If the government weakens the rule, i will be the first one in Washington opposing the decision... I believe in an advance training program, experience behind the controls and exposure to the environment. One big problem we have in the airline i work for, is candidates knowing the airplane by the book and When they are placed behind the controls, they get frustrated and ask for more sim-time cuz they cant figure out how to even make proper instrument interpretation...Sad but true, they can fly the S^%yT of Microsoft.

Just raising pay won't solve the issue now. it might have years ago but now it's too late. raise pay to 60/hr for first year FO and there will still be a pilot shortage for at least 3 to 5 years at the regional level.

Not for the ruling executive class. As an example: They had no idea nicotine was addictive.

That was a long but good watch. I really liked how he said "no disrespect but we're going to go with the 20K hour pilots opinion!"

I'm glad he's with Sully, but he was irritating coming off as "I'm one of the pilots with my 300 hours." I'm amazed at some of these politicians getting elected with their horrible, rambling public speaking abilities, as well as their obvious lack of homework on this topic. A few were on point but quite a few weren't.

^THIS. I worked my way through college/flight school doing commercial landscaping and waiting tables. It was hard work, often times alongside roughnecks who had done some serious time behind bars and demanding bosses. That and living under my old man's roof did more for my work ethic than I could have ever imagined. It makes you appreciate every damn hard earned cent on your paycheck.

And then you decide to go to the regionals because it's the best path to the majors since you don't medically qualify to fly in the military, and there's no shortage of trust babies doing the same thing because they're quite OK with having mom and dad subsidize their first couple of year flying for peanuts.

We had all of this prior to 1996 but anytime you allow a politician to screw with something they F it up. I say why not leave things as is and watch this part of the industry sink into the history books.

At the end of the video, they ask if the first year wage is really $22,000-$24,000 and Ms. Black said she didn't know for sure. But then she says that one of her airlines has a higher first year wage than some of the majors? I did a search of the airline that belong to the RAA and this is the list.

Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., AirNet Systems Inc., Cape Air, Chautauqua Airlines, CommutAir, Compass Airlines, Empire Airlines, Endeavor Air, Envoy, ExpressJet Airlines, GoJet Airlines, Grand Canyon Airlines/Scenic, Great Lakes Aviation, Hawaii Island Air, Horizon Air, Island Airlines-Nantucket, Jazz Aviation, Mesa Airlines, New England Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, PSA Airlines, RAVN Alaska, Republic Airlines, Seaborne Airlines, Shuttle America, Silver Airways, SkyWest Airlines, Surf Air, Trans States Airlines

I started looking around but couldn't find any airline on this list that paid more than $30 for first year. Is there a major out there that pays less than that for first year? I am thinking of putting together a list of everyone that was part of that committee and seeing if I can find email address or contact info. My thoughts is that we should all send an articulate message that calls out some of the wrong info that Ms. Black was spewing. Let these people know that Republic doesn't have cancellation pay. Let them know that the reason unions don't want to raise first year pay is that because it is not fair to give new hires a 40% raise, while giving the finger to the pilots that have worked and built the airlines they work for. Let them know that SkyWest values their workforce so much, that they want to give them a whole $1-$2 more over the next 4 years.

I just can't believe that Ms. Black could sit there and flat out lie when she was asked point blank questions. I loved it when Sully said that word has gotten out about how crappy it is to work for regionals. I think we need to let them know exactly what they are doing and that they need to improve working conditions and not just lower the hours.

She said including bonuses.

It's not about the pay. Commuter pilots want upward movement over pay. PSA is filling classes, XJT is not.