hmmm

[RichO]

Ok. let me try this again........how does everyone feel about the current path of the industry????? Does anyone have any suggestions on what might help the industry in the right direction?????? Do you think making $15 an hour is a good wage for an FO or do you feel that it should be higher, and if so, what can we do as pilots to get this price hiring....as an investor, of course the lower the cost of a pilot the better, but as a pilot it bites.........

 

[Q200_FO]

No, I think that $10 per hour for a professional pilot is a very good wage for a card carrying union member. We all have to satisfy the investors right? I mean what do they care if emplyees can't live on theiur paycheck? As long as they make their millions.

[Insert sarcasm here]

 

[Don]

The answer is, narrow the pool and make it more difficult to become a pilot. As it is now I could put a howler monkey through a commercial pilot program. Bad monkey, autopilot stays on.

http://www.monkeyslots.com/monkies/32.jpeg

Require a BA degree to be a commercial pilot, require a master’s degree to become an ATP pilot. Now here it comes, it’s not fair; college has nothing to do with flying an airplane. But that’s not the point anyway.

The bottom line is flying isn't that hard. Programming an FMS is child’s play compared to computer programming. Yes there are extreme situations where an exceptionally bright person is needed. See the B1900 VMC demo in Virginia for example. 99.9999% of the time, a howler monkey will do just fine.

 

[C150Commuter]

No, I think that $10 per hour for a professional pilot is a very good wage for a card carrying union member. We all have to satisfy the investors right? I mean what do they care if emplyees can't live on theiur paycheck? As long as they make their millions.

[Insert sarcasm here]

The bottom line is that there is a line wrapped around the building to get a job at 18/hr. So making the argument that pilots are underpaid is difficult when there are so many willing to do it at current pay.

 

[Sphincter Boy]

What do you guys think about regulating the airline job industry like doctors do to keep a demand for airline pilots. Couldn't the FAA or some other agency only issue a certain number of ATP's a year to keep the demand high?

I donno, just another stupid idea?

 

[PSL]

Don:

I don't know if your profile accurately describes your experience so I won't make any assumptions.

Your first assertion that flying is not hard is relative. If you mean physically draining, that's a matter of the day's challenges. If you mean mentally taxing, that's a function of the airplane one flies and in what environment. I know I have had days during my 23+ years in the business where it was effort to not fall asleep on the crew van to the hotel after a 'hard' day.

Your idea of requiring a college degree (BA for a Commercial Pilot, MA,MS,MBA (et. al) for an ATP certificate has zero chance of becoming reality under current US law. Nowhere in the FAR's does it stipulate that the pilot applicant has to have had any formal education (not even ground school) to be certified as a pilot. Such is not the case under JAA rules however.

Personally, I don't buy the argument that college makes one a better pilot. I have flown with a wide cross section of pilots and can't see a correlation between one's collegiate achievements and flying the airplane. I can't remember using any of my graduate school training in the cockpit other than to argue a 'business' or 'financial management' point.

The marketplace (and by extension each employer) sets the competitive standards of the day.

 

[180ToTheMarker]

The bottom line is flying isn't that hard. Programming an FMS is child’s play compared to computer programming. Yes there are extreme situations where an exceptionally bright person is needed. See the B1900 VMC demo in Virginia for example. 99.9999% of the time, a howler monkey will do just fine.

No wonder people think we are overpaid! Keep talkin' that way and see how far down the bar goes. Its not a matter of being hard...its judgment and responsibility!!!

 

[RichO]

When's the last time the cause of an accident was "Because the pilot's were underpaid".......what would happen if some psychologist starts saying rather than pilot error, the accident was an indirect result of the pilot's being paid too little which led to an outside influence which led to the pilot's forgetting to put the gear down.....ok, now theres a reach...............but, how many times as an FO are you thinking about that next rent payment when you should be thinking about flying????.....is there a solution anywhere, or are pilot's incomes doomed for the rest of our lives??

 

[Oakum_Boy]

"Personally, I don't buy the argument that college makes one a better pilot. I have flown with a wide cross section of pilots and can't see a correlation between one's collegiate achievements and flying the airplane. I can't remember using any of my graduate school training in the cockpit other than to argue a 'business' or 'financial management' point."


No it doesn't; college teaches you to think critically, organize and prioritize your thoughts and actions. It also helps if your writing and math skills are developed above the high school level.

That's okay though, if your goal is a managerial position at a regional airline, DCI is hiring those with as little education as possible. GED is preferrable to a diploma, and with an Associates Degree in TV/ VCR Repair, you'd be a shoe-in...

 

[RegionalFA]

"Personally, I don't buy the argument that college makes one a better pilot. I have flown with a wide cross section of pilots and can't see a correlation between one's collegiate achievements and flying the airplane. I can't remember using any of my graduate school training in the cockpit other than to argue a 'business' or 'financial management' point."


No it doesn't; college teaches you to think critically, organize and prioritize your thoughts and actions. It also helps if your writing and math skills are developed above the high school level.

That's okay though, if your goal is a managerial position at a regional airline, DCI is hiring those with as little education as possible. GED is preferrable to a diploma, and with an Associates Degree in TV/ VCR Repair, you'd be a shoe-in...

it also teaches you how to cut and paste your next paper from the myriad of similar papers available on the internet.

Critical thinking, organizational skills, and mental capacity can't be taught. It can be refined and bought out, but it can't be taught. School isn't the only place to do that.