Thread: Time for a Minimum Wage for Airline Pilots
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Old 02-11-2010 | 09:24 AM
  #13  
CaptFuzz
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Originally Posted by KiloAlpha
Just thinkin' out loud here, but how about this. If the FAA mandated that all airline crew members must have an ATP and the minimum requirement for an ATP was 3000 hours, then in theory supply would decrease and airlines would have to raise wages to attract people. I dunno..
Having a 3000 hour requirement to sit in the right seat of a commuter turboprop would probably reduce supply, but you end up with a problem of people getting the hours necessary for that job. You'd probably see a huge suppression of wages for 135 freight operators, an explosion in pay-for-pay 135 first officer programs, and CFI wages dropping to near nothing (the same instructors entrusted with the development of the next generation of pilots).

The only people who would end up sticking through that to end up as regional and commuter first officers would be the kids with super rich parents who don't mind dropping $100,000 for their kid's training while they also pay for their room and board, and the fools with dollar signs in their eyes who will end up so far up to their elbows in debt (from the training and years of deferred rent and food costs) that even the higher regional pay won't be able to pay it off (and they'll be thoroughly screwed when the next round of furloughs come)
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