i believe they will get mainline seniority numbers out of flight school, and the mainline will just regulate the flow to what they need for feed or main, as well as institute a "C" scale of pay. Nobody will ***** cause at least they know someday they will get the big jet...even if its 20 yrs down the line.

Maybe college graduates will need an agent and there will be a draft :p

With a "C scale" they will need food stamps and a cardboard box/residence allowance.

Supply and demand for pilots is the only thing that is going to bring wages up in this industry, it'll do leaps and bounds more than picketing and negotiating and flight bag stickers ever will.

Our job needs to be to make sure they don't figure out..

A way to increase supply... raising the age limit, decreasing the hour requirements, etc

A way to decrease demand... single pilot, loosened rest regulations, outsourcing to foreign carriers, etc


If we do these two things, everything else, from pay to scope to retirement to benefits to... etc... will take care of itself. Hopefully the major unions can figure this out before we screw it all up.

Pay them and they will come

Large aviation universities (ERAU...) have been sponsoring H1-B visas for flight instructors for quiet some time now.

So it's all been very hush-hush?

Not really. It's perfectly legal. The universities petition to the Department of Labor clearly stating the lack of workforce in that particular field. H1-Bs are valid for three years, renewable once. It takes 3-5 years for an adjustment of status to a green card, necessary for one to apply at a regional. So universities get at least a 5 years commitment from the CFIs needing to go through this process. They can petition for work permits only if they can demonstrate that there are not enough US citizens or permanent residents to fill the spots, which has been the case lately.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So where are US citizens going to build up their time? 250 to 1500 hrs (for ATP) takes some time. I would have thought that ERAU would have more than enough US citizen grads to fully staff their CFI needs.