Originally Posted by
snippercr
PSA proved some things: People care about quick upgrade - be if for the PIC time or the higher pay rate. New aircraft = quicker upgrade, especially at smaller regional carriers. People will chase the upgrade. Dont believe me, ask some PSA scum how their classes are doing. All are full and people lined up out the door.
The "large" regional carriers (RAH, XJT, Envoy - incidentally the ones who said no), are all in trouble as they shrink with attrition, their upgrade time becomes indeterminate and they cannot attract new people.
Of course the large ones are going to shrink, attrition, and undercutting were going to see to that, but the unanswered question is what will happen to the regional industry as a whole? It will shrink, and that is what is best for us all. However, if PSA, PDT become yet the new low standard, who is going to spend 200K to go there? Pilots have other options than "home depot". We are not trained to just fly airplanes, but we have the transferable skills of organization, problem solving, customer service, management, technical knowledge, ability to learn and retain reams of information on FARs, limitations, SOPs, systems, profiles, science, etc. Pilots need to refuse the narrative "pilot is the only job I can do". With a little extra certification and some experience, a pilot would make an excellent plant or logistics manager, for example. I sincerely hope more of us will refuse to sacrifice ourselves at the regional altar. Starving the beast is the only way.