Many of the legacy and cargo pilots today were hired ten or twenty years ago with flight times that wouldn't even get a second look by HR now.

I watched as a 44 year old, nice, but train wreck of an adult human being get hired at FedEx with 2200 total and 500 SIC turbine in 1996. I am sure that he is a captain by now and most likely would say that I didn't "pay my dues".

I witnessed a 23 year old ditsy gal get hired at UAL in 1999 with less than 1600 hours and a reputation that she couldn't find the runway on a visual approach and couldn't fly a normal pattern with out flight director help.

I could go on. I am not trying to bash them or anyone else. It is great that they were able to reach their dream jobs. My point is it that in the last 6 years the industry has changed dramatically. People who were hired back then would have their resumes thrown directly in the trash today.

Me and my entire generation paid our dues. The industry has changed. The pilots who are setting the minimums of today most likely could not have gotten hired with the resumes thay had back in the day.

SkyHigh

 

Six years and counting of airline SIC and being told by someone that their PIC mins are concrete sucks. Still paying my dues.

The shortage is coming though. Not overnight, but it's starting at the bottom and will work its way up. We are losing pilots at my carrier to good jobs on a regular basis.

BTW, where do you get your idea that there are 60,000 new pilots each year? I doubt there are 60,000 airline pilots in the US. Or at least for sure not 60,000 new ones each year.

 

Coming in 5x5 Brother! Also know of some at said carriers that probably (99.99999%) Parker penned some time to be where there at, and to boot, don't know how lucky or fortunate they are. In the meantime many qualified waiting in line that deserve the chance!

 

Is this somehow another of your talking points about how the industry is screwed?

Because it sounds like an improvement to me.

Prozac Sky, try it.

 

Here is real irony, the bunny can sit still while many different objects are rested on it's head with nary a whimper.

 

OK, PM me your address and I'll send you a cookie.

Or maybe some cheese to go with your whine.

 

Now with age 65 NOBODYS going to get hired.

 

The bunny thing is funny....

 

This is kinda related. I was at Air Inc. in Atlanta yesterday to pass out some resumes and see what the companies had to say about their hiring. The Delta rep really turned me off from wanting to fly for Delta. She was up at the podium and she spent a good deal of time telling people how many ways they could screw up their chances at being hired.

The part that most bothered me was when the minimums came up on the slideshow screen. She said basically....these are our minimums, but we all know that you need more than this to have a chance. Paraphrasing of course. I didn't even bother talking to the Delta reps. I have the minimums plus some, but I figured if she was representative of what Delta puts up as their public face to potential newhires, it isn't a place I want to work. I don't know if I can convey it properly, but the presentation just really turned me off and gave me a bad feeling about Delta.

I talked to a couple of airlines where I was a little low with my times, but they were all nice. I explained that I knew I didn't have the minimums, but I wanted to introduce myself and give them a resume for future reference. They were cool and didn't try to discourage me. They actually seemed grateful to have people wanting to talk to them.

 

The world will always be full of less "qualified" guys who have more than you, and "more" qualified guys who are on the street.

I've always believed that sometimes the battle goes to the persistent. Don't quit--keep driving.

Sky--you are making yourself miserable in your wallowing and not attracting much sympathy. Nobody owes you a job. Plenty of folks of wallked from aviation and made more money and had happier lives in other fields. You seem to rejoice in straddling the fence--working elsewhere but bitterly ranting on an aviation board. Why don't you stir the pot and throw in some apps? Jetblue and Airtran are hiring--the regionals are starved for pilots--and some 121 supplementals like Kalitta and World are also hiring.

I cannot promise great wages or benefits--but from there you could spring into some better jobs.

Or--you can continue to rant about how "wrong" and "unfair" the system really is. We can't fix that. We decided to pay our money, take our chances, and continue in this career. There is probably room for one or two more if you want to dive back in.