Approach1260

If you know a way to avoid regionals then I know several thousand pilots who'd love to know the secret.

In the meantime yes pilots choosing to go to regionals that pay them more and treat them better puts pressure on the lower quality regionals to improve in order to stay competitive with hiring.

The regional model is pretty ****, but it's the model we've got until something drastic changes.

rickair7777

No. Regionals are not paying more to incentivize noble millenials with high standards to become airline pilots. People become airline pilots (ie invest the training time and cost) mainly to pursue major airline wages (especially right now).

Regionals are paying more because they have to outbid EACH OTHER for noobs. A combination of sustained growth and retirements caused demand to outstrip the available supply. Seller's market.

Regionals exist to force pilots to UNDERBID each other at the entry-level which is normally a buyer's market. Regionals are just getting a taste of their own medicine (at least for a while).

rickair7777

Remember that. If you've never had a real job (non-pilot) it's easy to fixate on little gripes, but most of us have it better off than most of our college classmates, in more ways than one.

Entry-level pilots have more opportunity than any time in history.

Even as a member of the lost gen I make a point of being thankful for what I have. I have friends who are envious (in a friendly way), so I try not get too upset about the nasty rubbery chicken in the crew meal. Just call the FA's and ask for something from the 1C galley and keep enjoying the view.

WesternSkies

Your point counters your previous point. Exactly the region model has largely had a captive work force AND still does. Delta cutting 9e would have been another blip in whipsaw history.

The entire country has a tight labor market. We have benefited by the strong economy, retirements, airlines hiring at full capacity for YEARS, the tech-boom drawing smart kids into that career, the internet disseminating information on pay, qol and “a day in the life” in near real time and finally 1500 hours was the nail that prohibited airlines from using experience requirements like a workforce accumulator. The funny part about crying about 1500 is that R-ATP neutered it. I know most of you can’t imagine being excited for a regional to announce that after years they plan to open hiring again. 1500 hours has almost never in the history of what we are doing here been remotely competitive to even get an interview.

You think the fleeing of 9e lifted wages for us? Pilots fleeing to the bottom of the next pilot list is exactly how this whipsaw works! The sum of the entire environment is the only reason why it backfired for Delta and eventually United (xjt-> commutair transfer)
You ain’t pretty.

captande

Funny how someone always brings it back here. Sh**ing on the next generation coming up. I fail to see what’s wrong with wanting a better return on investment. Should we take it to “well if the Nobel boomers didn’t crash the market in ‘08 and drive up tuition with their greed we wouldn’t need to be paid more”. No, leaving the industry better than you found it, that’s what we all should be striving for. Doesn’t matter if your 64 or 21, we should be helping each other out.

ShyGuy

There was no organized movement for new pilots in terms of not taking jobs. The main driving force has been the 1500 hr ATP rule. Rescind that and watch what happens. The bonuses will disappear and pay would come down as airlines go for 250-500 hr pilots again.

galaxy flyer

And those 250-500 hour pilots would gladly take the positions as F/Os in the hope of winning the big one—a seat st DL, UA, AA.

GF

ShyGuy

They would. I was one. Crazy looking back, but it was what it was before 2008.

SonicFlyer

Maybe in the extreme short term, but not over the long term. There is a global shortage. Eliminating the 1500 hour rule (which should be done) will only empty the buffer once but it won't take too long for it to slow back to a trickle again.

vessbot

No organized movement is necessary for the effect, any more than an organized movement of people refusing to order Big Macs until the price reaches a certain point. It's an aggregate of a huge number of individuals making their own decisions for themselves in their own lives but under the common circumstance. But it adds up to something that seems organized.

I, for one, had completely written off the reginals as something I would ever do, for a number of years, until my thinking was turned around by the industry more than doubling the pay.