jeta1224

In my conversations with my fellow pilots in Cincinnati who fly in the service of DHL, it appears that we may finally be willing to push back on DHL's pitting one group against the other which results in poor pay, poor schedules, and instability in our careers. All of our respective carriers are either in negotiations or soon will be. DHL's competitors, Fedex and UPS, are also in negotiations and are currently at the top of the pay scale. DHL has every right to seek the lowest bidder for their flying. Why do we agree to do it on the cheap? They have chosen to have over seven carriers flying the North American network. The time has come for us to reject the ACMI pay structure that has relegated professional pilots to a "C" scale relative to the vast majority of pilots flying similar equipment. DHL is currently funding multiple layers of senior management, boards of directors, maintenance, scheduling and dispatch personnel at ALL of these carriers and attempting to pay for it all by pitting pilots from different carriers against each other. I've had enough and have told my Union leadership so. I look forward to the coming announcement mentioned in the last conference call that will address these issues.

todhog2

Yeah we did all that in the 90's when our pay checks said DHL on them. Now we work at other places and you work for the comair of freight. Good luck with all that.

Whaledriver

DHL owns 49% of Polar.

atpcliff

This used to be the case. Times have changed.

Southern bid low for a large number (27?) of 737s for DHL domestic. They were awarded the contract. They can't operate them, because they can't find pilots willing to work that cheap.

I think they have 4 737s, one of which they just parked. I heard the last class of 6 all left after their type ratings were awarded. Also 5 captain/check airman types left in one week recently. They won't be able to fly the airframes unless they pay a lot more.

I think if DHL gave all these 737 rights to NAC, NAC would not be able to crew them.

If there are not enough pilots, you can't find cheaper ones to fly your routes.

I think Atlas could crew these 737s...If they paid 777 rates to the crews. I don't think atlas will be able to crew their allotted 767s for very long, at current 767 rates...maybe until the next contract when the rates will rise.

Today's global pilot shortage is an unprecedented situation in aviation history. Most people, including pilots and management, do not fully understand the situation.

Nightflyer

The pilot schools have been crying "pilot shortage" since the 80's.

I have yet to see one actually occur.

Are you telling me this time it's for real?

I think there might be a shortage of folks willing to work for minimum pilot wages, but there seem to be plenty of qualified pilots applying for the majors.

Maybe we will be short of pilots in 5 or 10 years, but I don't think we are there just yet.

Perhaps I am incorrect. I would be glad to be wrong about this, so wages will finally rise across the board.

Whale Driver

I don't think there will ever be a pilot shortage for DL,AA,UA,FedEx,UPS.

The second tier will be strained and the third is going to be F'd.

full of luv

I guess that's the point then, it's time to put the "third tier" outta business. No more subsidizing their ACMI model on employees QOL/Pay's backs.

DC8DRIVER

+1

How would you define pilot shortage? Is it when one airline is unable to staff its aircraft, a majority of the airlines, or all of them? Is it when we have 630 hour pilots flying A-320's? Is it when regionals offer signing bonuses due to difficulties filling new hire classes. Is it when major airlines cancel flights due to crew unavailability?

Many of the "mid level" airlines like Omni, Kalitta, and Atlas are experiencing such a high turnover rate that their pilot ranks are well below optimum and, at least for Atlas, some flight segments are being cancelled due to lack of crews. Pilots are leaving for the majors before, during, just after ground school, and just after getting their type rating. And it is not just new hires and low time FO's that are moving. Atlas has had 2 767 captains leave for the majors this spring.

I doubt that the major airlines are having much of a problem, however their minimums are being adjusted lower and they are hiring at an unprecedented rate, and their pay scales are rising rapidly. This demand, along with significant retirement numbers at all airlines is creating a real problem for the lower and mid level airlines.

So what, exactly, is the definition of a pilot shortage?

8

vroll1800

I won't pretend to know the exact point. For sure, he threshold could be considered crossed if the Deltas, Fed Ex's, etc. have difficulty filling classes, and/or have to cancel several flights for lack of crews over an extended period of time.
More germane to this thread, what will it take for DHL to cry "Uncle" and change their business model of playing one contractor against another? So 2 B767 Captains left. OK, did Atlas cancel several flights and have ABX pick up the slack ? Or are there 4 or more money hungry Atlas Captains willing to pick up the slack of the departed 2 on their days off ? Is DHL content to take a certain amount of reliability hit for scrambling to put piled up freight on several px airlines belly freight ? What is the tipping point there ?
Again, I don't pretend to know the exact answer.

I'll believe there is a true pilot shortage at the DHL system level when the suits from Germany see fit to hold a night sort pilot cafeteria meeting, and declare that they're going to treat their contractors as valued team members, and that their goal for all affected employees would be to view flying for a DHL carrier as a career equal to Fed Ex and UPS in compensation and benefits.

SayAlt

This......