TACA-LAN-COPA No-Hire Agreement

[777RamAirTurbine]

Wow....

Hello everyone…

Well, first of all, I am stunned and surprised that someone actually replied to my thread… I feel honored! Thanks to everyone who replies and for taking my thoughts serious enough to have a discussion about it. Even my wife does not take me that serious
My thoughts to the replies:
Flircat, I wonder why COPA did not take the LAN Ecuador Pilots who have Glass Cockpit experience if the agreement between the owners was just that, don’t take any from each other.
A good friend of min who flies in LAN Peru explained to me they are also getting themselves into this “prefer Air Force types over civilians” mode, for the same probable reason like in LAN Ecuador: “Cheap Labor”. Westernized FO’s are on the average more skilled, have better language skills and a lot have abroad educations, but are they considered for UPG’s, even after4-6 years of service? Of course not! Rest asure, Management knows that an Airbus Captain with 500 hours in Type is worth his weight in Gold these days (or at least Silver, to not overdo it), that is “IF” he speaks sufficient English to apply in other companies. So, the old farts in the left seat see themselves threatened, especially after failing “a basic” ATC English exam… (I’d feel extremely embarrassed, and in Latin Americas don’t like that feeling at all, it makes them feel inferior and unimportant but is not a motivation to become better like in most western cultures…) And you’re right about the salary, before the wife was getting a diamond ring once a lifetime, now they have money to live in a 3-bedroom apartment. Also, the Uniform looks nicer, the NATO olive just does not go with new the drapes at home…

Fly-by-hand, the disorder status of all airlines in the region is more than obvious, not just in LAN, Copa and TACA. But take GOL for instance, these guys managed to efficiently and economically create the second biggest Airline in S. America. And to top it off, they bought an airline that is getting slowly out of bankruptcy. So is it impossible to do? No! They took the right people and put them into the right place. That easy, no buddy-of-mine policy mixed with incompetence. That’s why the earlier mentioned airlines will have problems in the future, that’s why pilots who have the ability to count 2+2 together (in English) will leave rather earlier than later. The dream of a quick and early upgrade to Captain is not the driving force anymore. And I can assure you, if Qatar went to recruit in San Jose, Guayaquil and Lima themselves, they would cause quite a few heart attacks. Believe me!
But, to finish your thought, it’s NOT about hopping from one to the other, its about the possibility of doing so, which in turns raises the wages of a free and competitive economy. Assuming this: Tomorrow TACA needs 20 A320 Pilots. They take them from LAN, because they pay lets say $1000 more a month. Of course LAN fires a few managers and the base pay goes up, and so people from TACA go to LAN, then COPA comes and takes and so on… At the end, people don’t need to go to the Middle East because they get paid sufficiently at home, which gives “Power-to-the-people”. The No-Hire-Agreement eliminates the need to Policies like “compete-and-treat-your-employee-better” philosophies. In LAN Ecuador people would leave if they could, in LAN Peru too. What I personally heard, especially the FO’s are sick of being overrun for UPG’s, so they want leave even if it means to hold back of being a captain for a few years. To be honest, I have no clue what it is that makes you a different person if you’re a Captain, I got more paid the next day of my Upgrade and had to sign a few papers more than before. I let my FO's fly all the interesting routes, because I was not able to do so when I was an FO. But in the end, the left seat is not a golden throne as many pretend it to be.

Richard, I do happen to have met long time ago a Peruvian Captain who used to be the Chief of Instruction in COPA, he flies 737's or 767’s in LAN Peru now. I am not sure if true, but he was not sacked, his contract ended so he went home. But forgive me, I am not sure what you are trying to say with “dirty laundry at home” I had the sincere impression this forum was created to bring out the information not shared by superiors of colleagues.

Again, I greatly appreciate you folks commenting on the issues.

Always blue skies, with a few puffy white clouds…