Isn't Pinnale the former Express I? If so, they were hiring street captains last year--they didn't have enough FO's that met their minimum requirements for upgrade (or so I was told).
Yes, I believe they are one and the same. Just heard from two different people that the street captain hiring was in full swing. I would like to confirm that information.
The only bad news is that you'll be on reserve FOREVER!
You'd be a Captain, but your seniority number would be determined by your standing in your new-hire class, based on the contractually agreed method for determining new-hire seniority (age, SSAN, whatever).
As FO's with seniority numbers higher than you upgrade to Captain, they move over senior to you.
Pinnacle and Northwest just made a deal for their furloughed pilots to fly for Pinnacle. Northwest pilots will have preferential hiring fro future vacancies. The pilots must go thru an interview process and wouldn;t have to reign from Northwest. Northwest pilots would be hired minimum of 18 months and NWA would be limited to 5 pilot recalls per month. This started to take place the end of August if I remeber correctly.