Here is part of the article which speaks directly about RJ's
The entire article is: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/brancatelli/2007-09-24-impending-shortages_N.htm
A shortage of RJ pilots
There is a delicious irony in this one: Airlines ramming those hateful regional jets (RJ) down our throats and clogging the nation's skies and airports with the tiny, delay-creating aircraft are running out of pilots to fly them. Why? Because the commuter carriers that fly the RJs at the behest of the Big Six don't pay enough.
Commuter carriers have never paid much, of course, but RJ pilots put up with the lousy pay much as minor-league baseball players put up with low wages. Eventually, they knew, there'd be a call up to the major leagues, where the money is good and the working conditions are better. But with the Big Six slashing their traditional jet flying, call ups to the majors are few and far between. And since pilots can often make more money as a career truck driver than a career employee of a commuter carrier, there's virtually no incentive to fly RJs. The result? Commuter carriers have lots of assignments from the Big Six, but they are running out of people willing to crew the planes.
A simple solution would be for regional airlines to pay more, of course. But that's not likely to happen because the Big Six pay the commuter carriers so little to fly the routes and carry the codes. If they hike pilot pay, they'd lose money—or they'd have to fight the Big Six for better flying rates. So this is one time Big Six parsimony could work in our favor. Faced with paying more for RJ service, the Big Six might be tempted to resume flying real jets with well-paid pilots who work directly for them. That could mean more comfortable planes and fewer flight delays. (I told you I was a cockeyed optimist!)
The entire article is: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/brancatelli/2007-09-24-impending-shortages_N.htm
A shortage of RJ pilots
There is a delicious irony in this one: Airlines ramming those hateful regional jets (RJ) down our throats and clogging the nation's skies and airports with the tiny, delay-creating aircraft are running out of pilots to fly them. Why? Because the commuter carriers that fly the RJs at the behest of the Big Six don't pay enough.
Commuter carriers have never paid much, of course, but RJ pilots put up with the lousy pay much as minor-league baseball players put up with low wages. Eventually, they knew, there'd be a call up to the major leagues, where the money is good and the working conditions are better. But with the Big Six slashing their traditional jet flying, call ups to the majors are few and far between. And since pilots can often make more money as a career truck driver than a career employee of a commuter carrier, there's virtually no incentive to fly RJs. The result? Commuter carriers have lots of assignments from the Big Six, but they are running out of people willing to crew the planes.
A simple solution would be for regional airlines to pay more, of course. But that's not likely to happen because the Big Six pay the commuter carriers so little to fly the routes and carry the codes. If they hike pilot pay, they'd lose money—or they'd have to fight the Big Six for better flying rates. So this is one time Big Six parsimony could work in our favor. Faced with paying more for RJ service, the Big Six might be tempted to resume flying real jets with well-paid pilots who work directly for them. That could mean more comfortable planes and fewer flight delays. (I told you I was a cockeyed optimist!)
