tom11011

Cockpit conundrum: Shortage of pilot candidates puts a drag on regional carriers | Dallas Morning News

"Pedro Fábregas did the math, and the math wasn’t good."

"On Thursday, pilots union leaders from those three carriers and 10 other regional airlines signed a joint pact not to accept concessionary contracts and allow managements to play one union against another."

block30

From the article,

"Cohen, head of the airline trade group, expressed doubt that a higher starting wage would help in the face of the 1,500-hour limit.
“It doesn’t matter if you triple the starting salary **tomorrow,**” he said. “That’s still not going to create one more person that’s got 1,500 hours **tomorrow.**”

(My emphasis on tomorrow). What if they tripled salary ten years ago? This quote is the crux of management's problem....short term thinking! Just doing enough to get by for now...

Ultralight

One again Cohen denies an increase in pay would help staffing, but in the same sentence says the majors are draining the regionals. Why then are these regional pilots leaving for the majors? More pay perhaps?

Its going to be an interesting summer!

slats fail

This problem really is a simple one and everyone like Roger Cohen is trying to complicate it.
Mainline profits are soaring into the billions (Surplus), partially supported by cheap regional feed.
Regional pilot supply dwindling because of low pay (Deficit), lack of movement, etc.
Take some of your surplus and reduce your deficit, therefore increasing your pilot supply. Problem solved.
I'd like to see a poll of what the average time was of everyone who was hired at a regional in the last 20 years. I bet its around 1500 anyways. When I started training, I expected to need at least 1000 to get hired anywhere, and that number has gone up or down in recent years. So I would have had to flight instruct for another 6 months? Big deal. I realize of course its much harder to get that 1500 hours now due to a lack of students, but if regional pay increased by 30% across the board, the only pilot shortage we would be talking about is the shortage of flight instructors for the wave of new student pilots.
1500 hour rule is just something to make the flying public feel all warm and fuzzy and for management to cry foul and lobby against. It's a money problem plain and simple. Is mainline willing to pay more to keep their feed? At current rates, they're going to start losing a lot of revenue. You gotta spend money to make money. Its going to be an interesting summer for sure.

block30

Here's another beef I have...is this ATP law really a "1,500 hour rule"?

How many folks are now going through the 2 and 4 year degree exempted programs? (1,250 and 1,000 hours minimum respectively). Let's call this law what it really is, the "1,000 hour rule."

Further, I agree with Slats Fail that 1,000 hours total was common not long ago. I thought 1,000 TT/100ME was the golden rule.

Finally I love how Cohen, Swelbar, et al, try to play make believe that-

1) They didn't know a massive retirement wave was coming-*decades* in advance.
2) They didn't get a five year reprieve on top of that to find a solution (age 65 law).
2) They didn't have several years notice that the1,000 hour rule was coming.
3) They didn't have several years notice of the rest rule change.
4) They didn't know about the numerous studies showing a declining interest in flying for the airlines, specifically due to the growth of regional size and tenures.

To be sure, I want this industry to be better for us all, and particularly for the next generation. If you are mad, use a little dose of reality and write your congressman, unions reps, etc.

tom11011

This thread

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/re...-you-back.html

would seem to prove Cohen completely wrong, there are pilots available, qualified, but unwilling to return due to pay.

Ultralight

You're absolutely right. I'm one of em!

tom11011

Putin lets Russian airlines hire foreign pilots - Business Insider

tom11011

Envoy Partners With TCC With Pilot Shortage Looming - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

Pilot shortage clips budget airline Peach's wings- Nikkei Asian Review

U.S. airline union takes aim at regionals, not JetBlue | Reuters

Hays, Great Bend airports to replace lost commercial air service | Wichita Eagle

FlyJSH

Good to see the market is "right sizing" the planes for these runs. There is no point in subsidizing a 1900 when a 208 will do just fine.