Airline Pilot Central Forums - Pilot shortage article

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydawg (Post 205053)

Life is full of experiences and Alaska bush flying I always though would be an exceptional one.

During my time in Alaska I flew all the fun tradtional bush planes and had a blast. Every day was a new adventure and I was rewarded with good pay and more challenging situations thrown at me than I felt ready to handle.

The down side was that I saw a lot of my friends get killed and the net result of my 7 years up there was ZERO in regards to my airline dreams. At the time however it was the only oportunity I had.

In the end it was a total waste in regards to my career dreams and I wish I had never gone.

Skyhigh

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulcher (Post 205059)

That there is some funny chit. Let me tell you...121 flying is the easiest, least challenging flying I have ever done. It is a joke really. I flew those Lears and worked 100% harder doing it. I am now at a 121 carrier without any 121 PIC time. SWA didnt seem to mind me flying those little Lears around. They have hired a lot of FlexJet pilots and continue to do so. Get off your 121 high horse, because it is not all that challenging.

I too am a past 135 small jet guy. I realise how difficult it is to do that job. My only point is that the airlines tend to hire their own most often and I believe that if someone left a part 121 job for Flexjet there would be some strong questions to answer.

SkyHigh

Quote:

Originally Posted by kansas (Post 205067)

There's a great deal of old turboprop guys still on major hiring boards. Why would they cut off the guys that have truly taken the abuse that you speak of (turboprop life is harder than jet life, you know that), fly harder, handfly, fly shorter legs, etc., etc...

I won't believe there's a pilot shortage until it trickles upward to the majors.

Over the years HR at the majors is forced to increase minimums to avoid the wave of daily applications. Back when I started UAL only wanted 250 hours and a commercial licence to apply. Piston MEL was king. All a guy needed was 1000 Piston PIC and record of having sat in a Lear once or twice and you were a hot prospect.

Once they start handing out RJ's like candy to 24 year old captains the trend will have to move up again. There are captains on every hiring board who have ZERO PIC in anything before going to the majors because that was the norm 20 years ago. It still doesn't stop them from turning down highly qualified people when they have a waiting room full of RJ captains and military superstars.

Skyhigh

Quote:

Originally Posted by atpcliff (Post 205595)

Hi!

The Pilot Shortage has already trickled up to the majors. SWA cut their PIC requirement by 300 hours. DAL didn't get as many Mil guys as they wanted. UAL (and, I think, NWA) aren't getting anywhere as many qualified applicants as they planned on.

The big Asian carriers are sucking wind bad. They used to require a type rating and a lot of time to hire a street captain. My buddy has no widebody, no heavy, and no oceanic experience, and he was told he met the qualifications for a -777 street captain.

When UPS, USAir, FedEx, SWA and AA are all hiring again, it will be unbelievable. Good for us, a NIGHTMARE if you're a recruiter.

cliff
YIP

PS-The FAA says that by 2011 the domestic pax #s will be up by 26%.
The number of ATP pilots will be flat.
The number of commercial pilots will decline.

How is THIS going to work???

I hope you're right, but as long as the U.S. majors have more applications then people they need to hire, there won't be a shortage in the U.S.

First tier carriers will never have a problem filling seats. They may want better guys (Heck, Delta may even have to look at civilan guys) , but they will always have somebody. It's the soft underbelly of aviation that will be lacking.

I find it funny at times that folks who are newer to this game don't fully recognize the cyclical nature of aviation. It's fest or famine. The "hot" company will furlough or fold. Just remember all those who had it made at Eastern, Pam Am, TWA, and Braniff. Fed Ex and UPS used to be the stepping stones to a better gig, now guys would kill for a job there.