Just my $.02, but I don't see any politician touching the RLA. This would potentially cause some union strikes thereby affecting the their constituents. No matter how much money or large the unions get, the general public's perception will continue to win. I agree the RLA needs to be changed, should have been with deregulation. But that change will need to come from somewhere else besides the political system.

How do you propose to change the RLA outside the political system? I'm at a loss to think of one. By it's very nature the RLA would have to be modified or replaced by an Act of Congress. (double entendre intended!:D)

Denny

Hopefully it won't take 12 years for someone to accumulate the proper certificates/ratings to get into the airline world (training only - I'm not necessarily referring to instructing, Part 135 flying, timebuilding, etc). On the other hand, with the tuition/board/flight fees that a lot of universities are charging these days, it's quite feasible to pay more than $200,000 for a 4 year degree including flight training. Is that the only way to go? Absolutely not. But for those that do go that route (and even a lot of those that don't) it can still take decades to pay off those loans.

Keep in mind a Doctor once he is off residency will see thier income rise throughout their career. It will not drop, even if they change jobs. Not the same for an airline pilot. Another thing to note is that no one can go and simply get their license in 0 to 90 days, unlike the fastpaced programs that exist for becoming a commercial pilot. The more harder and expensive it is to get your ratings the less people will want to do it. That's what you want if you want to see your certs to be worth anything. if everyone can get a comm lic it isn't worth crap.

I have no idea why people keep comparing pilots to doctors. When you don't show the true woes of the industry you get the starry-eyed shiny jet kid running to get into the rightseat. Hopefully with all the lights on the problems in the industry in the last two years the SJS people will think twice beforing starting training... thats a good thing for everyone who already flies for a living. Supply and demand.

From the same starting point (18 years old) it takes at least 25 years to become a major airline captain. And the cost to get there in training and below market wages working your way up is way more than $200K.

This gave me a chuckle, it implies that if pilots were loose people of color and democrats things would be better.:D

Regardless of the imaginary powers we attribute to various unions and labor laws, the only really important law is supply and demand, along with a business plan that makes money over the long haul.

Way, way, way too much common sense. ;)

You're right. Why should a politician back you up? You're just a compliant union pilot who gripes about some aspect of an ancient law that's still in use. But why fix it if it ain't broken?

Clearly, the pain of RLA is not bad enough. When pilot unions decide that it's enough and call a general strike and damn the RLA... it'll get ugly, but that's probably THE ONLY way you'll ever get rid of it.

This website is for Airline Pilots, not office boys who wish they were Airline Pilots. Please go to wwww.cubicle-residents-who-wish-they-were-airline-pilots.com and post until your heart is content.

Thank you in advance.

Carl

Ha. Nice one Carl! I almost typed in the URL just to see where it would lead me :)