Originally Posted by
DenverBrian
It does seem shortsighted on AA's part to place a firm date on the last 26 Mad Dogs - perhaps because pilots are officially released on that date and can't easily be recalled?
In the fall, AA will have a significant deficit of aircraft because of this and the MAXes.
Jobs are put up for bid. The MD80 pilots have already bid on and received other job assignments flying other aircraft types after the retirement. It's not a simple task to extend the retirement, because then the MD80 pilots, now scheduled to fly 737s and Airbuses, have to be replaced on those 737s and Airbuses. And where do you find the pilots to do that? They can't just scrape up the entire spare pilot pool in case someone calls in sick, and I don't think there are that many spare pilots anyway.