Cayman Airways First Officers Troy McCoy, Tarik Goring, Brian Seales and Geoffrey Connolly are set to move up to captain within the next 18 months.
The airline is replacing captains who retired last year, and addressing future pilot needs, the national flag carrier has announced.
The four senior first officers, CAL said in a statement on Monday, are in the pipeline to be upgraded to captain on the B737-8 fleet with each already “assessed for their captaincy and command potential”.
“We expect the upgrades to be completed for at least one of the four candidates in 2022, and the remainder in 2023,” said Cayman Airways president and CEO Fabian Whorms, as he explained that the upgrades are part of the airline’s normal succession planning.
The upgrade of the Caymanian pilots, who may soon be flying “left seat”, are a necessary move, he said, noting that the addition of routes like Los Angeles this November, “and the recent retirement of some long-serving Captains, have contributed to recent succession plan adjustments to cover the airline’s operational needs”.
Whorms said the airline is dedicated to advancing the flying careers of the four pilots through providing the necessary training according to a timeline “based on the airline’s needs and continued growth”.
The CAL boss, in the statement, said previously-qualified Caymanian pilot Kel Thompson, who is set to retire from flying at age 65 in late February 2023, was recently reinstated to captain from his first officer position for the remainder of his career.
Whorms explained the airline had to address a “more immediate and temporary need” for at least one additional captain due to the anticipated increases in flying for the B737-8 fleet this winter. In addition, there are challenges presented by scarce B737-8 simulator availability for required training through the winter of 2022/2023 for the four other candidates.
“We were actually pleased that Captain Thompson applied to be reinstated to the position of Captain, given that he was essentially already qualified and his promotion would not only be a quick way to address the current temporary need for an additional Captain, but his promotion would also logistically assist with expediting the training and promotion of the other local First Officers who have applied for the upgrade,” Whorms said.
Upgrade of pilot defended
The CAL head said that, contrary to claims being circulated, “Captain Thompson will not be deriving any additional material retirement benefits as a result of this upgrade when he retires in early 2023”.
In addition, Whorms said Thompson’s upgrade has not affected the promotion of any other first officers, noting that reinstating Thompson “provided an extremely low-cost and easily achievable solution in the fastest possible manner for the airline”.
He added, “As a very experienced former jet Captain and training supervisor himself, the training requirements to reinstate his Captaincy were significantly less than what was necessary to upgrade a First Officer for the first time to a jet Captain, which also meant that the cost to the company was minimal.”
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