Originally Posted by
Anti Skid On
Thank you for your insights. Earlier people had mentioned the possible demise of the 777-200 fleet, and whether or not those crew would be 'low hanging fruit', which would be sad.
As also has been said, these losses are from the jet fleet, so similar numbers could eventuate from the regional side (where I have several friends). I also know a couple of 20 somethings trying to get their first real job. They're pretty stuffed in the short term
There's no mechanism in our CEA to make Pilots Redundant by Fleet, only by Seniority. That being said, the -200's days are probably numbered. Prior to COVID, they were due to be replaced from around 2022 with GenX 787's. I'm not privy to lease conditions and how easily they could exit them early so can't say for certain, but the ones we own could possibly be sold to leasing companies for a few bucks.
Transition between the Boeing Fleets is a short course so it's much easier than down-training to the Airbus.
Honestly, the 20 year olds who haven't started their flying careers are the lucky ones. No kids, no mortgages, young enough to retrain in a new field... don't get me wrong, I love Flying, in many ways it defines me. But having been on the wrong end of 911/Ansett, the GFC and now (potentially) COVID-19, I'm wondering if perhaps I should of taken the hint 20 years ago and done something else.
As for the Regional Guys, I doubt they're going to take too much of a hit from this. To my knowledge, they've been short on crew for years which will give them some breathing space, and with no international flying to worry about, they'll likely resume close to their full schedule by the end of the year, just with less Pax.
Originally Posted by
mark247
Surely a lot of those regional pilots will be reluctant to go to the jets and give up their regional seniority after all this in case it happens again.
Possibly Senior Link Pilots might think twice about it, seeing their mates who resigned from the Regionals 6 months ago lose their jobs, but then again, those who catch the post COVID wave early will likely rise above the next downturn quite quickly.