(Teamsters) Looming pilot shortage is a myth
 

Not the best source perhaps but still interesting.
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Union Says Lack Of Pay And Respect Leading To Pilot Shortage, Number Of Qualified Pilots Under New Rules [is] Not A Primary Factor...

(02/17/2014, Aero News) Pilots who fly for one of the nation's largest regional airline companies say it's not a lack of qualified pilots, but rather a lack of pay and respect that's grounding airplanes and could cause a ripple effect in the nation's air transportation system. As an example, the union said Republic Airways Holdings announced this week that it would operate 27 fewer airplanes and expects to hire almost half the number of pilots anticipated in 2014 due a lack of candidates who meet new FAA rules mandating 1,500 hours of experience. However, the issues are more complex according to International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 357 which represents the 3000+ pilots who fly for the Indianapolis-based airline. "Regional carriers as a whole need to offer better pay and work rules to attract new pilots,” said Local 357 President Craig Moffatt. "The lack of a competitive contract here at Republic contributes to poor quality of life with sub-standard pay to boot. This, in turn, leads qualified pilots to look elsewhere."

The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or contract was ratified in 2003 and became amendable in October of 2007. Pilots are covered by the Railway Labor Act, so the contract does not expire. Negotiations began in April 2007 and entered mediation in 2011. Local 357 pilots have been without a contractual raise or an adjustment of work rules to reflect industry and economic changes for over six years—and counting. Regional carriers are a key link in the nation's air-transportation system. Approximately half of the nation's domestic flights are outsourced to regional airlines rather than flown by a larger carrier. Republic Airways Holdings owns and operates Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America Airlines which in turn fly for American, United, Delta and US Airways.

Im a pilot reaching ATP mins and I'm keeping my hat out of this ring. I'll consider regionals once the dust settles...which may be never.

You'd be wise to. Regionals are a career move for anyone just getting in, and it's not a sustainable one.

I ended my search for regionals a while back, right about when hiring picked up. I realized I had friends who had been at regionals for 4 years with no upgrade or job prospects in sight.

Older generations expect us to work in an internship forever now, I guess.

As long as we already control everything else about airlines, why not go full overbearing government and change the labor rules? There shouldn't be a way for companies like Great Lakes to create salary systems so people make 4 dollars an hour living life on the road. Unless I don't understand the pay system, because I don't work for an airline, they are allowed to not pay a 121 pilot who is at work for hours, when the door isn't closed?

Yes, that is how it works - not just at Lakes but everywhere.

The hourly rate isn't for every hour on duty, its for every hour of flying (however that is defined).

No we don't but circumstances beyond all of our reach has left all of us with the game we have and the uniform you were issued. I suggest having many back-up plans in which many young pilots do not!

Most don't have back up plans because they have spent over 100k getting a four year degree and all of the ratings required and are generally straped for cash to try to do anything else.
Now they cannot qualify for another loan to get another degree in something outside of aviation.
Its a sad vicious cycle that the universities and flight schools keep promising the "moon" to incoming students and in the end you are saddled with huge debt, making 22k a year with no upgrade in sight, and away from your family over half of the year. But hey your an RJ pilot!!!
I have had a few high school teachers ask me to come and speak to students about being a pilot as a career choice. I certainly don't candy coat it and make it sound as rosy as it was portrayed to me as a child. I know times have changed in the last 20 years in aviation. By the end of my talk, and the Q&A portion most students dont think that becoming a pilot is as glamorous as it once was.
The amount of sacrafice is huge in the hopes you can get on with a legacy, Fedex, corporate, or a carrier that you enjoy flying for with out being burnt out in the process.
Good Luck to future aviation students. This industry will kick your @$$. Hold on for the ride!

True. We built this plan with 9/11, oil price speculation, an increase in retirement age, and multiple mergers just to be sure you young bucks don't get into the left seat of a Boeing. :rolleyes:

There's some truth to that. The baby boomers got on board and pulled up the ladder.

You think CFIs were the ones that drove the retirement age increase?

Corporations aren't greedy, baby boomers are. They made wealth and voted for themselves unsustainable benefits on the backs of future generations, while selling the country's wealth overseas.

I don't want this to be one of those threads, but since you called me out..;)

Who's supposed to pay for all the six figure government pensions? The children of baby boomers didn't choose that, baby boomers did.

It's a little unrealistic to have a backup plan when it takes so much just to get qualified for a professional job now.


"I became an ATP-MEL and a Doctor because I didn't know which would work out first"

Haha...

Millennials: We Suck and We're Sorry - YouTube