Flying Cheap - Regional Airlines

          The regional airline industry is currently encountering a hiring spree in order to attempt to fill available positions.  This is the beginning of what many people are calling the upcoming pilot shortage.  I feel that the pilot shortage is real and that it is a result of a combination of the new regulations, the cost of entering aviation as a pilot, the compensation upon entering the regional airline industry, and the average age of the current airline pilot.

          The new regulations require a pilot to have 1500 hours of logged flight time in order to apply for an ATP certificate.  There is a way to have a reduced hour requirement by studying aviation and graduating an approved Part 141 collegiate program however at most this will reduce the hour requirement to 1000 hours.  This is still a considerable increase in time spent trying to get to the regional airlines.  With these requirements, it means more time and money must be invested by a person in order to get into commercial aviation.  A lot of people would find a hard time justifying the cost of entry when a pilot can expect to make $20,000 or less a year as an entry level first officer in the regional airline industry.  This salary comes with a rough lifestyle of working long days and getting paid for very little of your time given that a regional pilot is only being paid while in the aircraft.  

          An article in the Wall Street Journal states that the average age for an american pilot is 53 years old.  This means that there will be a lot of retiring senior pilots in the coming years that will need replaced by other pilots.  This will mean there will be a lot of pilots moving up from the regional airlines to fill the positions and the there will be a need for a lot of pilots entering the industry.  Several organizations and groups would argue that the real problem is simply the lack of qualified pilots willing to work for so little pay.  The Air Line Pilot's Association stated that the GAO, a third party organization dedicated to investigation services to the U.S. Congress, found that there are currently enough qualified pilots to fill current demand and that they are just not willing to work for the low wages.  While I do believe this is an issue, I have no doubt that this is a contributing factor to deter people from entering the industry in the first place.  If this trend continues then a steady decline in people going through training to become a commercial pilot will occur while the average age of pilots increases to a point where the retirees will overtake incoming qualified pilots.

          The hiring pool for regional airlines is suffering currently. With the recent addition of the "1500 hour rule," the time it took to finish training and make it to a regional airline has increased significantly.  This means that it is taking much longer for student pilots to finish their training and become available for an ATP certificate which is required to fly for a regional airline.  Compounding the problem is the issue that regional pilots tend to stick around until they can move on to the major airlines, so those pilots are still looking to advance to the majors when able while the incoming pilots to the regional airlines are taking longer to become qualified.

          ALPA, Air Line Pilots Association, represents the majority of regional airline pilots.  As for other parts of the aviation industry, the organization that represents a lot of manufactures is GAMA, or General Aviation Manufacturers Association.  They represent over 80 of the world's general aviation aircraft manufacturers.

          Professionalism in my opinion is the behavior of one to act in the best interest of their profession.  The documentary "Flying Cheap" focused heavily on the Colgan Flight 3407 crash in Buffalo, New York.  This documentary showed the conditions of the regional airline Colgan Air.  While I would say the documentary was biased, it did show how the company lacked professionalism in many ways where corners were cut.  Rapid expansion of the regional airline resulted in the inability of the airline to keep up with the growing demands.  Since Colgan would only make their money if flights were completed, this urged the company to do everything it could to make sure that happened, even if it resulted in breaking Federal Aviation Regulations.  Safety was not the top priority of Colgan and it resulted in the death of 50 people.  There was one first officer interviewed in the documentary who stated that one of the Colgan Air Captains told him to alter the weight and balance numbers so they could complete their flight.  Another interview in the documentary stated that Colgan wanted to put a check-airman on a flight of an aircraft that he was not qualified in.  I firmly believe that the low wages for pilots in the regional airlines is a contributing factor for the lack of professionalism in the Colgan Air Company.  The pilots in the crash of Colgan 3407 both showed signs of fatigue and the first officer of the flight was seen sleeping in the pilot lounge the night before the flight.  The cockpit voice recorder captured a conversation where the first officer and the captain complained about the low wages and the first officer was unable to take the flight off since she was not feeling well because she could not afford a hotel.  The captain stated he was just buying his time until he could move on to a better paying job.  If these issues did not exist then the Colgan crash of flight 3407 may have never occurred.

          Maintaining professionalism is key in aviation in order to prevent accidents and keep the overall image of the industry positive.  Once I make it into the industry I plan to keep up on innovation in the industry since it is constantly evolving and changing.  I also plan to follow the Federal Aviation Regulations even if it means going against what the company is pushing.  The regulations were put in place to keep the industry safe and save lives.

References:

ALPA Staff. (2014, April 1). A Pilot Shortage? Nope. Its All About the Money. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://www.alpa.org/portals/alpa/magazine/2014/April2014_PilotShortage.pdf

Bachman, J. (2014, March 7). Pilot Shortage Adds to Regional Airlines' Woes. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-07/regional-airlines-suffer-a-pilot-shortage

Carey, S. (2014, February 3). Airline-Pilot Shortage Arrives Ahead of Schedule. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304851104579361320202756500

"FRONTLINE: Flying Cheap: Interviews: Roger Cohen | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., 9 Feb. 2010. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/flyingcheap/interviews/cohen.html>.

GAMA. (n.d.). GAMA. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://www.gama.aero/

Sumwalt, R. (2010, February 12). The anatomy of an accident: Colgan Air Flight 3407. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://www.ntsb.gov/news/speeches/RSumwalt/Documents/SCAA-100212.pdf

Personal Introduction

My name is Aaron Rehm. This is my second year in Eastern Michigan University's Aviation program.  I am a transfer student from Ohio that found out about the program through a family member who was working on their private pilot certification.  I have always had an interest in aviation as my family would attend the Cleveland Airshow every year.  I never thought about pursuing aviation as a career until I was informed of the program here at EMU.  Going on a discovery flight at Eagle Flight Center really sold me in the idea and I started the program shortly after in the fall of 2013.  I am currently working on my commercial pilot certification with the hope of finishing that up within the next two months.  I'm looking to make a career as an airline pilot.