Pilot Shortage

[fam62c]

Here's the simple answer.

There is not and there will never be a pilot shortage for good jobs in the USA. For every good job that offers good pay and good QOL there are 100 or more bad jobs. That means that there are 100 or more applicants for every good job. UPS, FedEX, SWA, NetJets and other high quality airline and corporate operators will always have a huge surplus of applicants. Don't believe me? Try being out of work with qualifications far in excess of what most places are hiring and see how many employers you hear back from when you start applying for jobs. If you are lucky you will get an automated E-mail message back after you apply. At most places you won't even get that much.

The USA could stop training new pilots entirely for 5 years or more and the good employers would never even notice the difference. Maybe if you are MESA airlines and you are looking for FO's to work for 20K/year you may think that there's a shortage. It's a great time for young pilots with no experience to get started in entry level positions with low pay and undesirable QOL but the good employers are still flooded with applicants. The number of entry level jobs at the bottom of the industry has increased dramatically but the number of good jobs at the top never increases. I just looked at the XOJet posts and could not believe the number of applicants they have for a small number of jobs. Keep in mind that these are jobs where you are away from home a minimum of 8 days in a row.

There's no shortage of pilots, there's only a shortage of good flying jobs.

 

[Flybet3]

There is not and there will never be a pilot shortage for good jobs in the USA. For every good job that offers good pay and good QOL there are 100 or more bad jobs. That means that there are 100 or more applicants for every good job. UPS, FedEX, SWA, NetJets and other high quality airline and corporate operators will always have a huge surplus of applicants. Don't believe me? Try being out of work with qualifications far in excess of what most places are hiring and see how many employers you hear back from when you start applying for jobs. If you are lucky you will get an automated E-mail message back after you apply. At most places you won't even get that much.

The USA could stop training new pilots entirely for 5 years or more and the good employers would never even notice the difference. Maybe if you are MESA airlines and you are looking for FO's to work for 20K/year you may think that there's a shortage. It's a great time for young pilots with no experience to get started in entry level positions with low pay and undesirable QOL but the good employers are still flooded with applicants. The number of entry level jobs at the bottom of the industry has increased dramatically but the number of good jobs at the top never increases. I just looked at the XOJet posts and could not believe the number of applicants they have for a small number of jobs. Keep in mind that these are jobs where you are away from home a minimum of 8 days in a row.

There's no shortage of pilots, there's only a shortage of good flying jobs.

Good point. Very good post.

 

[captain dad]

Maybe if you are MESA airlines and you are looking for FO's to work for 20K/year you may think that there's a shortage.

That is where you will see the shortage; at the bottom of the industry. There aren't enough qualified pilots as it is now. When regionals go soliciting at flight schools, FBOs and even airline terminals (one was even passing out flyers) there is a pilot shortage.

Ask the pilots and FAs on your next regional ride.

 

[skyward80]

If the demand is truly that high, they should pay more and provide a better QOL. Thanks to mergers, slow economy, and age 65, pilots are going to be spending a lot more time on the bottom of this industry. If you don't sweeten that deal at least a little bit, you're not going to get any pilots.

Any "shortage" is self-induced. Take me for example, I have no civilian job. If my orders are cut off tomorrow, I'm basically unemployed. With my qualifications, I could easily work at a regional. However, you will never see my name on one of their applications. And, no, it's NOT because I think I'm too good or whatever. It's because I can't afford to work their. I've got loans to pay, a retirement account to fund, etc. I can't afford to live off of chicken feed and food stamps.

Here's a whole other can of worms for everybody... If ALPA were worth a s***, they would be working hard to raise standards at regionals. However, ALPA is a heavy captain union. If you're not a heavy-flying captain, you don't matter. Ask any regional/national pilot. My roommate from college doesn't have a whole lot of great things to say about them nor do the dozen or so other regional/national pilots I know in that segment of the industry. Plus, about 10 minutes of research will show you that ALPA disregards its members.

Skyward80

 

[pilotyip]

Direct entry 100K job?

However, you will never see my name on one of their applications. And, no, it's NOT because I think I'm too good or whatever. It's because I can't afford to work their. I've got loans to pay, a retirement account to fund, etc. I can't afford to live off of chicken feed and food stamps.

Skyward80

100K is a very achievable wage in the aviation industry after 10 years, what is wrong with than? It is a good income; I have never seen it and am doing just fine. Nowhere did I say you should not try t0 make more. BTW What is middle class income? is it 46K, 50 percentile, is it 75K, 70 percentile, is in 90K, 80 percentile, is it 110K 90 percentile. Most pilots make a good living compared to the rest of the individuals in this country, and most are doing something they like. You have to pay your dues someplace to start out in this business

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

100K is a very achievable wage in the aviation industry after 10 years, what is wrong with than? It is a good income; I have never seen it and am doing just fine. Nowhere did I say you should not try t0 make more. BTW What is middle class income? is it 46K, 50 percentile, is it 75K, 70 percentile, is in 90K, 80 percentile, is it 110K 90 percentile. Most pilots make a good living compared to the rest of the individuals in this country, and most are doing something they like. You have to pay your dues someplace to start out in this business

Hold on there high speed. Most of the rest of the individuals in this country also do not regulary have other peoples lives depeneding on how well they do thier job. They mess up, no big deal. We mess up, people can get hurt. There is a big difference, don't you think?

And before you bring up doctors, let's just see how much they make for this same responsibility...and the last I checked, I haven't seen or heard about any "surgery simulators" where "surgery simulator Doctor Insructors" give the students simulated equipement failures while they are doing simulated open heart sugery. Oh yea, an your nurse just became incapacitated.

 

[Flyby1206]

100K is a very achievable wage in the aviation industry after 10 years, what is wrong with than? It is a good income; I have never seen it and am doing just fine. Nowhere did I say you should not try t0 make more. BTW What is middle class income? is it 46K, 50 percentile, is it 75K, 70 percentile, is in 90K, 80 percentile, is it 110K 90 percentile. Most pilots make a good living compared to the rest of the individuals in this country, and most are doing something they like. You have to pay your dues someplace to start out in this business

How much does the average pilot spend on college education, flight training, expenses along the way before they get hired at a regional carrier? I would say 100k would be average total cost. How much did the guy working the middle-class job at a factory spend in training? Probably no college, no specialized training, they didnt spend years of apprenticeship making low wages in hopes of getting hired at a big factory someday. As long as this industry has the "I paid my dues, you have to do the same. We will eat our young to get what the top 5% of the company wants" we wont make progress. I ask you this: When are my dues considered "paid." How many years of night freight in a baron, flight instructing, right seat in an RJ, left seat in an RJ, Reserve on the DC-9 out of DTW does it take before I am on the same level as someone who has paid their dues? If I get furloughed and have to go back to flying an RJ or baron, of CFI does that mean my dues have been taken back? The industry is as strong as its weakest payscale.

 

[blzr]

And before you bring up doctors, let's just see how much they make for this same responsibility...and the last I checked, I haven't seen or heard about any "surgery simulators" where "surgery simulator Doctor Insructors" give the students simulated equipement failures while they are doing simulated open heart sugery. Oh yea, an your nurse just became incapacitated.
__________________

If 'ole Doc Sawbones screws the pooch, only one person dies, if the pilot does, the whole E/R dies.

 

[blzr]

100K is a very achievable wage in the aviation industry after 10 years, what is wrong with than? It is a good income; I have never seen it and am doing just fine. Nowhere did I say you should not try t0 make more. BTW What is middle class income? is it 46K, 50 percentile, is it 75K, 70 percentile, is in 90K, 80 percentile, is it 110K 90 percentile. Most pilots make a good living compared to the rest of the individuals in this country, and most are doing something they like. You have to pay your dues someplace to start out in this business

There is a big difference between "being happy with what you make", and "being content"with what you make.

We have a much larger responsibility to the customer than ANYONE else in the company, all the while being treated like second class citizens by management.

 

[G100driver]

Look, guys flying for the commuters probably get what the deserve .... it is not like they need a college education fly a shinny little jet.