Originally Posted by yimke

Many companies are throwing around the idea of signing a MOU to allow their junior guys take the flying to meet ATP mins. Commutair has already passed it. I would highly suggest you talk to your union to get this passed ASAP! You are one of the few 121 guys left that has this issue. I'm pulling for a grandfather clause to help guys out like you. But we MUST not lower the entry requirements of 1500 hours.

It is in our best interest as pilots to allow this NOT to pass! All the crummy regional airlines MUST go away! This is ridiculous to lower our standard just to "get ahead." While in reality, we are shooting ourselves in the foot to allow poor regionals to suck up low time pilots just to survive. Simple equation. No pilots= cancels. Cancels=no money No money= BK. With consolidations of the regionals, and/or the termination of all regionals WE as pilots have more leverage to increase pay, QOL, etc..

I'm not dogging on small regionals, but all your premier regionals have NO pilot shortage. Why is this? Probably because people actually want to work there. Once August 2nd hits, there will be no signing bonus to save them. I know many people that want this regional model to burn and return our QOL to the glory days of Pan Am. While this is a optimistic view, I believe we need some sort of compromise with some regional feed. Maybe three regionals is enough.

Young pilots don't realize they can just "hold out" on regionals to suffocate them. However, with the recent Comair and 9E guys on the street the regional management is licking their chops. They will eventually run out of guys, but there are too many young chaps that want to "get ahead." When that time comes, I hope the scumbag management at regionals get what comes to them. Also, that the majors feel the reverse effects of their "Whipsawing" strategies to get cheaper prices. Management is all about bean counting, when they don't care about the long term effects of both employee and customers!

It's 9:30 am here, but this got me so frustrated already. I'll pour some for my homies that have worked at 7 regionals; first year FO's that live at home struggling to survive going into their 30's; 25 year captains at regionals that have their doors closed after decades of good service. *drops mic*

-summary- Airline management sucks
PS - Sorry for any grammar issues,

Originally Posted by bozobigtop

Airlines are not the only business unable to recruit and retain employees. Many other industries have the same issues in which you can raise salaries to a point whereas the business is unprofitable and the company ceases to exist. If pilots think he or she can extract more money out of the powers that be, more power to you. Personally speaking its not going to happen! Many businesses are out of business because they refused to pay what employees demanded.

Originally Posted by Bellanca

This. The companies can pay maybe a little more than they pay now. Maybe an extra $5k, possibly $10k, but just because 1500 hours is required now, doesn't mean that 1st-3rd year FO's are going to be getting anywhere close to $50-60k.

If the shortage is real, I bet they will downsize their fleets, and fly fewer flights of larger planes (requiring fewer total pilots), and pay *slightly* better pay, rather than paying good money to attract many pilots.

Originally Posted by bozobigtop

Bellanca, I agree with you in theory because management isn't the only obstacle in raising the starting salaries or wage increases. Some of the opposition is generated from shareholders and other employees as well.

Originally Posted by bozobigtop

The legacy airlines will protect their core customers and let the chips fall where they may with other customers. This will be a interesting laboratory test because I do not believe the legacy carriers can generate the revenue for their current assets held without regional feed!

Originally Posted by bozobigtop

Some regional airlines may have the legacy airlines by the short hairs. Too big to fail doesn't apply to the airline industry.

Originally Posted by bozobigtop

Many aviation professionals and I include myself in this group benefited from both deregulation and EAS. I believe if deregulation never occurred many professional aviators working now would have never been hired because of the structure in the 1970's. Most of the pilots hired were military. I personally know of three pilots hired by major airlines with no military flight experience doing that period. Commuter airlines required more experience in the 1970's than whats required now. I do not want to see re-regulation of the airline industry, instead allow the free market place to work through the elimination of the EAS monies in the lower 48 states. If the government would like to start cutting budgets, start with EAS!

Originally Posted by bozobigtop

Airlines are not the only business unable to recruit and retain employees. Many other industries have the same issues in which you can raise salaries to a point whereas the business is unprofitable and the company ceases to exist. If pilots think he or she can extract more money out of the powers that be, more power to you. Personally speaking its not going to happen! Many businesses are out of business because they refused to pay what employees demanded.

Originally Posted by hypoxia

I seem to recall many years ago ATP minimums were 1200 hours and a commercial was 200 hours. I wonder what triggered the raising of the flight hours back then?