okay, I guess the whining has started!

Or the Sleep Inn in Flint MI...lol

The "bangladeshis" can't fill there own seats. How do you expect them to fill ours? This is a worldwide issue and he who pay the pilot the most money will win. Just look across the world. The seats up front aren't going for cheap like they are here in the good o'le US of A. The US pilots are the *****s of the industry, some of us are just really dirty *****s.

It wouldn't be a real Pilot Shortage article without Kit Darby weighing in. Oh wait, never mind.

Or Rogen Cohen who has been getting his 15 minutes in on the "shortage."

What I cannot understand is, why put up with crap wages, coming increasing taxes, lousy QOL, airlines that will probably have to cut further and deeper eventually, when there are much better jobs overseas? You just have to be careful where you go, but word-of-mouth (Pprune, etc) will help make a prudent decision. The dream jobs here may easily turn to dross, sooner than you think, whilst good opportunities where the grass is greener go begging. Sam

If anyone truly thinks there is some sort of benefit for us because of a"pilot shortage" coming, they must certainly be delusional. Y'all need to look at some history, nothing EVER benefits the pilot group.

Whatever you're smoking, pass it over, because it obviously doesn't show up on the drug tests.

Sadly, you are probably right! Eventually, we'll have the B-747RJ (Regional Jet) manned with first year new hire FO's and 6 to 8 legs a day.

Just heard Mr. Cohen on the radio scare mongering people into thinking that they are going to lose their airline service out of medium sized cities like "Santa Barbara, Tallahassee," etc etc. and that the gummint should help young people become pilots instead of "burdening them with excessive regulations" or some BS like that.

There is no shortage of qualified pilots. There is a shortage in qualified pilots willing to work for 20k a year with 9 days off a month on reserve in a city that changes every 6months and burdened with $100K in flight training with no viable or secure economic future.

I just made a huge mistake and read the WSJ article. Here are some great nuggets I pulled out:

1. "Added Kit Darby, a consultant on pilot-hiring trends: "We are about four years from a solution, but we are only about six months away from a problem.""

Then the airlines should have started looking for a solution FIVE YEARS ago when the retirement age was increased to 65! You had FIVE YEARS to find a solution. None of this should be a surprise, but LO! no one looks more than tomorrow's stock dividend.

2. "I'm stuck being a flight instructor for another year," said John Adkins, a 27-year-old pilot at California Flight Academy. He achieved the current minimum for being a co-pilot, but the new rule has delayed his dream to join an airline. "You don't make a lot of money as an instructor," he said.

Waaah Waaah! Ever here of 9-11? How about being a flight instructor for 2 years, getting hired, and then BOOM out on the streets with no job for 4 YEARS or MORE working 6 days a week with no sick time, vacation time, or health insurance while you wait for the airlines to recover? You are not going to make much more as an FO either, maybe even less. (I made 4k less my first year as an FO)

3. The 1,500-hour mandate "has only discouraged a future generation of prospective pilots to pursue this career," said Mr. Cohen, from the regional airline group. Those who persevere "will try to get the 1,500 hours the fastest and cheapest way possible," he said. "Flying around in empty airspace or towing banners doesn't give you the training you need to fly a complex airplane."

That's funny, because that's pretty much what everyone did before the 1500hr rule, except they could get jobs at 250hrs instead. Hows does this logic work? Confusing holy smoke and mirrors.

Remember the 80's and 90's when you needed 2,000hrs-3,000hrs or more to just get a job at a regional?