It is when I hear things like - 'AC is going to hire 600 pilots this year' that it makes me REALLY happy I am at Cathay. In 1999, AC said they were going to hire 150-250 pilots per year indefinitely. New hires were told by the DFO that they could conceivably be FO's on the 767 in YVR in two years. Four years and change later the initial number was just shy of 700 lay offs. Granted 140ish were furloughed. But now back to the roller coaster - 600 new hires in a year.
Cx's steady controlled growth (and profitability) make it easier for me to sleep at night.
The cyclical nature of most North Am majors - mass hiring followed by lay offs during the next trough is something that is always a concern. The best you can hope for is that is you get hired early enough that retirements and modest growth will have you outlive the furloughs when things start going South.
On that note - Cx has never forloughed a pilot.
My congrats to AC and their employees. I wish them all the best in their growth. I do truly hope that all of my Canadian friends busting their butt in GA get their airline seat with AC and more importantly are able to hang on to it when the next down turn inevitably rolls around. And for those of you currently at AC congratulations on the new order, planned expansion and hiring boom!