Pilot shortage: AA cancelled 100's of flights
 

Hundreds of American flights cancelled due to pilot shortage:


https://airlinegeeks.com/2021/06/19/...ilot-shortage/

I just passed my ATP with minimum times and my sister sent me a similar link saying I should apply. I explained that the issue was likely due to training and lining everyone back up to the correct equipment. I do think a real shortage is coming. Once my daughter can drive and I finish getting my finances in order, then I’ll take the plunge. 40K a year, here I come!

Well, in the article American says it’s a shortage at their vendors and I don’t think Aa contracts their flying. And the article says the problem is their pilots aren’t current so not really a shortage.

I don’t really understand this post. AA doesn’t hire with ATP minimums, and AA pilots don’t make 40k a year. Are talking about applying to Eagle?

Yes, I know AA doesn’t hire at ATP mins and they don’t pay 40K a year. My point is the article implies AA has a shortage of pilots which is likely not the case. My family is curious with articles like these why I can’t just start at a legacy.

My wife also thinks I’m crazy for leaving a six figure job for starting FO pay at a regional. The title of the article is very misleading.

The titles of all articles are misleading. The titles are written to generate clicks and the articles are written for entertainment. They are light on facts, because most facts are boring.

Why ARE you leaving a six-figure job to start at a regional? Unless you’re a military pilot, I don’t understand why you would do this.

Regional and even mainline QOL isn’t as competitive to non-flying careers as it used to be: 4-5 legs a day, commuting, poor entry pay, deicing, short layovers, dealing with the craziness of post-CV travel, and the overall instability of the industry, I’m not sure why anyone other than military (who have or will have a pension, and have few other marketable skills) would want to get in this industry, especially from a six-figure career.

If I were to summarize the last decade in three sentences, I would use these three sentences.

There’s a difference between a $100k office job with 3% annual raise potential while working 40-60 hours a week , versus an FO making $250k after 5 years, working 12 days a month, with a potential $100k/yr raise when they upgrade.

What’s wrong with deicing? Usually a money maker. No job is stable these days. There is no such thing as corporate loyalty. It’s nice to have a seniority list and to almost never see your boss or have performance evals….

Clearly you’ve never had another job certainly not one that pays $250k. Flying is literally the easiest job, with the most days off, and the least amount of “after hours” work I’ve ever had. Any six figure job in the US you’re chained to the email machine, if you feel like that as a pilot you’re just a nerd that needs to relax or exit the training department.

There’s literally only a handful of people in any given department of a F500 (director/VP) that make what thousands of 12 year CAs make at any legacy make, much less wide body CAs (even wide body FOs). You don’t know how good you have it.

Medical career. PAs, NP, CRNA... all stable, portable, six-figure jobs that have an easy path to no nights/weekends/holidays.

Correct, every career is unstable. However, the travel industry is especially susceptible to economic downturns, war, terrorism, and pandemics, etc. No other mainstream career is as unstable as the airline and travel industry, IMO.

I would not recommend anyone investing $100K+ in getting into this career. Too much risk, especially has we get closer to single-pilot or pilotless flying.

You just described 99.9% of pilots in the industry. The pervasive negativity is astounding. I honestly think a great deal of pilots would benefit from looking out the window for minute, especially if it is a sunrise/sunset flight.

Meh. I can make $200K+ and be home every night doing another job that is a lot more stable than airline pilot.

I also don't care for the way pilots are treated. I'm not looking to be put on a pedestal by any means, but after years of flying in the military, at a regional, and now at a major, I would appreciate some professional actualization. Airline pilot lacks any real professional respect. A lot of that is our fault. We're treated and portrayed more like a bunch of Glenn Quagmires than we are Chesley Sullenbergers. Maybe airline pilot just isn't for me. Frankly, with the high level of automation, brutal 4-5 leg/day 4-days, the complete lack of influence pilots have on the operation (other than failing to show up ready to fly), groveling every time you do make a decision, having to chasedown down pay questions/disputes, the physical and psychological wall between the cockpit and the cabin, and "sprint-to-the-bottom" civility, airline pilots have been reduced to glorified button pushers. EU countries seem to have pretty good success putting pilots in the cockpit of wide bodies with just a few hundred hours of flight time, and at much lower wages. Is their safety record much different from US carriers?

Mainline wages are going to keep falling behind inflation. The purchasing power of our salaries will continue to diminish. $300K+ salaries will become more and more rare, especially in the post-CV contract negotiations. Will we see bankruptcies? More instability? I wouldn't spend a dime on civilian training to become an airline pilot. That money can be much better spent on other more-stable and equally (or near equally) lucrative careers. I certainly wouldn't leave a six-figure career to start at the bottom of a regional seniority list. We're just another pandemic, terrorist attack, war, or recession from experiencing another lost decade. Lots of risk with diminishing reward.

Yes, I have a pretty good seniority.

Anyway, pilot shortage.

I make a point to do that every flight. I love flying. However, the question was why anyone would leave a six-figure career to start at a regional. Wasn't that the OP's plan?

A PPL or Guard job gets you more than a few minutes of looking outside at the sunrise/sunset, with a lot less risk than leaving a six-figure career for a regional.

"Follow your heart," is widely acknowledged as the worst career advice ever.

It is misleading. AA is not issuing cash refunds to thousands of passengers on hundreds of flights.

They stated right after the first big COVID schedule pull down in April 2020, it is more lucrative to sell, sell, sell and cancel what doesn’t.

Cherry picking the canceled flights for relief is just a tactic and does not represent lost revenue vs restricting selling to what can be fulfilled.

With computers they can tell the difference between a canceled flight that requires full refunds, vs rebooking with inconvenience and retaining full revenue.

They are never going to admit they are overselling there fleet wide inventory, and they’ll never tell sales team to slow down. It’s easier to just let every other department play catch up. If it’s real sustainable demand they’ll eventually catch up, if it isn’t then they catch up even faster and then pump the brakes.

You pre-edited post acknowledged that pilots are being used as a scapegoat, reinforcing my point. "We had to cancel because Quagmire couldn't get out of bed this morning."

We all know that isn't true, but that's how we're viewed by both management and the public.

dont be a dick. Welcome to the show man. Enjoy the ride and stay humble. Don’t listen to the hate. Some of us still enjoy it!

If it's that easy, then why not do that?

My wife is a doctor from a family of lawyers and I'm constantly surrounded by people that earn far more than I do. Yet I wouldn't change jobs with a single one of them. Like you said, maybe you're just not cut out to do the airline thing, which is totally fine. Different strokes for different folks. So why continue to be miserable?

Sure you can. You sound like the exact kind of guy that thinks his military “Leadership” skills are just what companies are looking for… Military to airline isn’t exactly real world job experience, which shows tremendously in the rest of your “I’ll tell you how to run your multi-billion dollar company in a way I bet you never thought of” post. Only SEALs can military grift at that level, but feel free to pitch your coffee/T-Shirt/supplement company business plan. We’re all ears.

Que Pasa money bags!

She's still a resident, so I have to hold down the fort juuust a little while longer. :p

But it's been interesting being around folks in the medical industry. It's not necessarily a picnic over there either - they work a hell of a lot harder than we do!

I’m with you. I think we have it by the tail.

737 still sux tho

Ouch!

You mean my delusions of grandeur don't transfer?

AA had 3,000 furloughed or voluntary leave. Trying to requal. as fast as possible. Simulators are the chock point. Another two months before they clear, before OTS hiring can start.

This post sums up why I switched to flying Delta for all my deadheads (I jumped from 121 to corporate).

sounds like you are ready to retire. If you can make $200k/ year doing something else, why are you doing something it sounds like you hate? $200k puts you in the “well above average” category, so go make it doing something else.

Smart move, marry them before they start making real money. I did the same 15 years ago.

This EXACTLY. I am leaving my career where I work 11-15 days a month on a 24 hour shift where I will never make more than 150k a year to be an airline pilot making less for the first 5 years, but significantly more thereafter.

For what it's worth, this article is omitting a glaring truth... the real reason for the cancellations was flight attendants. I don't know why the news media thinks "crew" means just pilots.

Many airlines this last weekend offered incentives to FAs because a high number called out for this brand new holiday called "juneteenth".... it's some kind of black holiday like kwanzaa from what I gather. And yes, that is why there were so many cancellations. Spirit paid their FAs 200% this weekend, Southwest marked it a "critical weekend", etc...

Who wants to read about my sweet Miata?

Dad of the year right there. That's awesome that you bought your 16 year-old a car for her birthday!

It took me ten years of flying at the regional level to finally make six figures, then when you get on at a major you get to take another pay cut while being in the furlough zone again.

Biff, if you read a my previous post, I said retired military don't have transferrable or in-demand skills. Hence, airline pilot.

Gotta go back to school to start another career. Managing a school schedule is possible with some seniority.

When did I say I would tell someone how to run their billing dollar company? That said, I do think there are some pretty creative and intelligent minds in military leadership. Problem is the lack of tangible business experience-finance, marketing, supply chain, etc. I have an MBA from a pretty good school, but it's meaningless. I have no business experience and that became pretty clear to me when I went job seeking as I transitioned out of the military.

All that leadership experience and "executive education" got me a seniority number at a regional. Correct, military does not translate to a lucrative career other than pilot at a major.

No Mr.Chavez it’s not a “black” holiday, it’s an American holiday. Drawing a distinction while having no skin in the game is hilarious. It’s also Nothing like Kwanza, the Senate unanimously voted for it. It’s here to stay, get used to it. Great observation though connecting it to the shortage for the weekend, but the article extends further. Yes there is a shortage of qualified pilots.

I don't think there's an issue with the article there. There is a shortage of pilots at AA, that's the truth. There's also going to continue to be a shortage of pilots at AA even after everyone is fully trained. I don't think that has anything to do with your sisters confusion though.
https://enkei.com/wp-content/uploads...ei-RPF1-18.jpg

so do you have any credible source to back up this claim, or is this just a thought you came up with taking your morning ****??? I would venture to guess there was just as many "Fathers Day" sick calls as there were Juneteenth sick calls. But I can admit that is pure speculation on my part. We are short "qualified" pilots right now, plain and simple. Seeing how much PM is being handed out is the easiest way to determine that...As for FAs I have no idea bc I only know what they mention in van rides and such...

Disregard the fact that we furloughed thousands and our bookings have recovered. This is a political issue !

https://cdn.carbuzz.com/gallery-imag...400/805409.jpg

It’s not a new holiday.

Also, we have always been at war with Eastasia.

It’s not a deer, it’s a horse.

There are five lights, and I’ve learned to love BB.

For anyone who is still out there acting like Vasu is our savior.... or maybe you just need a laugh. Gotta admit, it's a little funny to read knowing that not only did they know this would happen, they bragged about how they weren't going to dick it up



While both Delta and United announced aggressive cutbacks in capacity this spring, American ended up going in the opposite direction. The airline was also, for whatever reason, slow to explain the reasoning behind their actions.
.........

Vasu: So, we look at this situation and the natural reaction is to say okay, things are really bad, demand is really uncertain, we need to hoard cash, take out as much expense as possible, shut down hubs, etc.

But I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve told our board. That is – this way of thinking is the friggin’ case study of AMR.

..........

Vasu: American neutered its ability to actually generate demand.

As a result, whenever there was a recovery, American could never participate in it. It structurally surrendered an advantaged position to its competitors. Because it was just so hell-bent on cost take-out.
..........

Vasu: Right. It (AMR) had so much debt and all this other stuff. And what it did was – all of this eroded everybody’s will. It eroded the will of the frontline team, of management, of investors, everybody.

If I could tell [CEO] Gerard [Arpey] anything – I’d tell him, “Grow the friggin’ airline.”

But the only way to do that was to NOT shrink. Grow at DFW. Don’t shut down St. Louis

..........


Vasu: So, here’s the deal. All of this that we are going through today. It sucks. But this is how I describe it to my team: this is like win or crash. And we sure are not going to figure all of this out by cutting at a greater rate than the other airlines.

..........

Everybody understands how precious this opportunity is and we’re not going to f#&% it up.

But hey, trying to explain all of this is hard. Let’s face it. We’ve burned a lot of credibility

.........

The airline that figures out a way to not furlough people, particularly pilots, ....they are going to come out of this on top.


https://www.planeperspectives.com/20...nes-vasu-raja/