Airline pay to double in 5 years!
 

Or so says Jack Fitzgerald of Florida Aviation Academy Partners With ExpressJet Airline in Pilot Pathway Interview Program | FLAviationAcademy.com
Good news everyone!

Perhaps this post should be moved to Tool of the Day.

We can only hope...

I'll believe that when me sheit turns purple and tastes like rainbow sherbet.

Double in 5 year? Heh? First year regional pay needs to triple NOW! Usual "shortage talk" with the familiar "there has never been a better time to become a Commercial Pilot".

All the negative press with the low wages has hit mainstream when they post crap like this.
PSA just signed a 10 year pay freeze. Did they mention that?

5 years from now my pay will be double... AKA $4/hr LESS than it was 5 years ago...

Pilot mills are feeling the squeeze. Nobody wants to sign up to pay $200k to get their pilots licenses anymore. So they put out stuff like this to try to get applicants. Its a bunch of BS.

The good news is that if pay doubled at the regionals, it would destroy their business models and put them all under. The only financially viable method for the flying to be done would be less flights with bigger jets being flown by mainline pilots. So, bring it on.

I know there are plenty of people who love to dump on any good news, and that's not my intention. You have to consider the source of this article, however---a flight school and a poorly faring regional airline losing pilots. What do they have to gain by making this claim?

The flight school gets students and the regional gets to continue the carrot scam approach to recruit new hires, by claiming things will get better in the future, so just accept poor pay and treatment now for a better future tomorrow. Most pilots are realizing, that sustaining regional airlines through concessions just ensures the continuation of a failing model of mistreatment, poor service, poor mgmt., and poor compensation.

This sales pitch is just new words to the same old tune. Kit Darby has been spouting the same line for years. They are hoping you'll believe this to lure you into their failed model of mismanagement sustained on the backs of employees through fraud and lies. This fight ain't near enough over yet.

Its doubled at Expressjet for the last four months. I've been making 183 an hour on and off quite a bit. Well, I guess if you average it out it only went up by 50% to be honest.

So you can take your facts from this used pilot license dealer OR you can take your facts from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics which claims otherwise:

Nothing's going to double, we're just in the up cycle right now. Mesa and PSA are still filling large classes, and Great Lakes is still in business. Where's the shortage? Sure there is hiring, but a shift in the economy, parking of some planes etc, and the music will stop again. The airlines wi just hand out bonuses and dangle that carrot some more to get through this period.

Jet fuel costs to double in 5 years!

This is said by president and founder of Florida aviation academy... It sounds like a sales pitch to get new pilots to his flight school so he doesnt go out of business. Id say the same if I was in his shoes and predict some wild double pay increase in the future. I wont believe it until I see it and IF it does happen that means mostly all flying will be mainline flying because the regional model will 100% collapse. Also depends on what the future voting results are for Eagle and RAH... If they pass thier TA's they approve of more whipsawing and low wages and it will never change!

First of all let me preface my comments with this. I know Jack personally. He's as straight forward a shooter as they come. He does not run a "puppy mill". He's also flown in various a/c & positions around the world and has a wealth of industry experience. I got all of my ratings at FAA in 11 weeks at his school. 2 lessons a day/6 days a week & cross country time on Sundays. He primarily markets to European mpl who come here, get their ratings up to comm multi and return to Europe to a 320. I personally know guys that went to his school and are now at UAL, SWA, Spirit, JetBlue and I'm at DAL.

The doubling of the wages in 5 years IMHO might be a stretch, but not too far off. I see the current regional model collapsing. The affiliated regional will be liquidated and the assets transferred to the major partner/owner. This will result in MUCH more hiring at mainline than projected just for retirements. So the average wage WILL go up. Instead of 50% of the lift nationwide being done on a "C" scale, most all of it above a CR700 type will be at mainline at mainline wages. I think the first hint of this happening will come layer this year/early next at DAL in our C2015 negotiations. We currently have CR900/Emb195 rates but they are too high. Look for those to be lowered and CR700 rates added.

PSA is an anomaly at this point. As long as Eagle & Expressjet hold the line good things will start happening fast. This is only 3/11 & I'm up to 124hrs credit for the month. Dal has waited too long to hire & our DCI carriers are canceling flights due to staffing. This is just the tip. It'll be repeated eventually at AA & UAL as well. They've all waited too long to hire AND there's no one on the pipeline to replace the right seat regional guys.

THIS is why Jack said what he said. I don't think he's too far off. Anyone getting into aviation right now will have a stellar career.

All the Regional guys have to do to keep the snowball rolling is VOTE NO!!!

Well I suppose if you consider that going from first year regional FO to five year RJ Capt he may be right but that is kind of a stretch. Does any regional have a five year upgrade?

Sounds like another desperate snake oil salesman to me. Oh, and if I was in his shoes I WOULD NOT be making such wild claims. One's own misery is still no reason to lie, cheat, and steal.

In the semi-sleezy world of real estate, it's illegal to sell a home and make the promise that the value of the property will increase in the future. I guess more than a few people have been burned by promises that didn't pan out they way they were sold.

Interesting how it's illegal to make a false representation with respect to property, but not with someones career and livelyhood.

I was an independent flight instructor for a long time before moving to the airlines, and I NEVER, EVER sold any one the glittery dream of being an airline pilot. Frankly, I had to dispense some reality that crushed a few dreams from time to time.

If I wanted to avoid any legal problems in the future, I'd take that article down fast, or at least edit it so that it was based on FACT not profit driven conjecture.

Look at the source this guy is just trying to up his enrollment.

You just gave the definition of what a "pilot mill" is in your explanation of your experience with this school. All of your FAA ratings in 11 weeks! Flying 7 days a week. To me, that is a "pilot mill"

Better than stretching it out over years...continuity is king.

He sounds like Kit Darby's replacement...

Guess all the guys/gals from the "what would it take me to come back thread" will be back in 5 years. There goes the pilot shortage...

I don't think there will be any pay raises. Just bigger jets.

IMHO - accurate projection.

Funniest thing I read all day!

Anyone want to buy a bridge in Brooklyn? Cheap!

The whole regional model collapsing is the ideal situation that can benefit the pilots all around. Most of us at the regionals would like to see the aircraft flown at mainline and at mainline wages. Hopefully mainline scope can be tightened even further to recapture all that flying.

As someone mentioned before, I think the regional model will likely continue to exist except on a smaller scale with slightly larger aircraft. The only reason that I can think of that the regional model might not fail is the cost savings to mainline because of their existence.

If regional pilots continue to negotiate larger aircraft (even at higher rates) they will be shooting themselves in the foot by removing more mainline jobs from the picture. It's considerably easier to justify flying two EMB-170's into a location at the expense of one Boeing 737, and definitely before two EMB-190's in mainline paint.

The way I see the regional model existing is returning to EAS and small turbo-prop operations less than 50 seats. If small companies continue to offer terrible compensation for their tiny planes, those companies will struggle to fulfill contracts and eventually not be awarded the flying. The company that accurately balances a wage that will attract pilots and realistic operating costs will eventually be the ones who are gaining and retaining all the EAS business.

I just emailed this guy and asked for a source to his information that salaries will double in 5 years.

I hate it when flight schools feed unfathomable BS to get people through the door who have no idea what they're getting themselves into.

A c+ scale is cheaper than a b scale.
Companies don't "go away" when they are making money, and they are.

These companies won't be making money once they have to pay the salaries required to keep planes in the air. That is the whole point, there will come a time when they are no longer economically viable.

What is a "C" scale?

In my 9 years at United I never made 6 figures. Worked 94 actual every month, not by choice. I never got vacation as it was always denied due to lack of coverage. I would not encourage anyone to become a pilot. Pilots will be replaced by cheap labour on the ground. 3 crew planes are now all 2, soon it will be one then none.

I guess lying to kids is just the norm today...news flash! You will make 23k if your lucky your first year. I made 9,000.

Have received a reply from these lying bastards yet? I'd love to see what pile of dung they spew out.

What a silly thread and ridiculous claim. Besides, as evidenced by our good friends at PSA, the law of supply and demand doesn't apply to pilots. Evidently we're rather dumb.:rolleyes:

I too believe the regional airline model will collapse. Their demise will be hastened by strong and consistent no votes by all regional airline pilots. I've said in other posts there is absolutely no reason to take concessions right now. No one is entering the profession while everyone is leaving. There were just 805 retirements last year and 18,000 more scheduled in the next ten years. How are they possibly going to replace you at a moment's notice? Just let this play out. At some point DAL, UAL, AA et al. will not tolerate a completely unreliable regional feed and address the situation accordingly.

Not a peep back. I don't expect one.

LOL! Maybe we should call and ask some hard questions directly. :D

Airlines are obviously interested in perpetuating the pilot shortage myth because it will prove useful when the time comes. It's as simple as marching an army of k-street lobbyist with " campaign contributions" up to capital hill to grease the skids for loose work visa programs and the passage of MPL. All because these are jobs Americans simply won't do and Jim bob is entitled to a cheap fare/lol.

Never under estimate management's ability to collude with the district of criminals.

I left a respectable comment on the original linked article disagreeing with his assertion, but it got moderated and deleted. To me that means this guy is using hyperbole in an attempt to attract more (gullible) people to fill seats and line his pockets. Despicable!

Wishful thinking...

I do not think this is wishful thinking.

I have an idea to purchase ExpressJet and restructure it into a 100% pro-rate carrier. I have drafted a proposed CRJ/ERJ payscale that would allow the carrier to pull pilots from other regionals:

CRJ/ERJ FO:
Yr 1: $50
Yr 2: $55
Yr 3: $60
Yr 4: $65
Yr 5+: $70

CRJ/ERJ CA:
Yr 1: $79
Yr 2: $82
Yr 3: $85
Yr 4: $88
Yr 5: $91
Yr 6: $94
Yr 7: $97
Yr 8: $100
Yr 9: $103
Yr 10: $106
Yr 11: $109
Yr 12: $112
Yr 13: $115
Yr 14: $118
Yr 15: $121
Yr 16: $124
Yr 17: $127
Yr 18: $130

At this price point, EV would not be able to win CPA flying, but it would be able to profitably fly its own routes with a major code attached.