CAL is an airline that is always full of rumours, but seeing that this is a rumour network, I'll give you the rumours that are in my mind, closest to the truth......
We are short-staffed on all fleets except maybe the 767. The 737 boys have been flying reasonably hard but that's to be expected around Christmas. There is no vacation available for the ATR boys from January thru March. So it's obvious that we need to hire. Around 80 pilots were interviewed and assessed toward the end of last year with a plan to hire anywhere from 4 to 15 initially.
While all this was going on the new board, led by Phillip Marshall devised a plan to move the airline forward. They presented this plan to the government, specifically Minister of Finance Howai, and it was handed back to them to make some changes. What those changes are is anyone's guess. I'm not aware if the revised plan has been handed to the government.
Talk is strong that the 767 fleet will be shut down, it's simply costing too much to run. There are approx 30 pilots on the 767 that will, most probably be re-absorbed onto the 737, where they're desperately needed for the coming 2014 schedule.
What that means is that new-hires probably won't be needed and apparently hiring has been put on hold for now.
I know that's not the news that anyone wanted to hear but as I said, these are the rumours.
When the new plan is announced we'll have a more concrete idea of how things are shaping up for new-hires and I'll share what I know.
Zig