Pilot shortage hits US regional airlines

[WhiteTara]

Source: yahoo news

New York (AFP) - Mid-sized and regional airlines in the US are suffering from a pilot shortage that could threaten the health of the broader US aviation industry.

The labor shortfall has led to canceled flights at carriers like Mesa Airlines and Silver Airways. That has hit smaller airports, such as in Redding, California, or Erie, Pennsylvania, according to figures from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).

The staffing crunch could also constrain traffic for larger companies like United Airlines and Delta Air Lines that depend on the mid-sized companies to serve rural consumers and feed customers into their networks.

"It's becoming a crisis at some carriers, resulting in the cancellation of flights and other serious disruptions," said Patrick Smith, a pilot who runs "Ask the Pilot," an aviation blog.

Republic Airways, which operates flights for Delta, United and American Airlines, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, citing the labor crunch.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/pilot-shortage-hits-us-regional-airlines-042334238.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. There are a lot of pilots. It's just that the regional airlines

don't want to pay them decent wages so they aren't looking for work there. At some point, though, there will be a real pilot shortage because flight training has become painfully expensive and wages suck, so people aren't going into aviation like they once did.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. Really, the manager at Burger King makes more than some of those pilots.

[elmac]

6. Excellent point nt

[tech3149]

26. No Shit!

A friend of mine went to Russia so he could earn a living. They don't pay squat here.

[yourout]

3. Amen.....if you want pilots then pay them.

Probably in the top 5 professions for being underpaid considering their responsibility's.

[Nay]

18. Exactly. They've been underpaid for 30 years (I knew a pilot that

long ago who worked for a regional). The airlines depended on squeezing the young people who really wanted to fly.

Now it's going to bite them in the butt, hard. Good.

Raise wages, you assholes, and you'll get pilots.

[WhiteTara]

4. I agree.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. You are very right

I am a simulator technician for one of the largest flight training companies in the world. We have 24 sims in our building. Most are business jets, but we have a CRJ and ERJ sim that we dry lease to Envoy (formerly American Eagle). I make at least double what most of these overworked pilots make. Sure, I am a senior lead tech, but I am not responsible for the lives of 80-100 people at a time.

[tooeyeten]

25. Pay sucks

For many airlines, worse for regional.

[Dems to Win]

5. Raise the wages, get more applicants. Econ 101 nt

[Populist_Prole]

8. And you know what's curious?

I remember about 10, maybe a dozen years ago the subject of pay came up by employees. I think it was Mesa, but the CEO told them something like "As long as people are still applying, then I'm still paying too much" or whatever.

OK. If they want to go by the "econ 101" playbook of putting downward pressure on wages in a loose labor market...Then they're going to have to increase them in a tight labor market.

Of course methinks all this "shortage" talk by business mouthpieces has nothing to do with an honest analysis of the labor market. I think it has everything to do with lobbying chicanery to try to loosen tight labor markets by increasing supply via rent-seeking.

But then again, full disclosure: I am a cynical bastard.

[Plucketeer]

7. In 1980, I pumped gas at the second largest airport in Atlanta.

Me - driving a gas truck and filling up airplanes - I made more than the commercial pilots that I met. That amazing revelation made me glad I hadn't spent years trying to get the requisite licenses so I could fly for a living.
I know a fella who flew A-10 Warthogs for 8 or 10 years. He ended up selling boats once he got out of the USAF because he couldn't support his family as a pilot!

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. That's simply disgraceful

I would pay more so they could get a living wage. They have our lives in their hands.

[Plucketeer]

20. Right you are!

And you'd THINK that would mean they'd get paid more than the guy gassin' up the planes.

Being familiar with airplanes, one day I spotted an obvious problem on a plane I was refueling. I pointed it out to the pilot and he brought his supervisor to have a look. While it wasn't likely to cause an immediate crash of the plane, it did disable one of the two electrical generators the plane carried. The super told the pilot: If you won't fly it like this, I'll find someone who will. Your job - your choice. He did carry on with the flight that day. That was one of the things that convince me I'd made the right choice NOT to fly for a living.

[WhiteTara]

12. We have a very skewed system

and it's amazing what large companies get away with

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Google will develop planes that fly themselves, that'll take care of the shortage

[WhiteTara]

13. There you go!

[jmowreader]

35. You gotta keep blowing those things up, so no

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

36. Blow them up? I will not go there, no, no

I don't want to get a "hide".

[Suburban Warrior]

11. Salary

It costs tens of thousands of dollars to earn all the ratings and required flight hours to qualify for a first officer position at a regional airlines. And when you get hired you are earning poverty wages and are in debt up to your eyeballs. That's why there is a pilot shortage.

[Gumboot]

14. Another profession that's been gutted.

With the collapse of oil prices, the airlines are swimming in revenue once more, but there's no sign of them returning to paying pilots a wage that reflects their training and responsibilities.

Flying was a dream of mine from an early age, but the astronomical costs of flight training prevented me from even climbing into the flight deck of a Cessna. Now I'm 'piloting' my Corolla around town for a living, instead.

Today's newly qualified (and hugely indebted) pilots have my sympathy.

[WhiteTara]

15. My sympathies to all of us. nt

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

16. There has been at least one accident in which copilot fatigue was cited as a factor

The copilot had to work an additional job to pay the bills.

Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.

[WhiteTara]

17. Which is why I hate little "puddle jumpers"

I always board with bated breath.

[yourout]

21. Having flown 100 hours in a Cessna 182 I would agree.

Very demanding.

[olddots]

19. America is Walmart

[roamer65]

22. Walmerica. N/t

[awoke_in_2003]

23. Regional pilots don't make squat

they are responsible for the safety of 80 -100 people at a time, and make around $38k (if they are lucky). They are also overworked in comparison to the guys flying the larger jets.

[LibDemAlways]

30. I have a friend who paid his dues at a regional carrier

for a couple of years before being hired by a major. Back in the mid 80's he made $18K/year flying for Sky West. It was only his Naval Reserve status that kept him financially afloat.

[calikid]

33. While talking with a young pilot the other day,

he said that the regionals are currently sending out letters looking for pilots at 40k a year, and a 15 k signing bonus

[awoke_in_2003]

34. That is pathetic...

With my 10% shift differential (I am a second shift flight simulator technician) I do a little over 75k plus overtime.

[madville]

27. Kind of a dead end profession

much like semi-truck drivers, train conductors, bus drivers, taxi drivers, etc. Airplanes along with most other modes of commercial transportation will be self-flying/driving within most of our lifetimes, automation is going to eliminate them in the next decade or two.

No benefits, no retirements, no salaries, no vacation days, no rest hours, no fatigue, no substance abuse, etc, etc, etc. Human labor is a corporate enemy.

[WhiteTara]

28. I don't think I'll get on that plane. nt

[sailfla]

29. Th accident in Buffalo a few years ago.Twin engine regional airline Gal copliot

was making $15,000 They are just trying to get hours in, then move on

[WhiteTara]

32. Wow, I make as much on SS

[mrmpa]

31. The new H1-B Visa applicant...........eom