Originally Posted by
jrmyl
The shortage of pilots is not in the captain spots. There are plenty of f/o's that are able and willing to upgrade. The shortage is in the applicants to the regional airline jobs.
jrmyl,
From my observation of the regional situation (based on anecdotal data because these regionals don't provide such so I have to rely on info posted on websites ), there is in fact a captain shortage in the regionals. This involves a few factors:
(1) The hiring at the legacy and LCC level is sapping off regional captain, LCA and instructor cadres at a great rate.
(2) More regionals are advertising for DECs as a result.
(3) It's said there are allegedly many regional F/Os who won't upgrade because it would degrade their QOL. And the hiring trend at legacies is said to be taking more regional pilots without PIC time so perhaps they don't have to give up that QOL to move to a career-destination spot. What percentage of legacy hiring is this ? I don't know but this situation is said to be happening more and more. I've seen it happen in a case or two where I have personal knowledge.
So, every regional new-hire F/O needs captains to fly with to get them to the magic 1,000 hours Part 121 time so
THEY can upgrade...and sim instructors to train them and LCA to give them IOE.
The regional captain drain is said to be the wrench in the regional works. Can I prove that ? Nope but it's the song being sung on many av forums.
Time will tell the truth. And you're correct there's no shortage of regional F/O candidates but I'm not sure about there being no shortage of regional F/Os willing to upgrade. Sufficient F/O upgrades would preclude the need for DECS.