Regional Staffing With Upcoming Retirements And Work Rules

[701EV]

I see one or two of the majors buying up a regional IF the pilot shortage comes to pass. That way they will have the pilots that they will need for future retirements. That way they are not competing for pilots IF there is a real pilot shortage. BIG IF.

I never understand why pilots sell themselves short on how easy this job is. If it was that easy everybody would be a pilot and we would make $10 an hour. You have to have a little higher level of intelligence. If you ask a pro baseball player about playing baseball he'll tell you it's easy. There are a lot of guys trying to get to the show. Well many never get there no matter how hard they try because you have to have some talent. Our talent is we can fly airplanes.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[nisx]

at the local airport where I keep my plane the flight school has no "young" students (high school, college or just post college age) learning to fly. All the students that I have seen in the past few years are professionals in their 40's and 50's learning to fly as a hobby.

Of the 200 (ish) planes hangared/tied down at the field I think I'm the only owner in the below 40 age segment to have a plane. All the other owners I know are age 50 or more with a majority being over 60 (except one Pitts guy who is in his 40's and flies for NJA).

Spot on. Almost half the people I know who have owned planes over the last decade, more than half have already sold, the majority of the rest would be open to selling. The flight school I used to work at, average age is 45 for student pilots. None currently pursing anything past the IR. Schools are raising the hourly rates and some are adding a fuel surcharge. Instructor rates have also gone up across the board. GA airports out here seem very slow.

 

[tomgoodman]

If it's so "stupid easy", and airlines don't care about how good of a pilot you are, why do people fail checkrides?

Because they have bad luck. Nobody wants to employ an unlucky pilot.

 

[Varmint]

Pay is poor and schedules brutal. Who wants to fly for a regional.

There are plenty of "lifers" at regionals.

 

[paid4training]

If there is such a run on regional pilot opportunities why did republic recently cancel the may class? I think the companies are trying to squeeze every ounce out of pilot utilization they can because the majors are expecting low price for the contract flying.

 

[atpcliff]

The other way out will be for Sen McCain to get his wish of "open skies" then air mexico and every other airline in the world will fly US domestic routes.

But, where would they find the pilots? They would have to hire a TON of Americans to have enough, and the average pilot wage might go up, as many countries pay more to pilots than America does.

cliff
PVG

 

[sqwkvfr]

If there is such a run on regional pilot opportunities why did republic recently cancel the may class?

Because of problems holding hotel rooms for indoc during the Indy 500.

 

[Flyguy1226]

I bet if we had similar training standards and tests compared to JAA, a lot of folks wouldn't make it! None of this picking up a Gleim and memorizing the answers. You'd actually have to know stuff and study! Would airlines pay more? Maybe.

 

[xjlifer]

The other way out will be for Sen McCain to get his wish of "open skies" then air mexico and every other airline in the world will fly US domestic routes.

But, where would they find the pilots? They would have to hire a TON of Americans to have enough, and the average pilot wage might go up, as many countries pay more to pilots than America does.

cliff
PVG

If the barrier to entry is kept low (no 1500 hour rule) then ramping up and spitting out pilots fast will not be a issue. The foreign carriers would love for open skies as would most US carriers.

 

[A-V-8]

In the first 5 years of attrition my paperwork shows north of 11500 cumulative pilot retirements. The top 25% or so of my airline (Mesa) has no intention of even applying for another job. I can’t imagine the majority of the regional’s being that much different. So take out one fourth and then subtract the guys that aren’t interested in a major at all that will move on to corporate jobs and those that will leave aviation entirely. That is not enough pilots if the 1500 hour rule is in place. It is currently not. There will be plenty of pilots in the short term after attrition starts. What happens after that will depend on this 1500 hour rule. If it passes good for me. I have 1500 but I didn’t have that when I was hired at Mesa. If you think some company like Mesa will pay for flight training I can’t see that happening. We are already on a shoe string budget. Other regional’s have to buy parts from the same places we do. Planes and engine rentals are nearly the same. What gives? The regionals will not be able to afford the training in the short term. If the contracts with the majors change then maybe. Either way the status quo will not be sustainable. Something will have to give. I can’t see me giving anything at all. I am not far from the floor of what I am willing to work for. If I could find a good job right now I would be out. Just going to roll the dice at a few good majors when the attrition starts and if there is no joy I will keep looking, just not at the airlines. This shortage will be regional in nature. There will always be people willing to go to a major no matter what they offer. SkyBus comes to mind. Anyway I went to China in pursuit of financial prosperity but I failed the medical. When push comes to shove around 2013 if am still at mesa I’ll be looking for a non airline job.