US Regional Headhunting

[Climb150]

I spoke with a very Senior United capt (30 years) last week. He said he gave up long ago trying to predict this industry.

I think we are on a slow and steady upward trajectory that may flatten out a few times before we are back to "normal". The only thing I see that may stall the increase in demand is a reluctance of people to get vaccinated. My guess is many central and south american countries, all of Asia and Europe will eventually require travellers to be vaccinated or show a certificate of recovery to travel.

My crystal ball!

[bafanguy]

GoJet looking for CRJ DECs. In this environment ? Interesting:

https://www.airlineapps.com/news/ite...ce=SkyJobs.com

[LostWanderer]

Originally Posted by bafanguy

GoJet looking for CRJ DECs. In this environment ? Interesting:

https://www.airlineapps.com/news/ite...ce=SkyJobs.com

Very interesting indeed. Heard they were struggling to even pay the leases on their jets a short while back...maybe UA is propping them up

[bafanguy]

An opportunity for some lower time pilots but it has a training contract:

Embraer 120 Brasilia (18 month Training Agreement)


https://www.latestpilotjobs.com/jobs/view/id/12874.html

[bafanguy]

Skywest taking the long view ?

https://www.jsfirm.com/job/Pilot-Fix...h/jobID_784012

[bafanguy]

It appears Sun Country Airlines is trolling through the large flight schools and universities for pilot material. Right from being a 1500 hour CFI to a B737 spot. Why mess with a regional:


"As US airlines continue their search for enough cockpit crewmembers to fill both current and future demand, ATP Flight School and Sun Country Airlines just announced a pilot hiring partnership to create a direct pathway for ATP graduates to join the Minneapolis-based airline as Boeing 737 first officers."


https://www.flyingmag.com/story/care...ry-partner-up/



"INTRODUCING a groundbreaking partnership between Sun Country Airlines and University of North Dakota, giving commercial aviation students the opportunity to secure full-time employment prior to graduation through the Sun Country Bridge Program."



https://aero.und.edu/aviation/_files...y-airlines.pdf

[bafanguy]

Mesa announced a $20K sign-on bonus. No details on the website. You have to contact them for that:

https://www.mesa-air.com/pilots

[bafanguy]

Has PSA always required F/O applicants to be active CFIs ? This from the PSA pilot recruiting page:


Required
• Must be a current CFI, actively instructing

https://careers-psaairlines.icims.co...un1offset=-240

[bafanguy]

Why is this headhunting outfit screening DECs for a US regional ? Can't regional do that for themselves ?

"We are partnered with one of the nations largest regional airlines to identify candidates for their Direct Entry Captain program. "

https://www.jsfirm.com/job/Pilot-Fix...a/jobID_835145

[losbol]

headhunting outside USA?

I recently (2 weeks ago) spoke with some recruiters at an event in Florida. They could not give me answers on the specific interest or need for foreign pilots. Do you actually hire qualified foreigners?
All others boxes were ticked, which was very positive but this still is a vague but important area for me. Getting the working permit is the bottle neck for me now.(dutch citizen 2000+ hrs TP and jet).. Any other great insights would be appreciated..

Regards

[bafanguy]

Originally Posted by losbol

I recently (2 weeks ago) spoke with some recruiters at an event in Florida. They could not give me answers on the specific interest or need for foreign pilots. Do you actually hire qualified foreigners?

Getting the legal ability to live/work in the USA is the biggest hurdle.

Can you offer any details about the event you attended or the people to whom you spoke ?

[losbol]

I went to the L3 harris fair. I spoke with recruiters of envoy and endeavor. In their defence it was mainly focused on students currently enrolled at the facility. I just crashed the party since I was in the vicinity on a short holiday break. They were not prepared for these questions, but they ensured me that getting the seats filled is a challenge. If you need more details just pm me..

[bafanguy]

Originally Posted by losbol

I went to the L3 harris fair. I spoke with recruiters of envoy and endeavor. In their defence it was mainly focused on students currently enrolled at the facility. I just crashed the party since I was in the vicinity on a short holiday break. They were not prepared for these questions, but they ensured me that getting the seats filled is a challenge. If you need more details just pm me..

losbol,

Interesting. Too bad they didn't have more info for you. I don't hear much new or entertaining from US regionals lately. Hard to say what's actually happening. Most info is anecdotal so it's hard to know for sure without statements directly from the companies themselves.

However, there are some firsthand reports on the Aussie forum of personal contact with regionals regarding E3 activity. These are likely pretty accurate.

[bafanguy]

Air Wisconsin dangles some bait:

https://airwis.com/pilots.html

[bafanguy]

Interesting article and comments from UAL CEO. The link may or may not get you through to the entire article but you get the idea:

"United Airlines was forced to cut service to 11 secondary cities across the midwestern USA beginning in January due to the pilot shortage, the company’s chief executive officer says."

“It’s down to pilots,” Scott Kirby tells viewers of the Skift Aviation conference on 17 November. The pilot shortage is now real, we don’t have enough pilots to fly all the airplanes. It’s very simple.”

https://6park.news/idaho/united-cut-...-ceo-news.html

[stewartvwyk]

I honestly think it's only a matter of time before pilots get added to the skills shortage list and this would allow companies to sponsor visas.

[bafanguy]

stewartvwyk,

Hard to say where this will lead. The term pilot shortage gets kicked around a lot but with a rather unrefined definition so it's hard to say what's actually being discussed. The UAL CEO who was quoted as saying he didn't have enough pilots to fly the airplanes was addressing John Q. Public (where no nuanced definition is needed) and not the aviation community.

When I hear the term used, the first thing that pops into my mind is shortage of "what pilots ?". Being a cynic and skeptic, any time I hear shortage being alleged, I'll need to hear airline managements clearly state just what category of pilot they feel they're lacking.

While it's hard to say exactly what's happening at the regional level, it's plausible that the captain/LCA/sim instructor demographic is being tapped pretty hard by the legacies. If this supposition is correct, the shortage is of captains that it takes a minimum of 2 years to grow from scratch rather than F/Os who can be churned out in a couple of months. I can see where this would be a problem for the regionals.

I'd be very surprised to see the Big 6 career-destination carriers take in expats on visas. They just don't need to go that route. Green card holders ? Yep, all day long and twice on Sundays.

[T O G A Boy]

Originally Posted by stewartvwyk

I honestly think it's only a matter of time before pilots get added to the skills shortage list and this would allow companies to sponsor visas.

I’ve been getting some emails lately asking me to apply for a green card since the pilot shortage in the US is at a very high level. I did however contact their delegated immigration lawyer and was told that it would cost me $12,000 ( paid in 3 installments) and non refundable if rejected for Green card. Strange indeed .
I truly believe that they are trying to make money during these pandemic days.

[Kenny]

Originally Posted by bafanguy

stewartvwyk,

Hard to say where this will lead. The term pilot shortage gets kicked around a lot but with a rather unrefined definition so it's hard to say what's actually being discussed. The UAL CEO who was quoted as saying he didn't have enough pilots to fly the airplanes was addressing John Q. Public (where no nuanced definition is needed) and not the aviation community.

When I hear the term used, the first thing that pops into my mind is shortage of "what pilots ?". Being a cynic and skeptic, any time I hear shortage being alleged, I'll need to hear airline managements clearly state just what category of pilot they feel they're lacking.

While it's hard to say exactly what's happening at the regional level, it's plausible that the captain/LCA/sim instructor demographic is being tapped pretty hard by the legacies. If this supposition is correct, the shortage is of captains that it takes a minimum of 2 years to grow from scratch rather than F/Os who can be churned out in a couple of months. I can see where this would be a problem for the regionals.

I'd be very surprised to see the Big 6 career-destination carriers take in expats on visas. They just don't need to go that route. Green card holders ? Yep, all day long and twice on Sundays.

I’d bet a months pay check you’ll never see expats hired by UAL/DAL/AAL or SW with anything less than a Green Card. They’d home grow them before they’d do that.

[bafanguy]

Interesting comments on regional pilot supply from some airline Big Wigs (no solutions, of course):

https://simpleflying.com/regional-pi...ge-united-ceo/