United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has acknowledged that the carrier’s pilots are shunning promotion to the captain’s chair, hurting its flight capability within the fourth quarter, confirming what Reuters reported earlier this week.
Multiple pilots at United told Reuters that senior first officers have been avoiding promotion to captain as they are not looking for the unpredictable schedule that comes with the larger paycheck, creating headaches for the Chicago-based company.
“It’s the primary time that I’ve ever known it to occur within the airline industry,” Kirby said in response to an issue on the corporate’s earnings call on Thursday. “It’s going to impact capability within the fourth quarter.”
A primary officer helps navigate and operate flights, but a captain is the pilot in control of the plane and is accountable for its safety. Airlines cannot fly their planes with out a captain within the cockpit.
At United, bids for 978 captain vacancies, or about 50% of the vacancies posted, have gone unfilled up to now yr, United pilot union data shows. In June, 96 of 198 openings went unfilled.
Currently, United has about 5,900 captains and seven,500 first officers, in response to union data.
United’s pilots blame current work rules for making senior first officers reluctant to take promotions. Pilots told Reuters they will be forced to simply accept assignments on days off and that trips will be modified or prolonged “on a whim.”
Seniority affords pilots some schedule certainty, because it lets them select and trade trips and plan vacations. But a change of their job category, airline base, or the equipment they fly, can affect seniority.
A captain’s pay is healthier, but junior captains face greater risks of being subject to unpredictable flying schedules, more on-call duty, and assignments at short notice.
United has sought to handle a few of those problems in its latest pilot contract. Kirby said the contract has already made a difference and led to a greater response in the most recent bidding for captain vacancies.
“It is a unique issue that will likely be within the rearview mirror sometime next yr,” he said.
