Fast Food Chain Will Recruit At The Event, Potentially Offering Better Pay And Benefits

ANN April 1st Special Edition

The Regional Airline Association said April 1st that McDonald's has come on board as a major sponsor for its annual convention, and plans to recruit among the pilots and others attending the event.

"Well, they certainly pay better, have some nice benefits, and shorter hours," said an RAA official not authorized to speak to the media. "With some of these regional pilots taking home something in the vicinity of $20,000 a year, a shift at the flattop cooking burgers might seem like a step up."

McDonald's confirmed that they will be looking for some people in a kind of a job fair at the RAA convention. "Pilots have a great way of communicating over substandard intercom systems, so we think they'll be perfectly suited for the drive-throughs at our restaurants," a spokesman said.

If the sponsorship proves successful, RAA says it may pursue other fast-food and fast-casual chains as convention sponsors. "Regionals are struggling," the RAA official said. "We look at this as a sort of outplacement strategy for pilots who may lose their flying jobs as the industry continues to shake its self out."

In a related move, WalMart announced that it had adopted a company policy to ask if potential employees had ever worked for TSA. While it would not place an outright ban on former TSA agents from working as greeters at its stores, it would certainly raise a red flag. "We've got some standards," a WalMart spokesperson said.

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