Not enough pilots out there?

[se1776]

I heard that there is a big decrease of pilot applying to the commuters.
Some companies hire 5 and at the end 1 or 2 shows up for ground school.
Is it that bad.

 

[flyboyike]

Nice grammar.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Grammar nowithstanding, this career has gone down the toilet. That kind of news isn't surprising. Working at a regional is like working in a sweat shop.

 

[zman]

I definitely agree, you cant blame people for staying away from this industry. Just take a look at the trend on where everything is headed. Low pay, all the crap you have to deal with, medicals, checkrides, etc. It should be no surprise that less and less people are showing up. For example at my own airline we fly an 86 seat jet that is defined as a "regional", but take a look at the pay of this airplane 15 years ago (F100). Its basically night and day, the F100 at american used to have the same amount of seats for more then double the pay. People who work so hard to get in this industry realize they can put that hard work else where and make more money with more return.

 

[inbound]

I heard that there is a big decrease of pilot applying to the commuters.
Some companies hire 5 and at the end 1 or 2 shows up for ground school.
Is it that bad.

WHAT?

 

[PunchTheClown]

Gee, I wonder why? Maybe its the great pay and schedule, or the increase in stature and respect you get from the public. Lets not forget the incredible room for quick advancement. I cant see why people arent lined up for this.

 

[Sawmill]

My experience:
1. Hired by regional
2. Flew the E 145
3. Quit immediately after IOE
4. Tried again with another regional 6 months later
5. Flew the CRJ 2 & 7
6. Quit again and gave up
I thought it might be different at the second airline but it was not. I felt bad for wasting the two airlines training expense at first...but then I remembered why I quit both of them. The abuse by scheduling (not their fault) along with the pi55 poor pay was just a complete exercize in futility. It is a shame that the industry has gone down the crapper. I suspect that Worthless is a big part of the problem. My .02

 

[pilotyip]

All part of the growing pilot shortage which will lead to the pilot hiring boom of2007

 

[CX880]

All part of the growing pilot shortage which will lead to the pilot hiring boom of2007

Wow someone has actually given a timeline. May we ask where you got that from?

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Anybody that starts their flight training post 9-11 is a damn fool. What was once going to be a lucrative career for thousands of us has disappeared over the past few years, and will probably never be that way again. We're all too happy to undercut the next guy and fly these planes for peanuts.

Just wait until you get married, have a family and try and make ends meet the way you intended to when those pathetic paychecks come rolling in.

Oh sure, you guys that just finished college and are sleeping on your futon in Mommy and Daddy's house, it's great. But when it comes time to move out on your own, you'll be in for a rude awakening.

 

[Hootie9750]

This thread is BS. There is NO pilot shortage. Plenty of pilots out there with 1000tt and 100multi ready to go fly a crj for 20g's to impress the parents. Way too many pilots out there. There may eventually someday be a shortage of safely qualified pilots. But never a shortage of 300 hour noobs willing to work for Mesa.

 

[PunchTheClown]

Althought I tend to disagree with pilotyip with just about everything, I do have to say that he is constantly a glass is half full guy with a good attitude that I commend him on. I wish I was the same way.

 

[flyboyike]

Althought I tend to disagree with pilotyip with just about everything, I do have to say that he is constantly a glass is half full guy with a good attitude that I commend him on. I wish I was the same way.

I, on the other hand, am more like you, I am a glass on the floor in pieces kind of guy.

 

[EWRJ0225]

The way i see it. I never got a f****** glass!

 

[Flyingdutchman]

hahahahah that cracks me up man.

 

[captdorn81]

I find it interesting to read the different comments on this message board. I see lots of negativity but yet when I talk to my friends and other random individuals who fly for a variety of Regionals they have nothing but great things to say. NOW, they are all under 27 and if you don't count a GF have no financial responsibilities to others, which is a different story. I personally am looking forward to working with a Regional comp and even though the pay does suck I love flying too much to turn my back on it so quickly.

 

[PunchTheClown]

Like you said, its different when you have a family. This career is not fair on a family.

 

[Papps]

All part of the growing pilot shortage which will lead to the pilot hiring boom of2007

. Yip turn off your computer.

 

[apache]

Pilotyip is a recruiter/training guy for USA Jet. It is a common practice now in the trucking industry for recruiters to moderate websites to pump their company to help fill slots. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Truckers have shorter duty days and CAN make a lot more money over the long term than people that fly for anything less than the major airlines. Not much difference between the two with respect to the working conditions and respect one receives on the job.

It should be a warning sign when becoming a pilot is DIRECTLY comparable with being a truck driver. And the trucking industry has gotten significantly worse in the last twenty years. Pilot shortage or not, pilot wages will not go up.

 

[Way2Broke]

Where is Kit Darby when you need him?

 

[list2002]

Agree, hard to raise a family. No comp monetarily for time spent away. And no pilot shortage.
p.s. The F100 wages were also back when cost of living was a bit less as well.

 

[aviatrix]

I personally am looking forward to working with a Regional comp and even though the pay does suck I love flying too much to turn my back on it so quickly.

Awwww, it's okay...you'll hate it soon enough. And, it doesn't happen quickly, as you say, it's like a slow, painful death. Good luck!!!

 

[Vref+Factor]

flight instructing is for fags. why don' you wip out that nice fat checkbook and pay for a job like the rest of us

 

[MINIME]

[. I personally am looking forward to working with a Regional comp and even though the pay does suck I love flying too much to turn my back on it so quickly.[/quote]


You wont' love it so much when you're sitting in the right seat for more than two years making less than the person who bags your groceries, have 15 hour duty days, work six days in a row with one or two days off, when scheduling moves your days off, when scheduling juniors you, when scheduling re-routes you, when your bosses threaten you if you call in sick.

And the big kicker for many right now, you don't get to upgrade when you thought you would because your company decided to pull some BS scheme where they can hire somebody new and pay them less to fly your slot as CA. Or when you think the rug has been pulled from beneath you because your company has lost some of its flying and truthfully you don't know if you'll still have a job. Oh! And not everyone is getting hired at UPS, FEDEX, CAL, Airtran and SWA. Typically those companies will hire anywhere from 200 to 600 pilots per year if we're lucky. But.......they each have about 15,000 resumes on file. You know the odds. Not convinced yet? Go talk to some of those boys at Trans States, Air Whisky, Comair or defunct Independence.
Whatever you do don't talk to the beings at GJ. They'll tell you everything is ripe and rosy from where they stand. Sorry to be so negative, but it is what it is.

 

[JohnnyP]

....

I quit my regional turboprop job, and its been great ever since. It feels like ive taken a nice long shower after being really filthy, nice and clean now. No one can attack me for "stealing jobs, undercutting, lowering the bar (thats the best little catch phrase), """scabbing""", whatever the phrase of the week is. Give it a try, youll like it. Not sure if ill ever return to airline flying.

For me, I didnt really understand how bad I was being treated until I got out, (i ended up leaving the country of the united states to pursue another job, literally), examined my situation from an outside viewpoint, and got hired by a company that treats you like a human being, not just another number. I guess only time will tell.

 

[spitfire1500]

This thread is BS. There is NO pilot shortage. Plenty of pilots out there with 1000tt and 100multi ready to go fly a crj for 20g's to impress the parents. Way too many pilots out there. There may eventually someday be a shortage of safely qualified pilots. But never a shortage of 300 hour noobs willing to work for Mesa.

I dont know...Mesa just had open interviews at Embry Riddle and only 4 showed up.

 

[spitfire1500]

My experience:
1. Hired by regional
2. Flew the E 145
3. Quit immediately after IOE
4. Tried again with another regional 6 months later
5. Flew the CRJ 2 & 7
6. Quit again and gave up
I thought it might be different at the second airline but it was not. I felt bad for wasting the two airlines training expense at first...but then I remembered why I quit both of them. The abuse by scheduling (not their fault) along with the pi55 poor pay was just a complete exercize in futility. It is a shame that the industry has gone down the crapper. I suspect that Worthless is a big part of the problem. My .02

Hey Sawmill you werent at Mesa on the145 were you...and happen to be from Minn.

 

[spitfire1500]

Wow someone has actually given a timeline. May we ask where you got that from?

He must be Kit Darby...

 

[Pattern-Master]

I keep getting interview invites for numerous regionals and I already have a miserable job as it is. I'm about ready to get a restraining order against them all. And yes, there are fewer people out there applying to regionals now a days. I've been in this stupid industry for less than a year and can't stand it! Good luck everyone!

 

[big_al]

flight instructing is for fags. why don' you wip out that nice fat checkbook and pay for a job like the rest of us

actually your title would be best described as "sucker"

Anyway, the reason regionals hire wanna-bes from flight schools like vref is because they are willing to take the lowest pay. its the same reason farmers love hiring illegals, because they know they cant complain about the low pay