Is this profession in peril?

[JetFumes]

With oil at 100, and former Fed chairman Greenspan saying that these high oil prices will go on forever, does this spell the end of a once proud profession?

High oil prices means customers will have to pay more to fly. So how does that affect us all?
I guess I am trying to get a sense of where you all think this will end up.

As for me, I keep thinking of doing something else. I just don't know what.

 

[CitationUltra]

With oil at 100, and former Fed chairman Greenspan saying that these high oil prices will go on forever, does this spell the end of a once proud profession?

High oil prices means customers will have to pay more to fly. So how does that affect us all?
I guess I am trying to get a sense of where you all think this will end up.

As for me, I keep thinking of doing something else. I just don't know what.

The "once proud profession" actually ended in the 1980s or '90s. From the mid-1980s onward, the pay, quality of life and prestige of being an airline pilot have rapidly diminished. There was an overabundance of pilots from the late 1970s on, and they were willing to fly more, work for progressively less money, and suffer an array of other indignities through those years. Now, those earning anything close to what the job is worth are greatly in the minority, and the rest have been superseded by pilots of the "B" "C" D" and "F" scales.

Any other true professional endeavor would doubtless be more lucrative than flying commercially.

 

[Andy]

Profession? It's done; gone.

 

[Lear70]

Let's just say I think the professional AIRLINE pilot career is pretty much history. At least, any semblance to its original self.

Corporate pilots and Fractional pilots still seem to have some decent jobs that could be termed a "profession", with pay and QOL commensurate to it, but that's about it.

With $100 a Brl oil, you'd probably have to DOUBLE ticket prices for the airlines to fairly compensate ALL labor AND post reasonable profits consistently year after year instead of this "profit / bonuses / bankruptcy" cycle of the last 20 years.

You do that, and you'll probably lose a large base of your consumer, requiring fewer pilots, causing yet another problem.

Not to mention that I don't think most pilots have the cajones to stand up and demand their worth, thus "taking it back".

If you want a 'profession', go back to Med School (if you can - they limit the number of Docs who come out so the same thing doesn't happen to them).

 

[Pocono Pilot]

After all the mergers, the regional airlines will be the place to be due to the furloughs and such. No more flow backs either. I feel pretty confident, AND I don't have to worry about being some lame gear jerker, either.

I'll leave that to all you guys. LOL

 

[Andy]

Well, I think its safe to say the last few posts have answered the original question.

Elvis left the building years ago. He's worm food now. Some cling to the belief that he's cruising the galaxy with aliens.
You can pray to velvet paintings of the king, but it isn't going to change the fact that pilots are as blue collar as it gets.
We've even got national union representation that'd make Jimmy Hoffa proud. Whenever I see a Teamster, I just laugh in their face and gleefully tell them that my union's more corrupt than their union.

Wow! I must've been drinking some bad moonshine. A half a dozen posts just vaporized. That darned Elvis and the aliens are at it again.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Let's just say I think the professional AIRLINE pilot career is pretty much history. At least, any semblance to its original self.

Corporate pilots and Fractional pilots still seem to have some decent jobs that could be termed a "profession", with pay and QOL commensurate to it, but that's about it.

With $100 a Brl oil, you'd probably have to DOUBLE ticket prices for the airlines to fairly compensate ALL labor AND post reasonable profits consistently year after year instead of this "profit / bonuses / bankruptcy" cycle of the last 20 years.

You do that, and you'll probably lose a large base of your consumer, requiring fewer pilots, causing yet another problem.

Good post, but don't give away the best kept secret in aviation.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

I don't have to worry about being some lame gear jerker, either.

That's a terrible attitude. If you choose to spend your career at the regional, that's fine. But for a Captain to disparage an entire segment of the piloting community (first officers) is reprehensible. You are no better than the men and women who sit to your right -- you were just hired first.

 

[Cheeta]

Take 100 pax from jfk to anywhere in FLA and it takes 1000 gals.burned. That is 10 gals. a pax or $20 a pax....and each pax paid $139 on avg one way.

Folks you can't drive it for that! People know this and are flying because it is cheaper....and ticket prices are on the rise for 10 months in a row.

 

[jmreii]

With oil at 100, and former Fed chairman Greenspan saying that these high oil prices will go on forever, does this spell the end of a once proud profession?

High oil prices means customers will have to pay more to fly. So how does that affect us all?
I guess I am trying to get a sense of where you all think this will end up.

As for me, I keep thinking of doing something else. I just don't know what.

You make it sound like customers(people) are on a island some where. Guess who else will be paying higher prices for everything that requires petroleum.