First Officers Turning Down Promotion Offers

Young pilots are increasingly putting golden moments above gold stripes and that could mean more delays and cancellations for passengers. The Regional Airline Association first flagged the issue of first officers avoiding promotion and said up to 20 percent of its members' flights were canceled because of the captain shortage. The promotion can be unappealing because it often results in life-disrupting commutes and unpredictable schedules. Now the majors are reporting a similar trend, and the numbers are significant.

According to Reuters, there are almost 1,000 unfilled captain positions at United Airlines and Dennis Tajer, the president of the Allied Pilots Association at American Airlines, said twice as many right-seaters are resisting the shift to the left seat than seven years ago. He said about 7,000 FOs had avoided promotion in that time. The airlines are addressing the issue with quality-of-life enhancements in contracts like scheduling changes to try to avoid the four- and five-day grinds that some junior captains face and bonus pay to compensate for the misery.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said lifestyle enhancements were a significant part of the $9 billion contract offer the airline has made to its pilots, and American Airlines has now increased the package it's offering its pilots. The company announced on Sunday it has sweetened the pot by $1 billion to $9 billion and most of that is going into working conditions improvements.