Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
Right. It will shift because it is not in keeping with classical economic theory. The regional airline business model exploited the abundant supply of cheap pilot labor in this country to make money, a supply which is quickly drying up because of the failure of the industry to provide upward mobility to its pilot employees. Other factors such as increased training costs has also entered the equation, but many industries employ professionals carrying high educational burdens with them to the job and that is not the real problem. What will it take to shake the price point free is anyone's guess, but it will happen.
One crucial thing missing from classical economic theory is that it assumes all players have perfect information, and that is most certainly not the case. Dangle the keys to an RJ in front of a 250-hour AllATPs grad, and he/she most likely won't come on these forums and learn the realities of the profession before accepting.
Plus, classical economic theory also assumes all actors are purely rational, which is far from the case. When you've got hundreds of thousands of people who simply love to fly, and who derive emotional satisfaction from flying that to some degree compensates for their decreased wages, you have what classical economists would call an 'irrational actor.' We just call it SJS
(I majored in economics at Princeton and also have a master's in it, but sadly after 20 years I can't say I remember much)
