This needs to go to every major U.S. periodical pronto!! Well done. Thank you for eloquently summarizing the ills of the airline profession. You should make a brochure and put this at every Riddle, UND, flight school, etc.

A quick add note for the military section: "As a military pilot, be ready to spend MANY MANY hours doing menial non-flying queep."

 

I tend to agree with you BWI. Many people think that when this Age 65 retirement finally kicks in, we're suddenly going to have a shortage again. The problem with that logic, in my opinion, is that BEFORE we went to Age 65, there was a huge oversupply of pilots. Age 65 is just making the pilot oversupply situation GROSSLY worse for the next 3 years. When retirements start again in a little less than 3 years, we'll go from the "gross oversupply" we have now to a mere huge "oversupply" of pilots. I won't believe there is a pilot shortage until entry level wages for flight instructors and regional airline pilots persistently remain high enough to cover the tremendous financial investment we're forced to make. 20 bucks an hour (i.e. annual salaries in the 20K range) is not anywhere near that required figure IMO.

I just got a PM from a guy who wrote a narrative about becoming a military pilot but I haven't had a change to read it yet. If you could expand upon that last sentence a little bit for me, I'll add that information. I've heard it before, but I wasn't familiar enough with the details to put it on the website.

 

Well written, glad you put the time into this. A friend of mine was asked to come talk to her old high school for career day. She told them she couldn't recommend her job and thus couldn't attend. For the average pilot it is a dismal lifestyle. You really have to fight to find a good company, a niche something that makes it manageable.

 

Uh...that can be said with about any career.

The average pilot does not have a dismal lifestyle....that individual just has a dismal life.

 

To sum it up...START young, go to college/ get a 4 year degree, stay out of trouble, IE: no DUI's ect, and do the best you can to make smart choices in companies....the rest is pure luck.

 

These guys all have 12 year commitments. I don't think most are going to for the padded resume. At the 12 year point most are Majors making $10K/ month and taking home 9 of it. At 12 they are eligible for 25K a year extra. Taxable versus take home is way better than most any airline. BTW, only 8 years more and your done. Your point is understood though. Not arguing. Just saying, airlines are a tough sell right now. The money is not good enough until you make Capt.

 

"smart choices in companies". I won't give the laundry list of what were once good companies and are now defunct. Many guys/gals whom were quite competitive in experience once worked for said Major airlines. Ask them how they feel about the business model that once was and is now changing at the expense of the profession. I agree with you in part and consider myself an optimist. But, don't bury your head in the sand and act like it is all Pollyanna.

 

I agree, stay active and get the retirement.

 

The "non-flying queep" as you put it is the smart thing to do. Gaining additional leadership abilities and skill sets diversifies your ability to go further in a career and expand your horizons. We need to be diversified in our skills just like your stock portfolio needs to be diversified, thus enabling us to weather the storm of economic downturns. FWIW, most of my additional duties were far from menial.

 

Great page! From a 2nd year regional FO still on public assistance, you have to make sure this gets out to anyone searching the internet for this info.