Looming pilot shortage at regional airlines...

[Lear70]

[FONT=&quot]Lear the money is not in the RJ route; it is in the cargo route, bigger airplanes, and bigger paychecks. I have seen too many of our younger pilots in their 20's approach the $100K figure.

[/FONT]
At UPS or FedEx, sure... Captain Mark is one of them. That is, IF you can get in there early.

As far as one of the ad-hoc freighter outfits (like the one out at YIP) and some others, the only way you can hit six figures is if you live it 20-25 days a month. $80-85k? Sure, no problem.
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

As far as living on your pay got to be in the right place. One of our pilots just bought a house in ND, payments are $76/mo including taxes. 3 BR, 1 bath 1200 sq ft on a 60 x 40 lot. Purchase price $6,000. On his$80K/yr he lives like a king.

[/FONT]
Umm... yeah... in North Dakota. Hmmmm... North Dakota. Uhh, no thanks.
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

BTW you are really a lucky guy you are flying the 727, the one plane I really wanted to fly but never got the chance

[/FONT]

I'm not anymore. It WAS my favorite aircraft I've ever flown, plus the picture was cool which is why it's in my avatar. The only aircraft I haven't flown that I want to is the Concorde and a 747. Maybe one of these days while I'm still flying we'll have supersonic jets again but I don't think airTran will be purchasing many of either the 747 or supersonic type.

 

[BoilerUP]

Andrew Bell, 23, an RAA graduate, is already serving as a CRJ700 captain at fast-growing Chautauqua Airlines of Indianapolis. He says student pilots worried about their career should shrug off their frustrations.

"When I was instructing and had about 900 hr., 9/11 happened. All the airlines were furloughing, and no one was hiring right away, but I continued to instruct and eventually, not too long afterward, got a job at Colgan Air. This, in turn, gave me the experience I needed for Chautauqua."

Has nobody realized the obvious: Chautauqua nor any of the other RAH airlines operate the CRJ-700... Hell Chautauqua doesn't even operate the E170! Can anybody verify that this guy is on the RAH list?

I would have thought an ASTW article would be factually accurate...

 

[BoilerUP]

Has nobody realized the obvious: Chautauqua nor any of the other RAH airlines operate the CRJ-700... Hell Chautauqua doesn't even operate the E170! Can anybody verify that this guy is on the RAH list?

Did it myself, he's a CMH-based 145 CA...

 

[pilotyip]

Actually Lear, the average YIP guy is gone from home an average of 5.5 days per month. If he sells an average of one day per month he makes another 12K per year and is gone an average of 7 days per month.

 

[Hootie9750]

Im not very good at writing in a convincing or flowing manner, but aviation is going downhill for good. Here are some points.

-Pilots drive buses, thus you will never be paid for what your worth but what the market will dictate. If everyone wanted to be an accountant it would pay like sh1t too.

-Military pilots drive wages up at the top because do you think a Major or a Colonel is going to go work at Mesa for 18k a year? But on the other hand kids with dads credit card drive wages down on the bottom. I have talked to so many daddys boys who think 30 grand a year is a great supplement to their allowance.

-Too competitive. What if there were 30 different major oil companies fighting for your gas money?

-The illusion that being a pilot will get a dork laid.

-The explosion of Aviation Academies that outright lie over the past 15 years.


All this equals NO PILOT SHORTAGE!

 

[pilotyip]

Hootie true we will never run out of pilots, but it is getting harder and harder to find quality pilots, that is a sign of the shortage. Everyone on the lower end of the hiring food chain is seeing it right now. That is where a pilot shortage starts. SWA, FedEx & UPS at the top of the chain all have the same 10,000 applications, only 5,000 of them are the pilots they are interested in interviewing. They will all interview the same 5,000 pilots; most will be hired in the next 18 months. Which means the original non-competitive pilots now become the pool from which you start hiring. The college degree no longer is a big factor because they need pilots who can fly airplanes and we get into the same situation we had in the late 80's and 90's 3000TT, 1000MEL, no degree hired by SWA, 25 years olds 2 years out of ERAU hired by FedEx. These are all signs of the growing and impending pilot shortage. It is all part of the 2007-hiring boom starting one year from now.

 

[Bringupthebird]

Gee, it took me 17 years to make 100K and that's probably the highest I'll ever see. Of course, those 350K (??) salaries mentioned didn't just fall in the pilot's laps. Those pilots had the courage to walk off the job in defense of their profession. The NWA, US, DAL pilots couldn't spell courage.

 

[Papps]

i knew that it would take me about 4 years to get where i want to be. quote] hmm. 4 years....close but keep guessing.

 

[GoingHot]

100 K isnt alot of money

$100K IS a LOT of money. Only about 5% of US workers make $100K. Even is you use the "Household Income" figure, it is less than 15% of households with income over $100K. Pilotyip's guys are mostly in the top 10% of income earners in the country, and doing something they like doing. Great place to be, by any standards.

The only problem with making over $100K, (especially without a lot of deductions) is taxes. The first five months of income for the year go to Federal, State, Local and some B!tch name FICA. If you and your employer could just get rid of FICA, your "take home" pay would go up about 14%.

 

[pilotyip]

Thank you goinghot, I sure there are a lot more on the same page we just don't hear about them. The 100K is a poverty wage carries the headlines.

 

[VABB]

The total cost for an in-state flight student, will run more than $90,000 for the four-year program. For out-of-state students the cost is an additional $3,454 each year. Financial aid is available, as at all schools, but the expense represents a real commitment.

Spend $100K for a career field that will net you maybe $30K/yr during your first 7-10 years of employment? Gee, can't figure out why they would have trouble finding people to do this kind of work.

 

[VABB]

It is all part of the 2007-hiring boom starting one year from now.

Hey YIP,

There is a migrant-worker hiring boom going on in Bakersfield too. But, only pick strawberries because you enjoy picking strawberries. Oh yeah, no college required either.

 

[drewbeCHQ]

Well, lol

Well I guess I should respond to this thread since I participated in this artical.

1st of all RAA (Regional Airlina Academy) Is a great school. I enjoyed my time there and would reccomend it to anyone looking to start flying.

2nd of all I believe there will be some kind of pilot shortage in the near future. I believe its already started.

3rd of all Im on the EMB 145 not a CRJ as most of the people would know RAH does not have CRJ.

4th Im making just around 60k a year and that suites me fine. Would I want more hell ya. Do I need it to be comfortable no.

I do this because I love flying thats IT the fact they pay me a nice salary is a bonus.

Andrew

 

[Lear70]

SWA, FedEx & UPS at the top of the chain all have the same 10,000 applications, only 5,000 of them are the pilots they are interested in interviewing. They will all interview the same 5,000 pilots; most will be hired in the next 18 months.

OK, now I KNOW you're smoking crack.

5,000 pilots hired to the top of the food chain carriers such as SWA, FedEx, and UPS? In 18 months? Dream on,,,

SWA is geared to hire around 200 pilots for the rest of the year. FedEx has almost that many in the pool (already hired) and will probably only hire another 100 more. UPS MIGHT hire another 50. Next year's numbers from those 3 add up to about 700 pilots.

If you include CAL, airTran, and jetBlue (all desirable jobs over a regional), those numbers increase to about 1,000 a year. There's your hiring "BOOM". If you include the RUMORS that DAL and NWA will have to start street hiring again in late 2007 because so many people won't accept recall, those numbers to up to about 1,500 a year FOR ALL THE AIRLINES COMBINED.

In plain English, it'll take 4 years approximately to hire 5,000 pilots to major airline jobs. Not 18 months.

There is no pilot shortage, that whole article is just like Kit Darby, trying to sell a bunch of snake oil to people with an eye on a dream that doesn't exist.

GoingHot, you're exactly right. $100,000 in salary is about $5,500 a month in take-home income, whereas $50,000 in salary is about $4,000 a month in take-home income. 100% increase in income with only a 30% increase in actual pocket money - disgusting. THAT'S why $100k isn't that great to shout about.

 

[Lear70]

I do this because I love flying thats IT the fact they pay me a nice salary is a bonus.

Andrew

And therein lies the problem, Andrew.

By the above phrase, you'd do the same job for LESS... how much less, Andrew? How about when you get married, buy a house, and have kids? Would you still do it for less, or would you suddenly realize you NEED more to make ends meet?

But wait, you CAN'T do that, because some snot-nosed, dream-filled, idiot kid is going to come along and do it because "they LOVE flying, that's IT, the fact they pay them a nice salary is a bonus". Right?

I know just out of college (or maybe even high school) it's hard to look at the big picture, but give it a try some time.

 

[Murdoughnut]

I agree 100% with the second part to your post. In response to your first comment about who makes 100 k at a regoinal, no one. Most regoinal pilots plan to fly for a major airline one day and thats when they can easily make 100 K. And 100 K isnt alot of money when you live in an expensive area which is why in most families both husband and wife need to work inorder to support their families.

$100k is a ton of money, even if you live in an expensive area. The reason both husband and wife work in most families if that most Americans live beyond their means. $100k isn't a lot of money if you own several new luxury cars, have a mortgage worth of outstanding debt (not including your actual mortgage) and spend more money than you make each month. I made $12k a year while in grad school (this was two years ago) and managed to get by just fine because I was careful about what I spent.

 

[Lownslo]

Boy I'm glad I've got an in at the most profitable major and won't have to put up with the regional BS.

ATP? .....

 

[drewbeCHQ]

Lear dont get me wrong of course I think we deserve more money. I know what it was like in the glory days of the majors. My father was a 30 yr employee at USAirways. I saw the 20k a month checks. That was definatly an incentive to start flying but NOT the only reason.

Look ive come to realize that maybe 250 - 300 thousand a year at a Major might never happen again. I can either be part of the solution or part of the problem and until the industry picks up again i choose to be part of the solution.

Trust me i know what its like as a FO. I spent the first 2 years of my career at Colgan and CHQ at 21 bucks an hour.

And no i wont do it for less then im making now, REASON i left Colgan, More money, better company, better equip.. Is chautauqua my final resting place sh*t if it is I F%^ked up royally. But in 2 or 3 years ill move on to hopefully a legacy carrier and make descent money by the time i HAVE a family and BUY a house.

 

[drewbeCHQ]

Found a better link. Current Salaries for most airlines.
Some of the companys have current payscales
http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/airlines/airlines-2005030344.htm
For others that havent been updated recently. www.willflyforfood.com

 

[CaptainMark]

$100k is a ton of money

you're dreaming!!!..100k is nothing these days...trashmen in nyc make more that that...my buds wife is a secretary for a builder and makes 100k...many no unskilled jobs make 100k....the point is this is skilled labor....it would take me 10 minutes to learn the trashman's job....how many years for the trashman to get qualified to fly a widebody jet around the globe....see the RJ captain is making less than the trashman...noone see a problem with that?..hey D'angelo..u make less that a NYC trashman.!!!