SkyHigh My Friend, If I subscribe to your postings I would say the Sky Is Falling, "no pun intended" but Bro Please be dont with the negative Karma already...

Robert Crandall (ex-AMR CEO) was reported to have said about a pilot shortage: 'There never has been and never will be a pilot shortage.'

There are a number of ways to remedy a pilot 'shortage.'
First, lowering standards. This is the current method being employed.

Second, raise wages. This will bring in more pilots who would otherwise pursue a different career path.

Third, change retirement age upward. I would expect to see this happen should any actual pilot shortage develop; I'd also expect to see this happen as soon as there was upward pressure on wages.

One should also keep in mind that, out of 7415 active pilots at United, 675 (myself included) are on military leave of absence. We are limited to 6 years military leave of absence, although it's unlikely that all of us will stay on mil leave for that long. If working conditions and wages improved considerably at United, I'm sure that you'd see that number get much smaller, further alleviating any perceived pilot shortage.
I'm sure that there are similar percentages on mil leave at the other airlines.

http://www.aviationhs.org/pub/pub.aspx

http://www.aviationuniversity.com/home/highschool.php

It's already started.

MPL is the missing link. Just a matter of time.

Just the news
 

What I do is to present the truth without all the wishful thinking. I can't see as how my efforts to save others can be construed as "negative karma".


SH

High School
 

I took Private Pilot ground school in High School.

SkyHigh

"What I do is to present the truth without all the wishful thinking."

Naw. It's only your truth, from your perspective, based on your life history.

Nobody should think your truth, or what you post here, will necessarily apply to them.

"I can't see as how my efforts to save others..."

Or, you could be discouraging folks who's career might end up like mine rather than yours.

People should hear your story, Sky, as a worst case example. But I find your version of doom and gloom pretty much limited to you. It's not very widespread. And we have a pretty widespread audience.

I hear about this but I instruct with lots of guys that dont find it so easy to get a job with a regional right now. my cousin just passed 1000 tt & 50 multi and he cant get an interview with anyone except Colgan. He has called the other regonals and they say either he needs more multi or dont call us we will call you. there are about 6 other guys here just like him and its not that easy. there was a student that just got hired by mesa with just comm multi but he had an "in". without that competitive mins are still up around 1000/100. They are still turning lots of people away.

Hi!

Have they tried:
Trans States
Great Lakes
Big Sky
Commut Air

Those are the ones I know that may be hiring the lower time guys.

If I was him, I would go with Colgan right away.

Good luck!

cliff
YIP
PS-I'm at USA Jet, and our new Published Mins are 1000/500 for a Falcon FO, however they have hired guys with less. After your buddy flies for about 6 months with Colgan, he might want to try here-better pay than the regionals, and a good stepping stone to the best jobs, if you don't want to stay here (our latest guys have gone to NetJets, SWA, and a good -135 charter company).

At one of my interviews for a Major, the Capt's interviewing me asked if I'd take a job at their feeder and I didn't even hesitate when I said no, didn't even pause for a moment to think about it. When they asked me to explain, I said I have a wife and kids and I'm not taking a huge pay cut for something that "might" happen. If you can sign a paper contract "guaranteeing" something will happen, then I might consider it.


Wonder if Northwest is the airline that asked this....referring to Compass.

Of all the people that say "get out, don't do it", I wonder how many came from the military, or what their other jobs have been outside flying? Having a job outside flying I think puts it into perspective. I currently make more money than a RJ FO, but I'd take a 10K a year cut to fly planes. Any day of the week and twice on sunday. I think pilots should be paid MUCH more, and I would be happy to strike if it were what the union decided to do. Flying has so much responsabilty and skill, no matter what you say, that I don't think anyone flying should be making under 35K a year. I also think you need to do what makes you happy. Why spend a lifetime making decent money if you hate sundays because you have to go to work for five days starting when you wake up? You can love your job and at the same time ask for more money. If I wanted to do something I'd hate but make good money, I'd be in med school or getting my MBA.

Flying an rj for a regional is a joke. requires skill? hardly. Gee, I can get hired at a regional airline these days with hardly any accumulated flight time and no college diploma (oh btw, most professions these days requires grad school). settin' the bar real high aren't we? c'mon, you're not in med school or getting your mba because you wouldn't be able to hack it. I've always been curious why military pilots are a cut above the rest...it's because you actually have to have your ducks in order. I used to breathe airplanes, but when I started my new career a few years ago I realized there were other things in life. Skyhigh, I used to faceoff with you on these forums, but thank you for saving me. 2 years out of college I make more money and have a better QOL then I ever would have had I became a professional pilot.

.......................

There are 2 types on this board.

Those who agree with SkyHigh.

Those who don't........... but will, in the future, just takes time.

Some will not realize what happened until they end up at retirement having spent most of their life away in a hotel, kids grown and moved off, wife gone (said sorry, just nothing left) and nothing for retirement.

Very sad.

On the upside with 65 going through (just a matter of time, no pun int), you will have 5 years less to fret before going west! :)

"c'mon, you're not in med school or getting your mba because you wouldn't be able to hack it."

Glad you know me so well............

"oh btw, most professions these days requires grad school"

but yet most people have a least a masters? So, you're saying pilots are REALLY a cut below the average worker in the U.S.?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:E...nment_copy.jpg

Looks like most jobs DO NOT require a masters, or most people in U.S. would be unemployed. Appears you know just as much about requirements of having most jobs as you do about myself and college grades and other personal achivements. It's amazing I meet people who would not trade it for anything, and some who hate it. I guess its the same as where I work right now. Some people love welding. I hate it. My gf's father loved driving semi. Something I would hate. I guess you have a lot of people who made mistakes and are just stuck becuase they are too stupid to do anything else but fly planes....

"Those who don't........... but will, in the future, just takes time."

Don't count on it.

"There are 2 types on this board."

I think it's more like 2%. 2% agree with you and Sky. Then there are the rest.

"2 years out of college I make more money and have a better QOL then I ever would have had I became a professional pilot."

More power to ya. This job ain't for everybody.

Please don't take this the wrong way, not intended to be inflammatory, ok? But your sentiment seems to be at odds with your bio here:

www.jetcareers.com/content/view/65/132/

In fact you validate my major problem with the career: You miss way too much of the family experience and might not realize it until it's too late. The second big problem: The continued economic slide (with no end in sight) you are highly insulated from. Hard to offer encouragement to tens of thousands of wannabes with only 2 bullet-proof companies to work for. Perhaps it's hard to see that since you are at one of them. Perhaps we could continue this PM wise or while you are catching a free ride to work on my JS while traveling on my dime.

To the clueless Bman
 

Yet you spend your free time on here......................money money money, your not as smart as you think, if you were you would be like me, have your g/f make well into six figures, while you fly for a living.......


Nobody said an Airline Career would be easy, or you would be holding the left seat of a 757 after a year at a regional, get a grip. Life is hard, its not fair, not just the airline Industry. "2 years out of college I make more money blah blah blah" When you realize that your meaningless 9-5 job at some corporate building is not what its cracked up to be, you will come back to these forums and find that most of us "unskilled" regional pilots will be at a major airline, Im sure it wont be easy, but what in life is............

I run into arrogant people like you everynight when I go out in Hoboken, Financial Analysts, traders, bankers..., your all the same you walk and talk like you all make $300,000.00 a year in your entry level C Mercedes, or perhaps A BMW X3 because you can't afford the X5, but maybe one day if you rip enough people off you will be able to roll up to the annual Golf outing in your Range Rover, although at that point you'll be 55 yrs old 300lbs and bald, and your wife will be sleeping around because you pay no attention to her anymore just your ego, which just took a shot because some more aggressive banker whos 20 years your younger just rolled up to the Golf outing with a Porsche GT3 and his hotter younger wife walks right past you not even looking, then you ask yourself was it really worth it? Nobody cares what you do or how much money you make, what matters in life is the people around you that care about you, what you do with yourself on daily basis. Bman you can have the cubicle, all stick to my pathetic regional job that gives me more satisfaction then any office job ever could :)

In the corporate world you are away from your family more than a pilot is. You may still be in the same state in an office building, but you are still away from your wife an kids no matter how you look at it. Pilots get anywhere from 12-16 days off a month (full days). Calculate out the time off from a typical corporate schedule (about 10 hrs day to be conservative), and compare it to the time off as a pilot. Regardless of what anyone says, I personally would rather make peanuts and enjoy my life, then get the "Sunday Night Blues" every weekend and live a miserable life. Not to mention, I hate to break it to everyone most people in the business world cap out at around 80K (middle management positions). Just like their is no guarantee to get to a Major airline, there is not guarantee that you will ever move up in the corporate world. In aviation at least you know your hourly wage and QOL is going up when you get seniority. In corporate america, you can be at the same position for years.

What I don't get is all the pilots nowadays are standing around scratching their heads about how automated and easy airplanes are today like it came out of left field. I mean give me a break! You couldn't see that airplanes eventually would become more automated and safer throughout the years?

Do I think we should all be paid less because of it? No I don't. Not by a long shot considering we still have to have all the same ratings today to be an airline pilot as you needed back in the Golden Years. Stop voting in nonsense contracts that attract the low time morons as well and we wouldn't have airlines lowering mins.

Just as a side note if you base your decisions on SkyHigh's posts alone you are a complete dolt. I've met some pretty whiney, pessimistic folks in my day but he caps the list. Just because he couldn't stomach the business he feels the need to bag on it here like the retarded kid who can't hang with the cool group but is always lurking around them like a pest. Ya know Edison failed miserably 1000 times before he came up with his revolutionary invention. If he had the same pathetic mentality as SkyHigh, Mr. The Sky Is Falling would be crying about all this on parchment paper with a scribe. I for one love my job and am glad to be here and will fight like a pit bull for better wages and QOL......and no I don't work at any of the "bulletproof" airlines.

Wow..........your mastery of the English language certainly leaves something to be desired. I hope your "high paying" job doesn't allow"s" you to speak"s" in front of important people"s" with such a poor mastering of our language.......:eek:

He is obviously Clueless regarding the business world. Most jobs do not require a Master's degree at entry level. A Masters degree is something you get once you have experience under your belt in order to potentially move you to that next level. The fact is every industry has its positives and negatives, and nothing is guaranteed anywhere you go. I would rather enjoy my life, with the potential of making it to a Major than sit behind a desk the rest of my life. I am only 2 years out of college, and I hate the business world. Anyone who says they enjoy their job in the corporate world is a very small minority.

Well said!

I have something to add. I do agree that pilots are underpaid in this day and age, however, I also believe that pilots were overpaid back in the day. Whenever you enter an industry (i.e. business, aviation, etc) you start out at the bottom. You then attempt to work your way up the ladder. The benefits that pilots have compared to business careers is seniority. Once you get to a specified seniority level or number, you know you are going to upgrade. In the business world this just isnt the case. Their is no such thing as seniority. The fact is you might move up to a major, and you might not. Competition is in every industry to move into covetted positions. I think to many people make "generalizations" about what the industry is like. Everyone has a different life and conditions surrounding them, as well as career goals. So to make generalizations that the aviation industry is sooooo bad and is the worst career move is just plain ignorant. Goals change, and goals arent the same for everyone. For example, my goal is to eventually fly for Fed-X or Delta (as of right now), but things change and so do my goals. If I have a great QOL at a regional airline making 80K a year I will be happy. That is what matters to me the most, being happy. The fact is people most people who drive around Mercedes Benz and BMW may make alot of money, but really cant afford those vehicles. Truly wealthy people do not show off their wealth. Read a book called the millionaire next door, and you will see you dont have to make 200k a yr to retire comfortably. Being a pilot is a great career (yes, it has its positives and negative just like anything else), but you get to travel and fly a plane for a living. Only 1 in a 100,000 people can say that. Not to mention, you dont bring your work home with you.

not only that...BMAN is a USNA reject...... and 18 months ago according to his own posts on this forum he was in school... so which is it... school or job.....

"or while you are catching a free ride to work on my JS while traveling on my dime."

You want to rephrase that so I have a clue what you are talking about?

For the record, I didn't get to be an MVP gold at Alaska by jumpseating. I do jumpseat, but I bet 75-80% of my travel on AS is as a paying passenger. I'm pushing 250K unused miles in the AS mileage plan.

Check your PM

I am hardly a USNA reject. I am a proud former member of the Brigade of Midshipmen. I left for medical reasons. I wish I could show you the letters of support I received from my fellow classmates and my company officers. To this day I speak with them and see them regularly. If you were familiar with the USNA family, "rejects" aren't treated in such a way.

Also, I should have been more specific...I'm in my second year out of college...I graduated in may ought-six. Sorry for not being clear on that point.

Cheers!

If oil speculators continue to push the price through the roof then massive consolidation is a comin'. With the consolidation fewer aircraft will be in the air and fewer seats. Hence there will be fewer pilots. There is no way this industry can continue in it's present state selling tickets at 1970's prices. In the future let's face it, poor folk won't be able to fly.

I should have stoped reading the posts on this thread a long time ago. Im so mad at myself right now.