While boarding my CRJ700, a passenger said, "This is a pretty small plane for such a long flight". I said, "This is what you get for paying those cheap fares. Pay more and the planes will get bigger".

I was in a bad mood, but he saw my point. People don't shop by airline, they shop by price...and that is the root cause of our problem. We are all, pilots and non-pilots, guilty of it.

 

He who pays the bills will have the power.

Judging by the comments, it is obvious the sentiment of the public. However, there were some valid points made. We already know that pilots are a simple line item on the expense side of an income statement. In an effort to maximize rate of return, how will increasing ticket prices lead to greater pilot compensation? Will raising doctor salaries reduce medical malpractice instances?

Pilots have proven that they'll more or less work for anything (As a group. Certainly the seasoned guys will draw their line in the sand, but another pilot salivating over logging multi engine time will be there to take over). There is NO (I repeat, NO) evidence that would hold any water directly linking pilot pay to crash figures. Certainly, experience could potentially be linked to a greater degree, but even that would be difficult to do. This latest Q captain had 3,500 hours of flight time - this is over twice the ATP limit. How do you convince a panel that lack of experience and low pay will reduce accidents? Shaw's commuting across the country during red eye hours could be a convincing start, but that will likely just result in lessened freedom regarding commuting. Perhaps it can be done, but I am not holding my breath.

Remember that business OWNERS are the ones who require returns. Businesses do not exist for the primary benefit of the employees (unless it is employee owned). In the case of Hulas Air and other privately owned companies, any increase in operating profit will merely bypass the pilots and work its way into the hands of the owners, save for a legally enforced mandatory pilot wage floor. If a publicly held company, you are going to be accountable to the shareholders. Savvy investors will look down that income statement and look at earnings per share and will potentially put their money elsewhere if the return is insufficient. These people are not pilots and do not understand the logistics of flying in this system - return on investment is EVERYTHING.

He who pays the bills, has the control.

I think the best comment on there is the one about how air travel for the common man, perhaps just isn't a viable business model. Some seem to be able to make it, but by and large, it does seem to be a tough going for all involved.

 

Honestly, this is partially ALPA's fault.

Ask the average joe if he things assembly line workers at the Chrysler plant make enough money. I bet that average joe will say no. The UAW is absolutely spectacular at managing perception. Those line workers make a TON for the job they do, but any time they picket, they are out there in their flannel shirts explaining how awful management is and how poor they are.

ALPA is absolutely terrible at managing perception. If I were ALPA, I'd have posters up all over airports with a picture of a regional guy eating ramen or any of the other billion REAL images that could be posted to make people understand that their pilots are overworked, underpaid, probably tired, and most likely malnourished.

 

The only thing that is going to help pilots make better wages and require more experience is limiting the supply of pilots into the work force by making it a harder certificate and qualification to achieve in the future. This will have to be done through the FAA regulatory system and ALPA. Now is the time to start this battle with the current political environment in place.

The old rules date back way to far and are way out dated for todays complex air transport system. The ATP should require a degree and the hour levels for the professional certificates should increase and require more ground schooling that teach better, weather, systems, aviation law, regs, and of course aviation economics so the student elects to do something else for a career!

 

As much as this would tick a ton of upcoming pilots off ... I completely agree. Too many pilots are getting away with barely passing checkrides ... moving on to the next certificate/rating, and doing it again. I know that there's not a whole lot involved in the private pilot certificate ... but honestly, how many of the thousands of pilots who just obtain their private pilot license with 50-70 hours of flight time will be able to handle an engine failure in a single engine aircraft with passengers on board safely?

We need to make obtaining the licenses and ratings of becoming a professional pilot much more challenging and demanding. We professional pilots work damn hard for our money, and the simple rule of supply and demand takes over.

 

I sent the following to all my contacts:

(Copy of the article)


Recently in congressional hearings, the leaders of the FAA and NTSB admitted there are two levels of safety: one at the major airlines (American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, United, etc.) and a lower level at many of the the "regional" airlines (the airlines which operate the "Express" and "Connection" flights for the majors: American Eagle, Express Jet, Colgan Air, and dozens of others).

The FAA is talking about, and appears to be making some changes to narrow the gap. Additionally, there is a bill in congress that would improve safety at all airlines and help bring the regional up to the same level as the majors. That bill, H.R. 3371: Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009, would require ALL PILOTS to have a minimum of 1500 hours and an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate (currently Captains are only required to have the Certificate, First Officers need only 210-250 flight hours and a Commercial Pilot Certificate). Additionally, the bill would require improvements in pilot training, better access of pilot applicant's FAA and training records by airlines, establishment of a mentor program pairing senior pilots with new hires, and all airlines to establish certain safety and reporting programs.

The pilots support the bill.

In spite of potential higher expenses, the Regional Airline Association, the lobby for dozens of regional airlines, has supported the bill.

To date, the only lobby to come out against H.R.3371 has been the Air Transport Association who represents the major airlines including American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, and United. Nearly all the improvents the bill seeks are already implemented at the majors. So why would they oppose it? Cost. The major airlines subcontract much of their flying to regional (depending on the major, about half of all flights are operated by regionals). Typically, the regional that wins the contract is the lowest bidder. As a result, some of the regionals save money by reducing training to bare minimums, paying lower wages (driving away hire quality applicants), and not implementing as many or any of the saftey programs the majors already have. If ALL the regionals are forced to implement the improvements, subcontract prices will rise and the majors will lose money.

So what can each of us do? Contact your representatives and ask them to support H.R. 3371. In the mean time, when you buy an airline ticket, insist the company operating the flight is the same as the name on the ticket. On many of the airline websites, the fine print will tell what company is actually operating the flight. Note that Expedia.com does NOT show the operator, but Travelocity.com does. The only major that does ALL of its own flying is Southwest.


Finnaly, a word about flight crew pay. Consider the hourly rates for US Airways flight 1549. Each of the passengers paid:

Captain Sullenburger about $1 per hour
First Officer Skiles about 60 CENTS per hour
and the flight attendants (the men and women who guided passengers out of the aircraft after landing in the Hudson) earn about 35 cents per hour.


Thanks for your attention,


Maybe if we ALL let our friends know, there may be a change.

 

If you strongly feel this way, perhaps you should try getting involved and making your ideas known...instead of posting them on a forum, where they do nothing. I don't think it's as easy as putting posters up in airports...but people should know. Remember that ALPA (at least locally) is a group of your co-workers trying to make things better...if you've got good ideas, share!

 

I really dislike the "you get what you pay for" argument. Passengers have no idea how airlines work or how much pilots are paid. They just assume that there is a level of safety dictated by the FAA and that the pilots are paid a fair amount. They really don't have the ability or time to research who's flying their flight and whether that airline is good or not. That's why the FAA was formed in the first place, was to make sure the public would be safe!

Instead of just telling people to buy expensive tickets we should try and educate the public on the pilot profession and push for higher safety and pay standards.

Perhaps when they buy their tickets they should publish how much the crew will be making on that flight? Maybe then they'll think twice about that cheap-o flight? Probably not.

 

I've shared my ideas with my ALPA MEC, but they have no control over the large scale marketing strategy at ALPA national. My beef is not and has never been with my MEC.

I have also shared these ideas with ALPA national. I got a response about how busy they were with safety agenda's and CREWpass. Seriously, we all know how highly ALPA national prioritizes regional issues. It's very easy to put the blame on me for not sharing my ideas, but at the national level, lets be honest, its not my union, especially because I'm furloughed.

I also understand that it will take more than posters. However, I'm sure that ALPA pays for marketing, and those people understand what it would take.

 

I told my landlord that I am an airline pilot and he was very impressed that I am living so far below by means. He even offered to sell me his building!
Seriously though, I read somewhere that even if you “pay an unsafe pilot more, you still have an unsafe pilot”. So as much as I want to get paid more, that is not entirely the answer.
my 2 cents...