Originally Posted by
Long Landing
So what you’re saying is to remove the regional flying product, which doesn’t solve the problem of staffing regionals which is what I was referring to. Yes if all that flying went in house and you interviewed with Delta/United/etc. before even beginning your training on the basis of your training being paid for then there would be less problems of getting guys to the airlines. Let’s be realistic however, there is still a small amount of people willing to be on the road 15-20 days per month away from family and friends. There would also be big pay implications in order to get that free training. You would see pay rates go to 50-75% of what they are today. But until these programs are put in place, and there is little indication of programs like that happening on a large scale, there will be the problem of getting people to regionals. In 5 years the regional landscape will be drastically different then what it is now. No one is going to start paying for training until they have to do so. So when they run out of regional, military, and the small handful of part 135/other flying types that can be hired then these programs might be a reality. And once they start these programs then 0-1500 hours is still a 3-4 year process. It’s going to be 5-7 years before a zero to hero pilot is a reality.
I said ab initio with training paid and a defined career path OR remove regional flying, I think either would work. I think folks would jump at an easy path where all they had to do was show up, complete the training, and good to go.
Airline pilots are a very, very tiny fraction of the population, I think there would be no shortage of folks willing to do the lifestyle if the cost of entry and career uncertainty were removed. The lifestyle is not bad per se, it's just different, not for everyone but it wrks fine for many. I get more (actual) time off as a pilot than I would as a white collar type... and I make twice as much as a typical white collar joe.
If lifestyle is really a problem, they could just hire more pilots to grant more QOL. They might have trouble finding people eager to fly 95 hours/month but if they offered 70 hours and 18 days off they'd have plenty of takers.
I sort of assume the majors have some sort of plan for pilots, they are pretty stoopid but nobody is THAT stoopid. The numbers are obvious and well documented. They are having discussions with the USAF to manage pilot movement between AF and airlines (which I think is BS). Maybe their plan A is to hope for a recession.
Bottom line, they still have a lot of trade space to sweeten the deal for noobs. This ain't truck driving... it's prestigious (yes it still is), good travel opportunities, more money than a slacker could ever hope for anywhere else, nice hotels vs. getting raped in a truck stop shower, etc.