Flying Cheap

Since I entered this program, the pilot shortage is something that is continuously brought up. However, there is more than one side to this problem. The first is that there is actually no shortage of pilots but the rate of pay is the problem. A not large enough salary will make any person not want to work somewhere, even outside of the aviation community. The second side to this is that there really is a pilot shortage and the amount of people coming in does not measure up with the amount of retirees. I personally feel that it is the first of the two, and that pilots are just not wanting to fly for that amount of money. An article in AviationWeek states that while there was this glorious plan of getting through school, starting at a regional airline to accrue hours then moving up to big leagues, it just doesn’t work that way. Especially with the increasing cost of just getting through flight school, which is first handedly messing with my life, going straight into a job with such a low salary, it is nearly impossible to pay off loans or whatever money you had to borrow for school. George Perry, senior VP of AOPA Air Safety Institute, states “The entry-level pay for a regional airline first officer—in many cases $30,000 or less—contrasted with large amounts of college loan debt make the career hard to justify.” One possible solution to this would be for those regional airlines to offer scholarships or aid to students while in school with the promise that upon getting their degree, they go and work for them.

As for the hiring pool in regards of the new regulations, I can see how they may be concerned because the number of hours you need to enter one of these jobs has increased. I think maybe if they allow student hours to be counted, that might help.

Besides the other organization, ALPA, that represents the regional airlines, there is also RAA, Regional Airline Association which represents not only North American regional airlines but also management and manufacturers.

Professionalism to me is acting or behaving to the highest standards and making sure that things are done correctly and in a timely manner. One lack of professionalism that I saw in the movie would be that one of the captains falsified a record so that his aircraft would not be overweight. Another would be that the DOA backed the captain who falsified the records instead of the co-pilot who was trying to be in the first place. I definitely feel that money is a huge contributing factor. The whole idea of pilots being paid by flight completion causes unsafe flying because they will do whatever it takes to get paid. I think that two things I will do to maintain professionalism is definitely being as safe as possible. It is not just my life at risk but the lives of many others. Other than that just making sure I am mature and communicating well with others.

 

Tallman, J. (2015, May 5). Pilot shortage: Yes or no? Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/May/05/osu-pilot-supply-conference

http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/coming-us-pilot-shortage-real