The long, dark walk on the airline conveyer belt

[FurloughedAgain]

Ask any of the major airline furloughees who went to work for a regional what the value of their experience is.

A 10,000 hour RJ "newhire" is no more valuable than a 350 hr academy wonderstick.

You want a real smack in the face? Start over at a regional, look at the kid next to you in class, and then realize that you've wasted the last 10 years of your life and gained nothing.

 

[pilotyip]

True, there will never be a true shortage of pilots it is too fun to fly airplanes. However there is a growing shortage of grade A pilots, and the entry-level jobs are hiring grade B pilots that would not even have interviewed two years ago. I saw three regionals basically beg pilots to fill their classes at a recent Air Inc job Fair. No one was doing that two years ago.

 

[RideTheWind]

I saw three regionals basically beg pilots to fill their classes at a recent Air Inc job Fair. No one was doing that two years ago.

Ya got me curious now pilotyip, which regionals?

 

[logjammer]

True, there will never be a true shortage of pilots it is too fun to fly airplanes. However there is a growing shortage of grade A pilots, and the entry-level jobs are hiring grade B pilots that would not even have interviewed two years ago. I saw three regionals basically beg pilots to fill their classes at a recent Air Inc job Fair. No one was doing that two years ago.


I worry that this fact will drag even more folks into it, high school kiddies to career changers. No sittin' in a hot 152 teaching for 1,000 hours, or busting hump on frieght. Just school and right into the air-conditioned jet. They might even pay you to sit and learn.

 

[Singlecoil]

Good post. Pretty much sums up our industry.

As far as the senority thing. We can thank ALPA for that. I think it was part of the foundation of the union when it was formed back in the 30's.

I used to think that seniority was in some ways a raw deal. Just think, if there wasn't a seniority system, upgrades would be based on merit, weaker pilots would end up working somewhere else, and hard work would be rewarded. Then I worked for Markair Express that had no seniority system. Cronyism at its finest was the result. The buddies of the Chief Pilot got the upgrades, pilots were hired off the street into the 1900, Dash-8, and Dash-7, while the 207 drivers were stuck out in the bush. I think this was the case back in the 30's as well, which is why ALPA took a stand on it.
To paraphrase Churchill, seniority is they worst system we have, except for all the rest.

 

[100LL... Again!]

As pilots we ave no group like doctors or lawyers do to ensure that low-time newbies can't just slide right in.

Six months and 100K can just about turn anyone into a pilot.

 

[Midnight Flyer]

Just look back to the old days when the airlines were new. The majority of the airline pilots getting hired were the ex military pilots with tons of experience. Thanks to pilot mills like Embry Riddle pumping out their riddlin kids, now there is a surplus of no experience airline applicants. This lowers the bar for everybody. It's all about supply and demand. The more future airline pilots being pumped out by these schools, the lower the airlines are willing to pay, because they know that there is always another applicant willing to work for $1000 per month. Now if supply ever dwindles down, management will be forced to raise pay and improve working conditions in order to attract pilot applicants.

 

[pilotyip]

ain't that the truth singlecoil

 

[climbhappy]

In a communist society all pilots would be paid the same.

Southwest started the the LCC model. Economic trends and a mature industry created the rest of the problem.

Where it ends is that until the FAA creates a minimum standard to be in the 121 airlines, we'll PFTers gobbling up wal mart wages until they get board and go back to flying a desk.

Throw in the commuting, and as a low paying job, it sucks.

 

[airludy]

Its not rocket science, just simple supply and demand. I have a friend who is a nurse. Hospitals are so desperate for nurses they are offering $5000 signing bonuses up front and making 40k-50k a year to start. There are thousands of Top Guns out there that will fly for 18k a year.

Yes flying is fun, but come on. Fun isnt a reason to take a low paying job. If someone offered you 20k a year to play video games all day would you take it? No, you cant live on 20k a year. Sure it would be fun, but shouldnt I be more productive with my time? I dont think many pilots think about retirement. Just sit down one time and start doing the math. Figure we are going to live much longer due to improved health care. We have to retire at 60. Then figure in the crap pay and crap retirement most flying jobs give us.