Loan Forgiveness
 

Many teachers and nurses can file for loan forgivness as public service workers. I feel pilots should be able to do the same with their college loans at least for the duration they work at a regional. Many Regional pilots make a little more than half of what starting nurses make and half of what teachers make in major cities.

Tough sh......t. Nope. Pay up.

I forgot this forum is for children

Who's going to fund that? With nurses the loan repayment is targeted to those who are seek employment in rural, underserved, or Indian reservations.

Loan forgiveness was suggested in last week's GAO report on the pilot shortage.

Good luck with that.

Thats true I would be fine with a freeze on my loan and the interest untill I hit 35k. That wouldnt cost the tax payer much.

If your employer makes it part of the compensation package, great! But, I don't see why people who made the decisions they made should be forgiven of the debt they have, especially with the proliferation of the internet....i.e., you had the knowledge and information available. And yes, where does that money come from? Is it fair to saddle the taxpayer with that? Should we encourage prospective pilots to take on massive debt because there are little to no consequences? I think this is a bad idea.

Good point on perspective pilots. I just wanted to get a decent debate going other than the 5 RAH threads we have going.

I am a 9yr regional FO, and I have almost paid off all of mine. (45k down to about 6k now). Deal with it. Also, the forgiveness only applies to government loans, if you took out a Citi, Key, Sallie MAe, etc (which over half of mine were) you are SOL even if you are a teacher or nurse.

Hah!! I find it funny how we, the tax payer, can bail out the banks, insurance companies and car manufactures but you balk at possibly helping out your fellow Pilot. I would not be in favor of a "complete" bail out but, I would favor a reduction in interest to the lowest possible level. I feel for ya but for the most part, you made the decision, yes?

The government should not subsidize pilot training just because regionals pay poverty wages. Raise the wages to what doctors (or even nurses) make and then see if you still have a shortage.

You Serious? - YouTube

Pay up, learning to fly is a privilege, not a right. You had no problem signing the dotted line and agreeing to it, so fulfill the obligation.

I was only refering to the Government loans expanding into other loans would would more than triple the cost of the program. Since the government doesnt control our private loans would they wouldnt be able to offer other solutions such as a freeze or lowering in interest which would be pretty simple and help all of us pay our loans down.

There are already methods in place to reduce payments, extended repayment plan, forebearance, deferement. I was on those. I paid every extra available dollar I had into paying off the highest interest loans first (usually third party loans).

Go on the extended plan or ask for forebearance until you are on 2nd year pay. Pay more than the minimum payment if/when you are able too.

If you can take a college classes half time, you can also go back into deferment. So enroll in some classes at the local community college in personal finance and get some relief that way.

The rules were there when you signed on the dotted line. I don't see why people feel the rules should change now.

All true but in the end you end up paying a few grand more while the interest keeps adding up. Freezing the interest or lowereing it shouldnt cost the Gov much. Install for a few years then remove it so that guys actually pay it back. You cant even call that a handout...for the most part.

I balk at bailing them out, too.

Absolutely!

Sounds like you are trying to make this is all about you. You may think freezing the interest on YOUR loans wont affect the taxpayer, but what about everybody else? Should we freeze their interest too?

FinAid | Loans | Student Loan Debt Clock

I was making it about us...you know the guys in this forum. And yes we should the interest should be lowered on EVERYONES student loan.

That's not very fair is it? Why should the taxpayer subsidize the interest rate over the bad decisions that we made? Why should I and everyone here subsidize the interest rate of some students six figure loan because he/she decided to go to ERAU for Aero Science or some private school to learn Art History when, especially these days, you knew that it would not be financially sound.

In the end, you read the loan contract, you knew the interest rate, you knew the payment size, you signed it anyway.

Pay up.

The governemnt holds those loans they dont have to charge interest they own them.

You don't understand how loans work do you? The point of interest is to make money on the money you lend out. Why would a bank lend their money out without making something in return? It makes no sense, the government makes a lot of money on interest, if the borrower isn't going to pay the interest, somebody else will, and it is going to be the taxpayer.

We arent talking about a bank loans.

Doesn't matter, bank or federal, same rules apply.

I will not support any system that removes personal accountability. Be smarter, and get your crap paid off. I'm 27, a third year regional FO, and I am out of debt. I have a degree from a large aviation-oriented university. Community college transfer credits are awesome.

The problem isn't the loans. There are plenty of ways to get relief if you really need it. The problem is the people racking up debt with no solid plan of repayment.

So you think that pilots offer the same amount to society as teachers and nurses?

Or did you just stupidly get yourself in over your head in student loan debt and want someone else to deal with your problems for you?

I agree, everyone of us knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into before we got into it. We need to have some accountability and not expect any bit of a free ride. Some of us were smarter spending much less than others going to "top notch" schools getting a "better quality" of training. Of course we're all at the same job, and the amount we owe is a direct result from our earlier decisions. It's our responsibility, not anybody else's.

You guys are hilarious making assumptions about my life. Saying I'm selfish blah blah blah. I was putting out a possible solution for pilots to improve QOL. I see APC is all about talking tough and sending insults from behind the computer. The comparison to teachers was in regards to pay. If we're talking about loan forgiveness obviously were done taking about making money on the loan so what's the point of bringing it up. Btw my loans are all current so yelling pay up doesn't do anything. And I'm not over 100k in debt guess I was worried about my fellow aviators who are.

See guys this is constructive... What the rest of you do drives us apart

That's an ignorant comment. Just because we don't save lives or teach 180 days (yes, only 180 days) each year, we don't have anything to offer society? Why don't you try and imagine what the world would be like without pilots or aviation. Whether your pessimism realizes it or not, we have an incredibly important role in making this country function and prosper. Comparing teachers, nurses, and pilots is like comparing apples and oranges.

Why worry about them, nobody told them to take out the huge loan. Nobody made them go to flight school, if they cant hack at paying back their loans, don't accept the wages offered, or, get a second job, get three jobs! Why should they be forgiven for their stupid mistakes? I chose to pay my my own way and am building time for my commercial. If these pilots get their loans forgiven, that's not fair for me and others who paid their way is it? They basically got their training for free, does it mean I can finish my training for free?

I started off my career as a public school teacher with student loan debts from college. My plan was to teach in an underserved district and have my loans reduced. The minute I signed on the dotted line with my new employer the government changed the rules. They declared my district was no longer 'underserved.' Was I pizzed? Yes. What did I do? I paid my loans back, begrudgingly. Life isn't fair sometimes.

At present people have (or should have) the understanding that there will be no loan forgiveness for aviation careers. This is a very expensive career, a better choice for a return on investment would be law school or medicine. Well, maybe not medicine. If I had it to do over again I would become an accountant and fly my own plane for fun.

Yeah, because after managing to pay for my own flight training... I, as a taxpayer, should have to help you pay for yours too.

That makes sense. Plus anything that makes it unfairly cheaper for a set group of people to become pilots is going to increase the supply of pilots and screw over the fact that we just might be getting to the right side of the supply/demand curve and have the power to start making this profession a little better.

I think I'm done with this thread this guy is getting all bent out of shape about possible legislation that's only being discussed in a forum because HE won't benift from it. Take a xanax and chill.

Sounds to me somebody here didn't hear what they wanted to hear because we don't support something that will benefit HIM.

:D

A+ thread. Would read again!

The ignorant comment is thinking that teachers only work 180 days. They work much harder than you or I.

Forgiveness?
 

Teachers and nurses provide a public service that is in demand. As incentive to promote these harbingers of public good there are grounds to support loan forgiveness. Pilots are martyrs on a personal vision quest. Their sacrifice makes it so that the public can fly over the weekend to visit a girlfriend on a whim and pay next to nothing for the service. As such it is not a benevolent sacrifice for the public good and should not be forgiven.

In fact financial destruction due to making foolish self centered career choices should stand as example to succeeding generations. Therefore the best outcome is that the ruined pilot can serve as a cautionary tale of the consequences of making a poor choice.

Skyhigh

Maybe we should have formed an insurance company, maybe a car manufacturing facility or, or, maybe a bank. I hope all you self righteous blow hards come down just as hard on the government when it comes to "bail outs". Do you vent to them or just your fellow sky jockeys? Then again, you can continue to spew the same sewage that comes out of Sky's mouth and call yourself content.

Many people don't know that for your government loans you can get on an income based repayment plan, which at a 1st year FO wage you would not have to pay anything for the year, and after 20 years, the balance is forgiven.