Originally Posted by
NYCPilot
Automation essentially equates to less pay. The more the aircraft can do, the less the pilot needs to do or monitor. This isn't anything profound. Airliners have become more safety-laden and technologically advanced which has led to taking the pilot out of the loop. That translates into lower pay. As many have already said, the current generation of RJ's are practically idiot-proof. That doesn't mean that things can't go wrong, but in general you're not flying the same equipment or technology from years ago. Not even close. Think about the capability of the avionics these days. Even ATC support has come a long way in terms of coverage.
It's not your father's airline any more.
Those high salaries were also to compensate folks who were in essence pioneers in the industry. Things have come a long way since then. Piloting a plane now can be done by a greater pool of candidates.
Lets not forget that 15 years ago if you had less than 20/20 vision without using glasses or were not height and weight proportional you were practically considered a cripple. Pilots went through days of physicals and psychiatric testing as part of the interview. 30 was considered to be to old. The door was only open for a small portion of our national demographic. Fall even a little bit outside of the norm and you were done.
Today we have lasik surgery and all kinds of short, fat, smart and stupid people who are eligible to become airline pilots. There are even amputees and all kinds of disabled pilots who are now eligible to fly. It opens up the industry to a much wider group of people.
Companies probably only have left the ability to screen pilots on things like parking tickets and credit checks.
SH