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
Interesting article, not much new but a good recap. Historically, before the regional airlines grew rapidly in the last decade, pilots needed around 5000-hours before they would even be considered for hire at the airlines. 1000-hours is hardly a high standard. Longer rest periods are also something that was historically common by union contracts, before the pilot unions were decimated and de-fanged as a result of Congress adding Section 159a to the Railway Labor Act, effectively ending their right to labor action. This act tilted the balance of power decisively and permanently in favor of airline management in negotiations with labor. The result has been severe cuts in compensation and quality of work life, and cuts in expensive safety standards long mandated by unions. The FAA acknowledged the safety problems, but did nothing about them until Congress, motivated by pressure from families of victims of the Colgan Air crash, forced the FAA to make specific changes.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is certainly a pilot shortage coming, because young people don't want to do what current airline pilots do. Most U.S. flight schools are over 90% foreign national students, here on student visas and destined for overseas airlines. FAA numbers don't differentiate, so their numbers imply we have slightly more than enough students in training to keep U.S. airlines staffed. It isn't true, we don't have enough pilots in training, and we won't. Even a huge pay increase won't attract students, because it is obvious we won't employ nearly as many pilots when automation starts eliminating them in fifteen to twenty years. That seems like a long way off to some, but a new pilot like you might be a junior captain at a major airline about then, if the airline industry isn't eliminating pilots.
A serious pilot shortage is coming, and it will put a lot of pressure on airline suppliers to provide the automation to reduce airline need for pilots. It will also put a lot of pressure on Congress to allow airlines to lower various safety standards, and replace qualified second pilots with MPL pilots or no pilots, and more automation. This will happen, and it won't be good for the pilots who remain.
Good luck, I'll be rooting for you from my retirement shanty.
I agree with your opinion regarding professionalism as "the behavior of one to act in the best interest of their profession." Although, I don't believe professionalism can be bought. Regardless of an individuals income, they should conduct themselves in a professional manner and set the example.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Colgan, they are a pure example of horrible management and accidents waiting to happen. I find the pilots at fault too, but at the same time they needed the employment, because they are loaded with student loans and plus need income for living expenses. And the most why they were stuck there is for hours, which is sad!
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