Unrealistic Expectations

[FurloughedAgain]

Copied from another thread...

Ok folks, for those of you who didnt live through the last downturn, its time for a wakeup call.

In the early to mid-90s there were no pilot jobs. Airlines like Allegheny, Piedmont, and American Eagle "required" a minimum of 2500-3000 hours total-time and over 1000 hours multi-engine.

So few jobs were available that Comair and Flightsafety started their controversial "pay-for-training" program and even after the privilege of paying $10,000 to play, they still had minimum requirements of 1500 hours total-time and 500 hours multi-engine.

Fast forward to September 2002. There are over 7000 furloughed ALPA pilots on the street. US Airways will furlough another 500 in the next 6 months. United has barely BEGUN to furlough and will likely put another 1000 pilots on the street in the next year. These are pilots who already made their way through the regionals and moved on -- many of them with over 10,000 hours total time, a handful of type-ratings, and some extremely valuable experience. The longer they are on furlough, the more likely they are to resign their seniority for those companies who require it.

Supply and demand allowed the extremely low-time pilots and the university-"bridge" pilots to find regional airline employment over the last few years. Supply and demand allowed pilots who were hired with 300-1000 hours to upgrade in a year or two at these regionals.

Supply and demand just raised the stakes. The competition for ANY flying job from flight instructor to F/O at Comair just got a lot tougher. The upgrade time at virtually ANY regional airline right now just exceeded 5...6...7... years (nobody is leaving from the top -- where would they go?)

For those of you who havent been through the downturn...hang on tight. It isnt going to be enjoyable...it isnt going to be fast...but eventually the cycle will reverse. In the meantime, you're going to have to share the wealth with relatively low-time guys like me.

Times have changed.

 

[chperplt]

Do you teach at DAB or PRC? I left DAB in Feb of 01..

 

[Timebuilder]

jmac77

I agree. If you have read my posts, you already know how thankful I am. Think about it: a former feature writer/DJ/newshound/wrench turner/low timer gets a jet job in a down market.

A miracle? I think so.

 

[banned username 2]

FurloughedAgain....

EXCELLENT POST!

Good luck to you and your family!

 

[corky]

Let this be a lesson to those of us going through our first aviation down cycle that we can't rely on one skill or one source of income. Especially in this business. If you're furloughed, use the time to get another skill in another industry. Go take some AutoCAD classes or real estate appraisal classes or anything that will give you potential of earning money outside of aviation.

 

[bobbysamd]

It's deja vu, all over again

Apologies to Yogi Berra, again.

Excellent post. I saw it on the other board and cited to it a couple of days ago during the 737 type discussion. Thanks for posting it here so folks who work this side of the street can read it. Everything you write is accurate. I can vouch for the accuracy because I was there during those years, struggling to climb the ladder.

I shared a similar hopeful timetable as Jmac's. I was hired at Riddle-Prescott with 50 hours of multi. A year later, I had my ATP and maybe 300 of multi. I accepted a contract as a stage check pilot, for money equal to a commuter captain's, and could not interview right away. Then, the Desert Shield, Desert Storm and the recession hit. I did get some interviews about that time, but the writing was on the wall. I was SOL because of those events and probably my age.

I remember clearly how P-F-T sprung up ten years ago. My hatred of P-F-T is borne of those times. Really, our current times are very much a repeat of those times. But, those days got better and these days will get better, too, because bad times always get better.

Although I was "just" a flight instructor, I remember how grateful I was that I was earning a living as a pilot while so many more-experienced pilots could not find work. For all I know, they never came back.

Best of luck to you.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

You know, I wrote this as reaction to the many conversations and arguments I've shared with my flying partners over the last few months.

As a furloughed major airline pilot I often have a difficult time picking which side of the issue (any issue) I want to argue. My perspective is skewed by the time I spent in a Boeing cockpit.

Today though, I'm a regional airline pilot -- and I'm darned proud of it. I'm ecstatic to have found a flying job ... regardless of the fact that it is in the right seat of a turboprop. I love flying, so when one was offered, I took a job flying. I'm a pilot -- pilots fly.

Its different this time though. When I first went to work for the regionals in the early 90s the guys in the left seat had all been there before. Most of them not only flight instructed, but also flew freight or charter for a few thousand hours before being offered the "privilege" of flying a Metroliner into Utica, New York in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. These pilots had upwards of 3000 hours total time before they took this job flying a 19-seat Jetstream or Metro, 10 legs a day, with no autopilot.

I always had a smile on my face when I spun the prop (had to cool the shaft) after each flight because I was proud to be an "airline pilot".

Fast forward to today -- and back to the unique perspective that I wanted to share with you. Many of the pilots who were hired at the regionals in the late 90's (a decade) later were hired directly from university flight programs (UND, ERAU, you name it...). Many of them did very little flying outside of school -- maybe a few hundred hours of flight instruction and not much more. They came to the regionals and in less than two years -- sometimes less than a SINGLE year -- they have upgraded to Captain on high performance turboprops and regional jets. They have autopilots, EFIS, and FMCs...a long way from the Metros I flew a decade ago.

What amazes me is how ANGRY these pilots are.

They're angry that it took them so LONG (?) to upgrade.

They're angry that they're flying a prop, while their ex-room-mate is flying a jet.

They're angry that there is no flowthrough and that this precludes them from going directly to a major with no interview whatsoever.

They're angry that the pay and workrules they are operating under are not what they expected.

I think that their expectations were unreasonable -- and I blame it completely on the aviation universities. For four years these young men and women were groomed to expect greatness. They watched as their friends graduated and moved quickly to the regionals, flew for two or three years and moved on to United. Heck...many of those people were only at United for 4 or 5 years before they upgraded! Why didnt anyone tell them the truth?

These folks dont know what "Peoples Express" is. They vaguely nod if you mention "Braniff" or "Eastern". They heard something about a furlough in the early 90s -- but they were in elementary school then...

All they know is that they have the precious 1000 hours PIC turbine and why the HECK is Southwest not calling? And whats this OLD MAN doing in the copilots seat? "When I tell him that I expect to be at American in a year, why does he grin like that, silently staring out the window?"

Unrealistic expectations. We have an obligation to share what we've learned with these young men and women. To remind them that they really didnt jump any hurdles to get where they are -- frankly, they had it pretty easy compared to the generation that came before.

They'll never know the fear you felt conducting your first single-pilot ILS to minimums-100 in blowing snow with the aircraft covered in ice...the boss yelling, "fly or you're fired!".

They will never be able to understand what it was like being a copilot for 4 years in a 19 seat airliner...no autopilot ... Utica ... Syracuse ... Binghamton ... "May I take your bag ma'am? Yes I'm old enough to fly this thing." ... Watertown ... Ogdensburg ... "Was that lightning?" ... Plattsburgh ...

And you'll never catch them spinning the fan after we land in Binghamton on a snowy winter night.

So pardon me if I take a deep breath and stare out the window when you wax poetic about the Boeing 777 seat which is waiting for you. If I dont respond when you complain about how it took you 18 months to upgrade to captain on a PROP... forgive me.

I'm just happy to have a job flying... and its a beautiful day for flying isnt it? Mind if I take this leg Captain? Nah...I think I'll leave the autopilot off -- just for old time's sake.

 

[banned username 2]

Kudos once again FurloughedAgain...

You are a man who truely has a clear view of this profession...

I have tried to explain to MANY of the young new pilots that what we have experienced in the past couple years (Pre-2001) is an anomoly and not the "usual"... they don't get it... Someday they will learn, that day may be today...

These kinds of downturns can be good for the industry, they clean out the ranks of people who don't REALLY want to do the job, but got into flying because they thought they could be a 737 Capt. in 4 years... and then sit back and make $200k/yr working 8 days a month...

Today is what I call a "Reality Check".... Some people will find reality too hard to take and will turn in their wings for some other career... to them I say "Good luck and goodbye"... They will make room for those who truely want this career. To those who are going to rough it out.. hang in there, this profession is one continous rough, bumpy and winding road... But remember Life is not about the destination, it is the journey...

 

[MetroSheriff]

FurloughedAgain,

You sir, are my hero.

I know exactly how you feel. When they complain, I just smile to myself. I was left out in the cold with no flying job after the Gulf War fiasco. Sometimes I fly with the younger folks who are mad, and think life is over, because they are not at a major by age 26. It is almost funny. I am so happy to be back flying and have a decent job with a good company, it is hard to complain.

Even better are the ones who like to bemoan the competition and tight "job market" (pre 9/11 that it is). "Yeah it's competetive alright" I'd say, "When did you start flying?". "Well I got my private in '97..."

Oh boy, another salty dog.

I'm not bitter. Don't get me wrong. Quite the contrary. Their timing was perfect. Good for them. It is just funny to hear, that is all. After we hit bottom this time and start to climb the ladder again, they will begin to appreciate just how good they had it.

 

[El Cid Av8or]

I'll drink to that!

FurloughedAgain:

Great post!

I'll see you on the airways. I will be down low and slow for a while as I pay my dues by instructing and turning props after shutting down the engines so just wave when you go overhead.

Blue skies, tailwinds and good luck!