A shortage of pilots will increase pay...it did in '07 at the regionals for a brief moment, but this shortage isn't coming tomorrow. You are right, the airline is there to make money, at the cheapest rate possible. If we make higher barriers, and they can't get pilots because the risk doesn't out way the reward, cockpits won't be filled, planes won't move, and the company makes no money. There are lots of pilots today, there is no shortage in the next 5 years, but enrollment is down across all schools, and new commercial certificates are falling every year because the word is getting out to parents, and banks.

This rule is to benefit us 5-10-15 years down the road. My students concern was, if this law passes, they would never get an airline job out of college because they would need 1500 hours. It's not going to hurt them because by the time this passes, and by the time this is enacted, it will be 2-3 years down the road. My students, and people finishing up their ratings should be above, or very close to 1500 hours. We won't be acting under this rule in less than 2 years; but we have to change the rules today to get them to benefit us in the future.

I also hear people say, "I've been told about a pilot shortage since the 80's, it's a lie." This was a known set of years when all these baby boomers would have to retire, and it was right, except it got pushed back because of the age 65 rule. In two years these guys have to retire, if we push these new rules today that will come out in 2 years, we just set ourselves up for something great within the next 10 years.