WSurf
The Smack Down!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2002
- Posts
- 3,690
It didn't hit the regionals, the regionals hit the regionals. If the airlines paid a living wage to their F/Os there wouldn't be a shortage of pilots lining up to receive food stamps. When the moat around the decent pay is 5-7 years deep most pilot candidates decide that being the night shift manager at Taco Bell is a better option. The regulations apply to every 121 airline out there, its a level playing field, the fact that the regional management cannot figure out that starting an F/O out at 45,000 per year will solve their staffing problem. Put the right money out there and they will come, or just wait and watch. The average airline CEO/manager is very low on the smarts scale, they had a captive market, and even screwed that up.
The skill set/experience necessary to get to a regional takes awhile to develop/acquire and promising starvation wages is not very attractive.
Yep.... And people figured out that paying 40,000 dollar for a 4 year degree and another 60,000 dollars or more to go from Private to now ATP for a job that will pay 25K... Keep you away from home during Holidays, Hotels in bad areas... Not being treated like professional just doesn't seem worth it.
We might end up like Europe where you finish College and Airlines will sponsor you for you flight training.... Then your first year you'll make 40K and be guaranteed a Good Job.