Originally Posted by
Chief Willy
due to the way redundancy was handled in 2020 I expect there to be an exodus of senior pilots from the “at risk” 777 and 380 fleets onto the “safe” 787 and 350 fleets first, but this should open up positions on the 777 and 380 fleets for those 320 pilots who are happy with the risks of going on those 2 older fleets.
A lot of the more senior pilots from the 747 and A380 fleets got moves to other fleets so I don’t see why it’s a necessity that they bail now from the 777 and A380. Ultimately no one
with the required seniority to avoid the chop from the jumbo lost their job (there were huge negative financial impacts I grant you but no redundancy) so the proof will be in the pudding but if there is some impact I suspect that to be fairly short lived. The thing that really did for the jumbo guys and girls was that they had nowhere to go in short order, it was long course everywhere they looked. God forbid the same situation occurred in a couple of years time the A380 pilots can CCQ onto the A350 or even the A320 in a pinch. The 777 pilots have the 787 on their Type Ratings so that’s another short course. I would argue the case that the 777 really is another at risk fleet, some of the 300s are amongst the newest aircraft in the airline - is the only aircraft after the A380 with any significant capacity - and the 777-9 (providing certification issues resolved and the small matter of paying for them) is arriving in 2024/25. To me the only fleet that looks dodgy is the A380 and that’s on nowhere near the scale of the 747 due to the short course situation.