Originally Posted by
Phteven
At the risk of being the "turd in the punch bowl" how much of the current situation can be resolved with better pay under current regulations? It seems that this "shortage" has been over a decade in the making - it costs a lot of time and money to get to ATP mins and the payout sucks. Seems like reason enough to upset the supply/demand equilibrium. Not to say that if it suddenly became lucrative to be a regional pilot that there wouldn't be a considerable number of applicants in 2-4 years, but are there enough dormant ATP qualified pilots out there to supply the regionals as they currently exist and set the bar higher than fogging a mirror?
Far longer than a decade. The "pilot shortage myth" has been perpetuated for decades, and it's never been true. It still isn't. It was the darling of Kit Darby and his pack of lies for a long time, and it's been the swan song of flight schools and colleges for decades.
There is no shortage of pilots. The shortage is on the pay side for the companies that fail to attract pilots. There are plenty of pilots; one isn't a shoe-in at the majors today simply becuase one is qualified; there are plenty of applicants. If a regional has difficulty getting applicants, because all the applicants are in line elsewhere, then compete. Pay enough to pull them back, and treat them like professionals. No problem.
Going to happen?
No.
Great lakes would rather chop out seats and go 135. That's indicative of the lowbrow quality of the companies that cry pilot shortage. There is no pilot shortage, but for those who can't attract pilots, the mirror will be a valuable source for finding the problem.