Has anyone heard anything about SkyWest having trouble getting Sim time for newbies?

I'm still waiting for the "pilot shortage" to kick in. Been sitting on the side lines for almost a year now without much of a peep.

Yes, that's what I have been doing for several years. For most flight schools, the pay to these people is also criminal - mainly because the student base has dried up with the financing. I remember managing a flight school during the last big hiring rush, when good flight instructors were hard to find. I would rather make $22,000 at a regional than manage 15 brand new CFIs (that will leave in three months) again. Working 12+ hr days, usually 6 days a week and bringing that stress home to my family is not worth the abysmal salary. :rolleyes:

Even if they started me at 40K I'm having serious doubts about leave my non flying aviation job. Heck my starting base salary is 45k not counting commission and I'm only 2 months into my job. I might never make 150K a year like a major pilot would, but consistent 65-75K a year for a life time might be more than 25k, 30k, etc etc as you slowly progress up.

Here is a thread on airliners.net referencing the foreign carriers having the same problems:

Pilot Shortage At Swiss — Civil Aviation Forum | Airliners.net

I'm not an expert on anything, but wouldn't the ever increasing price of oil along with the fiscal problems of the states have at least some negative impact on demand for air travel in the not-too-distant future? It just seems that high energy prices and sluggish, at best, economic conditions don't seem to be going away any time soon.

They'll hire some high-timers too, I received an email from Chuck Colgan today after sending a resume through their site.

I WAS able to get an interview with them back in April, but ONLY because I knew a guy there. Now, I'm sure they're way more desparate.

Oversease the following airlines are having difficulty hiring:
KAL
All the airlines in China (except Cathay)
Emirates
Qatar
LAN
Many places in Asia, the ME and Africa.
Turkish
etc., etc.

Mins are on their way down...but who dare be the one to go back to 250 wet?

Itll happen so to grandfather enough newbies in before 1500 is in place. Otherwise they will have to be some serious reform to reel in those higher flight time pilots to right seat regional life.

Well, well, well...

Here I am perusing the Airline Pilot Central Forum after being out of the industry for 10 years. All of a sudden there's talk of a shortage of professional airline pilots. How exciting!!:D

Hmmm...Maybe I should leave my steady job with great pay, benefits and a fabulous retirement to return to the skies as a professional airline pilot. I have the ATP, type rating and a couple thousand hours of 121 flight time. I'd have a good shot!!;)

Let's see... $18,000/year (maybe), used and abused on Ready Reserve, Commute on my days off, fax a document to crew scheduling proving that my father-in-law died, pray daily not to hear the "F" word (furlough)...

Nevermind!:mad:

Not much has changed, or will change. There will be a turnover of pilots, as many in the world retire. And there will be plenty of eager beavers lined up to work for next to nothing, and schools pumping them with wonderful thoughts of traveling the world as a high paid A380 captain.

Same old, same old.

That's where you are wrong. The US isn't pumping out Americans only foreigners.

Note that I said "will be eager beavers lined up".

Today, foreigners in training. Sure. Very few people who can actually research the career would choose to pump a lot of time or money in it now.

But, in a few years, should there even be a REAL hint of a shortage of people who won't work for $18,000/yr, they'll line up... to work for $18k.

Heck, we'll have Indians, Chinese, and Russian pilots here.

I don't see some of these places reject applicant's right off the bat yet they can't fill classes. Eagle is the one that comes to mind.

That's funny being that chuck Colgan is no longer part of the company and hiring is handled by Mesaba now

It's coming, who do you all think will be the first? Me? I'm going with Mesa, odds are 2 to 1 -what say you?

Eagle is glute backwards too.

We have the same amount sims we always have. It might be that the sims are getting used more for recurrent training, since you have more sim sessions with AQP.

You won't just walk in to a 121 carrier after being out of this biz for ten years, trust me on this one. The only reason I may have a snowballs chance is the fact that I teach flying in order to stay current.

Oil price is the real variable...it could kill the economy and the career hopes of most junior airline pilots.

I stopped flying years ago for about seven years, at the time I had 7000-8000 hours. I got current on my own dime and was hired at Eagle. After 9 months I was hired at America West and a month after that hired at United. Hasn't always been a great run, but it was easy for me to get back into it after a long hiatus.

I've heard they aren't making applicants with prior 121 time do the sim? Anyone else know different?

I found it odd as well, he's 84 years old, just using the name.

Where would that be? I doubt the FAA would sign off on that. At my airline we once had a program for pilots who had significant (as in thousands of hours) of CRJ-200 time to get an 'Abbreviated' program, which reduced the number of sims by a few, but it was not a huge cutback either.

Or do you mean sim check on an interview....?? My bad if that's what you meant.

The sim check during the interview. Flightsim X on a 50" plasma does the same thing.

That's Chuck Colgan Sr.
Chuck Colgan Jr was the one doing recruiting and as far as I knew was still doing it but is that not the case now?

There'd be a lot more recently-retired military guys willing to do it as a stepping stone to a major.

I could actually meet my financial obligations (with my retirement added to that pay) and would seriously consider it.

Right now, I won't consider it at all. Can't even begin to make ends meet with a mortgage, bills and two kids a few years from college, even WITH the military retirement thrown in.

RAH called me two days ago for an interview (I had applied to Frontier before I retired and RAH had bought them) and I haven't (and won't) even bother returning their call.

I meant the sim check for an interview at Skywest. Sorry, I should have clarified...

They could fill some classes if they got rid of that cognitive test bs. Dont really see the point in those things.

Here are some facts:

-RAH's minimums have made it so that the company has been unable to fill the targeted pilot vacancies, just ask folks there.
-Skywest's new minimums are 1000 Hours "Preferred"
-Eagle is hiring at 800 Hours
-Many flight schools are going under because the demand for pilot training has greatly abated.
-Sallie Mae and many others are no longer offering loans for professional flight training.
-In spite of the new law requiring minimums to be at 1500 hours and an ATP in 2 years, minimums have gone down presently.
-It seems as though the regionals are trying to get their people on the line now.
-Age 65 will be forcing a large block of pilots to retire very soon.
-Many airlines have once again begun to hire in significant numbers.

I own, fly, and maintain my own Beech Baron and fly on a regular basis to keep IFR currency (100+ hrs. a year). I'm not saying I'm prime beef to the Regional Airline recruiters by any means...just trying to make a point.
I don't think I would be willing to sit right seat at a Regional for 2 or 3 years until upgrade anyways. I don't know why more aspiring shiny jet drivers don't go to a cargo operation like Ameriflight, grab their 1000 turbine PIC in a BE1900 and start tossing out apps. to the majors. Single pilot, IFR, white knuckle flying seems like it would be worth something to a major airline...a nice change from the 500th RJ captain they've interviewed.
If I seriously considered a second run at airline flying then I would jump that way first and save the 2 to 3 years of spinning my wheels sucking up SIC time. Just Sayin':cool:

About 475 of the 500 RJ captains you refer to have this white knuckle, single pilot experience. I fly with a lot of folks who have interesting backgrounds, and now they also have thousands of hours of jet time in the 121 environment too.

As to what stands out to the majors? Military time and people who have strong internal connections are the primary ones who have gotten jobs at the legacy carriers since I have worked in the US. Very, very few people are just getting calls without some kind of connection. Thousands of hours of PIC are no longer enough. But that'll change.

Most RJ CA's hired pre-2005, and almost certainly pre-01, at least myself and the ones I know, had to have that "twin turbine single pilot white knuckle flying" just to get a job at a regional back then...so I think the majors will see the time spent flying prior to a 121 gig just fine and not be bored by the last 8000 regional hours :)
But as you know those were back in the day when we walked in the snow barefoot uphill both ways to school...

oops Saab2000 types faster than me :)

HaHaHa...Ouch!!

So...solution. Go fly boxes at night and hang out in the crew parking lot at your nearest major airport during the day passing out your resume to flight crews as they walk to the shuttle bus. "Uh...uh...excuse me...Captain?"

Think this would work?!

You're right, mooney. Boy times sure have changed since those days. I started in 'the 90's at an airline that was based in NM, treated their pilots like sub-human waste, paid below the poverty level and rhymes with Mesa...which I think is Spanish for Sh%$!:mad:

But, they did require over 1000 hrs. total time and didn't bend the rule unless you were a grad of their ab-initio program. That was just to get into the Beech 1900D!!

I commute all the time on major airlines' airplanes and have lots of contact. I once jokingly asked what it takes to get hired at that particular company and the 26 y/o F/O looks over his shoulder and without irony or blinking said to me, "Oh, your dad has to work here". And went back to looking at something else. I don't think he was joking because there's no way he had more than a couple years, tops, at a regional given what he was flying and when this happened and how young he was.

Anyway, I also carry guys from United, Delta, AA, US Airways, SWA, FedEx, UPS, etc. on my jumpseat. I've been asking for tips for years. All have been helpful and friendly but in the end it's a real crapshoot and even though hiring has happened in short bursts in the past 7 years I've been in the US flying (my previous life had me flying in Europe) there has not been consistent movement in large numbers at most US majors since 9/11 - except backwards, sadly.

I do believe that this will change in the next 12-24 months though.

But as noted, airplanes need fuel and those prices might become very volatile very soon given the instability of many Middle Eastern regimes where the oil is sourced.

We shall see.....

Probably because the 500 RJ Captains have already proven they can handle airline style training programs, line checks, company BS, and still get the job done... while the pilot you suggest, may in all actuallity be the "better pilot" he/she has zero experience operating in an airline environment. The RJ CA's are known product, the pilot like you are describing could be good, or just lucky... who knows. All in all, the 121 Hiring people are more comfortable hiring somebody with similar training and requirements as their own. Does that mean they don't hire freight dogs, no... it simply means the RJ guys are a known product, and the cargo guys not as much. Besides, they don't want guys like you anyway; don't believe me? apply and see.

They want to suck up as many of the low time kids as they can, while they can.... once they can't, they'll start hiring all those furloughed and experienced guys.

Which Baron ya got... I owned an A55 and an E55 back in the day... both great machines.

I have a 56TC Baron...the one with the 380 hp monsters on the wings. It's actually a 55 fuselage with Duke wings, engines and landing gear.

I'm a police detective with my own plane in the hangar. No plans to come back to the airlines. Although, I loved flying the line.

When I look back at my flying career, I like to think it was like this:

http://www.wellcultured.com/wp-conte...if-you-can.jpg

But in reality it was like this:

http://blog.timesunion.com/derosier/...erosier100.jpg

I sure hope to see another special on NBC about how regionals are still hiring low time pilots. Turn the attention away from crashpads and show that airlines haven't really learned anything. Raise pay and you might attract better qualifed applicants.