Yeah. This thread has drifted a bit.

One of the suits at the RAA made a derogatory comment about pilots "wasting time" doing things like crop dusting, instructing, traffic watch, etc because it has no relevance to part 121 ops. I disagree. The first thousand hours or so are where you really learn how to be an aviator. It's just yourself in command of an airplane, fully responsible for all decision making. No one is holding your hand. It's called experience, and there's no way to buy it. Some folks may be gods gift to aviation and learn it all in 250 hours, but most folks really need a bit more time before they're ready to be a valuable resource in the cockpit.

 

At this point rescinding the rule my be more harmful. We'd move from an airline pilot shortage to a cfi shortage.

But even before the 1500 hour rule, weren't we already on a path to a shortage with less people entering the profession due to pay and QOL issues?

The 1500 hour rule really had nothing to do with the events of 2001 through 2010 which would probably be some of the main causal factors. No doubt though the 1500 rule exacerbated the problem though.

 

If the government is truly concerned about the "pilot shortage," they need to commission a study to accurately determine how many of those fancy new Private, Instrument and Commercial certificates are eligible to work in the US versus international carriers.

We all need to remember the staggering amount of pilots needed to staff flying across the booming international market, especially the Asian market. A large percentage of them are being trained in the United States. Not until a real effort is made to find out how many US pilots are being trained, we will never have any idea to what extent this shortage will impact the US market, if at all.

 

A lot of recent studies have been conducted regarding the pilot shortage, the most notable one being

"GAO Report to Congress on Current and Future Availability of Airline Pilots"

But I think you are right, of all the training that goes on in the US, how many of those pilots will leave the country? I would think this is a report that could be generated without much difficulty. For example, there is special paperwork involved for the training of foreign students before they are allowed to be trained. My guess is though this is not in the FAA database but maybe DHS.

 

US government could disallow their employees to travel on carriers, or carriers contracted with a major carrier, where the flight crew, or any employee of the company, is on any form of federal, or federally subsidized, aid (IE food stamps). When the government lets contracts with private companies they frequently require specific minimum/living wage or other similar conditions or they do not award the contracts. A 14 HR duty day with 2 hours of flying at $23 an hour is less than the federally mandated minimum wage. Carriers that scheduled or operated even one of those flights would face a blackout/ban of federal employees passengers for the entire carrier, including the overseeing carrier (IE major) Makes good sense, huh? But...good luck with that idea.

 

I'm not sure I fully understand what you just said there but it got me thinking. Could competition with these subsidized carriers be an opening to eliminate RLA as far as unions are concerned.

 

The interpretation that a carrier which schedules or operates a flight where a flight crew does a 14 hr. duty 2-3 hrs flight time @ $23 hour) is being paid less than the minimum wage. The government sets a national minimum wage and should/cannot allow its employees to travel on a carrier that violates that wage, they would be violating their own laws - which, of course, is supposed to be illegal. There are probably several million federal employees who ride on US carriers, which in some way, operate under these conditions, including buying a ticket on a mainline carrier. The government not flying on these carriers might be a financial interest to those carriers.

It is also an interesting juxtaposition with this minimum wage or federal benefits qualification in regards to the RLA. The minimum wage law post dates the RLA, and in effect, could negate or nullify the RLA. Or, if precedence is the case, with the RLA coming before the minimum wage then maybe carriers don't even have to pay minimum wage. I suppose this could become a supreme court sort of thing.

The RLA thing continues to amaze me. It was supposed to protect vital industries, IE, the railroads. How many airlines are there? How is it that any one is vital? How many have failed, gone bankrupt, etc. No one stepped in to protect them because individually they were "vital".

 

Make sure to read the last paragraph of this article. Thoughts??? First steps already underway at the FAA to further erode the ATP requirement for 121 SICs???

Pilot Shortage Turns to Crisis among Small Cargo Carriers | Air Transport: Aviation International News

"John Duncan, director of the FAA’s Flight Standards Service, attended the entire RACCA conference and tried to assuage some of the members’ concerns. He assured members that the FAA is working on rulemaking that would allow time-building pilots to log legitimate flight time in the right seat of a twin-engine airplane that normally needs a single pilot. “The process takes some time,” he said. “We are pushing that to the top.” As for the Ameriflight exemption to lower the number of hours required to fly as pilot-in-command under IFR, he added, “we’re working that as well. We understand the urgency.” Flooded with unmanned aircraft exemption requests, the FAA has become overwhelmed, he indicated. “Our resources are strained,” said Duncan."

 

I think is is very important people stop calling this "The 1500 Hour Rule."

Military pilots only need 750 hours.

Four year university grads only need 1000 hours.

After graduating college with around 250 hours the students will only need to gain more experience for about 1 year before they can be hired into an airline.

Who would want to become a pilot when you can make more flipping burgers and be home every night to see your family. Pay/poor benefits is the only cause of this "pilot shortage"

 

I agree with what you're saying but have an issue with your last point. Obviously someone is taking the pilot jobs that pay poorly, which perpetuates the low pay problem.

No business is ever going to compensate or throw money at employees unless you are a) highly qualified and unique in your position, or b) there are no applicants accepting employment under the offer. Pilots are extremely skilled with a huge responsibility in their positions, and airlines know this. However, none of that matters in terms of pay and compensation until pilots demand it through action.