So as I approach a year on property, it's clear I will not be Captain in the next 18 months. For some reason management is still advertising a 2.5 year upgrade. I just don't see it.
At best...if things go the way they are going, I will upgrade in a little over 4 years. Not the best, but better than the 8+ years current First Officers are having to endure.
In order for all of this to work they have to consistently hire 37 pilots every single month and upgrade 30 pilots every single month for the next 18 months. I haven't seen 37 new hires in a month every since I came on property.
I'm still very junior and often fly with junior Captains. It's quite shocking to hear that these new Captains can't even get Captain wings to wear as the company is out of wings and doesn't see value in ordering new ones. They told all the new Captains to just wait until the new uniform pieces come....some time in the next 4 months. Makes me think they don't really value pilots if they won't even invest in something as cheap as wings.
I'm going to stick it out. The Pilots, Flight Attendants, Gate Agents and Mechanics truly are great people to work with. My friends at other regional airlines are flying more than me....and actually making more money, but they don't have the flow to a major airline. I really hope management sees more value in the flow than they do Captain wings.
