180ToAJ

Agreed
I had this really old Capt I went through training with not that long ago. During a sim we got into a conversation about FA’s and new hire pilots with the instructor. He was a DGS guy and saw common ground with the Capt I guess. The instructor talked about these new people with attitudes and no work ethic. I assumed he would agree, but the Capt let him finish and said, “You are right, some of these new people don’t want to work. Some of those old flight attendants don’t want to work either. I’ve seen some weak new hires, but I’ve been very impressed by most. I don’t think it has to do with a generation, race, work background, or anything else. I think some people just suck.”

I’m sure we’ve all heard we’d be screwed if WW2 happened today because kids are flabby, scared, and don’t have any fortitude. Go to any high school sporting event. Baseball, soccer, football, lacrosse, basketball, etc. it doesn’t matter. You will see kids eat dirt, take hits, and layout on the court. They are faster, stronger, and maybe even tougher than we were. This is overshadowed by the small vocal percentage of the weak.

We have seen more people struggle going through training. We have also had more new people go through training than any other time in history. A 3A school has less students failing than a 5A school.
I would even agree the percentage may be a little higher as we went a little younger and less experienced as the pool drained, but I personally believe the crisis is greatly exaggerated. I think some people just suck.

crewdawg

Agreed. Most every NH I've flown with has been great. Having worked at 3 different airlines, I do have to laugh about all the "culture" posts. Hate to break it to them, but every place is the same crap, different pile. Most people are great, but there is always the 1% that seem to do their level best to make life much harder than it needs to be.

sailingfun

There are always great kids. The sad truth however is a far higher percentage of kids today don't fit into what you posted above. The military is acutely aware of this in their recruiting efforts. Only the Marine Corps has no issues and does not offer signing bonuses. They state you get the opportunity to be a Marine and that is worth more than any bonus.

"“It’s been getting harder to recruit, and the military expects it to continue to get harder,” said David R. Segal, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland who has studied recruiting trends for decades.

For one thing, about 77 percent of young people are ineligible to enlist because they are overweight, or have disqualifying mental or physical conditions or issues with drug use, according to a Defense Department.""

Tinpusher007

Not trying to beat a dead horse but that's still 2 backgrounds lol. Anyway, I would tend to think one's former airline culture would be more of an influence at this point than whatever college they went to. But Im not a captain and don't often fly with brand new hires.

sailingfun

I suspect it's far less about prior culture or training background. it's more about the quality of the individual.
If you have a pool of 10,000 apllicants and you need to fill 500 positions you can be far more selective than if you have a pool of 1000 applicants and need to fill 500 slots. Every applicant is not created the same.

crewdawg

I think this topic is a bit more complex than "these kids don't want to work." I don't disagree that a growing % can't serve, increased obesity is one big culprit. But more so, we've been experiencing a population growth decline for decades. Only a small % of population ever served, and the number of military aged citizens is declining, so it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise that the military struggles to meet recruiting goals. Our population is aging, which means the pool of available applicants of military age citizens is declining. Allowing women into more roles in the military has helped soften that blow, but it's still an issue. It also doesn't help that these kids have grown up with a military on a constant wartime footing. Having lived it, it sucks being constantly deployed for an entire career...I don't blame them for not wanting to serve. For quite some time, military leaders have expressed that population decline is on the list of the greatest threats to our national security. However, I have zero doubt that is a WWII style fight arose, there would be plenty to sign up to fight a righteous battle.

Of course, this issue goes well beyond the military, in that you have less workers to maintain the lifestyle we know today. Increase automation will help stave that off, but unless they figure out a way to tax machines, it also means it's harder to keep social programs afloat. This is one of the reasons I'll be happy if I ever see any social security.



This chart is a bit dated, but it's one of the better graphics that I've found on the subject.

Tfork

Holy thread creep! I just wish we could start deliveries of A350s so we can get back on track.

TNDeltaFlyboy

1 - didn't ask that, unfortunately.

2 - I'm fairliy certain he got data from our discrete wifi network

3 - I think he said 3-6 months. I flew with him when he just started testing it.

DWC CAP10 USAF

777 tire falls off…pilots fault?

Engine fire on takeoff after ingesting FOD…pilots fault?

Hydraulic failure after takeoff emergency return to departure airport…Pilots fault?

IAH drift after landing…Pilots fault? yes…Capt was very senior guppy Capt so nothing to do with his/her young age or experience.

CruJones

I had an LCA on a different fleet tell me his technique was to take the runway with ONLY the left engine. This way he’d still be at the hold short line if it wasn’t running.