilot already employed within the Airline Group shouldn’t get preference to move to mainline. It should only be when you can’t move them or all candidates have been assessed that you should move to external applicants.
Probably because I've been around a while and seen the industry and attitudes change. Not every Pilot in this Country gets their experience in the Regionals. There are other T-Prop (and Jet) operators who need Pilots and their experience shouldn't be undervalued simply because they wear a different uniform (for what it's worth, I went through the Links myself). While there are certainly some Link Pilots who have been
loyal to the group and stuck around, most simply took the first job that came along and it happened to have a Koru on the Tail. It's also a lot easier to be
loyal if you managed to skip GA and are on ATR Command Pay in your 20's. Wasn't that long ago Mt. Cook was an old boys club with Commands taking 10+ years to achieve.
Around 2011 (from memory), about the time "Recruit to group" came about, the powers that be decided those who already worked for the Company should be given preference for Link interviews. Not long after, we saw Flight Planners, Flight attendants, Baggage handlers etc with as little as 500 hours given interviews (and subsequently jobs) over those in GA or Instructing with 1500+ hours... and the cries from Pilots in those outfits could be heard up and down the country! How unfair it was, that those with experience were being overlooked simply because they didn't get a part-time job throwing bags at the Airport.
Again, I find it interesting that the Generation of Pilots who cried about preferential treatment back then are now insisting on exactly that. And the same logic applies. You don't
need 2000 hrs in GA to be a Q300 FO, it's not a space shuttle, 500 hours (the legal minimum under Part 121) is fine. They demonstrated loyalty as an "Air New Zealander" in a ground role and and should be rewarded. Why not hire People internally first and then, if you need more look outside the Airline? Just start in the Mailroom after high School and work your way up to 777 Captain over the next 4 or 5 decades. Ultimately the wave happened and the "problem" resolved itself as the Links quickly ran out of "internals" to hire.
When the 787 Engines are resolved (or replaced), the GenX 787's get delivered and COVID-19 is behind us, the company will likely need more Pilots. If the Links can't release enough they'll turn again to externals... many of whom have withdrawn their applications, not shown up for interviews and simply stopped applying, because of Pathways. When you keep opening and closing the doors between internal and external, people get pissed off, leave, and aren't necessarily going to be available when it suits the Airline. By keeping both doors open at all times, and not reserving Seniority numbers en-masse, you'll ensure healthy supply of both applicants.