Originally Posted by Superpilot92

BINGO!! We cant be the nations #1 carrier with the best product when we have the most regional jets in the industry. MGMT needs to come forward with a plan to replace our regional jet domestic feed with a mainline jet of choice. They need to realize that people hate regional jets and with the recent scrutiny of of the regional providers now would be the perfect time to adjust the business plan.

Originally Posted by TOGA LK

SWA kicks tail. Profitable, and no regional jets. Hmmm.... Sometimes old school wins.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

I agree for the most part Bar;

ASA, OH, SKW, Mesaba, Pinnacle, Piedmont, etc are established regionals with very good training programs. Heck I would even submit that Freedom, and Mesa have good training as I know a few of their APD's. Training is very important, but what IMHO is more important is the quality of the candidate coming to the interview.
We have a major problem in this industry,that no one wants to see. Majors have cut pay and bennies to the point that a smart kid will look at and say, "Heck for 150K a year in 20 years I can go be a dentist, a Anesthesiologist Tech, a Doctor, Lawyer, business man, government servant etc." Why would anyone in their right mind sign up for 15K a year for three to five years, then 50-70K a year for another five, then 30K at a major to get to senior FO when they are 40 making 100K and if they are lucky by the time they are 45-50 make 140K + ?
With all of the pitfalls and risks in this industry bight ppl are bright enough to avoid it. Add to it the banks do not want to lend money to students that want to join aviation. They are a bad debt risk.

The problem really is top down and bottom up. Give a bigger bone to shoot for you may be able to snooker some qualified pilots in to the pipe line. Up regional pay, everywhere and you will not see crazy stupid cross country commutes, horrible crash pads etc. Give pilots decent money so that they have a little expendable cash.

Problem is we are making a market wage in an industry that is not truly open to competition, and not regulated to the point that profits can be made across the board. The LGA slot swap is a great example. Airlines are trying to find new ways to make money. Not necessarily to pay pilot better, but to quit losing their shirts. If we can start to make money the QOL of the employees better come back as well.

The government is as much or more to blame than the airlines. Airline managers are ruthless and will pay exactly what gets ppl to arrive at the doorstep, but the government needs to either open it up completely( no slots etc) or regulate the entrants and everything else so that what they deem a national asset can perform as such. Not a half working broken system that by the grace of god does not kill more people that it does.

IMO without a major change the next generation will not be of the caliber of pilot that I want driving my family around. We have about four years to turn the ship.
Rant over!

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

It is more than just customer satisfaction, it is the ability to pile more crud in to the same bag. Less frequency on bigger jets leads to more seats for the same piece of airspace. With the public seeing air travel as essential it is the only way to go. There are only so many landing slots, and so much airspace to fit us all in.

Delta is leading the way in the NextGen Airspace Initiative. We have ppl in DC almost every week trying to find a solution to this problem. We know what the benefit are, but part of the fix is no more 50 seat jets taking up the same airspace as a 400 passenger jets does.

It may be less convenient for passengers to only have twice or thrice service a day sans hourly, but the jet will be bigger and the delays in theory should be less, as there is less metal trying to land on the same 7000 feet near LGA Bay.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

We have a major problem in this industry,that no one wants to see. Majors have cut pay and bennies to the point that a smart kid will look at and say, "Heck for 150K a year in 20 years I can go be a dentist, a Anesthesiologist Tech, a Doctor, Lawyer, business man, government servant etc." Why would anyone in their right mind sign up for 15K a year for three to five years, then 50-70K a year for another five, then 30K at a major to get to senior FO when they are 40 making 100K and if they are lucky by the time they are 45-50 make 140K + ?
With all of the pitfalls and risks in this industry bight ppl are bright enough to avoid it. Add to it the banks do not want to lend money to students that want to join aviation. They are a bad debt risk.

The problem really is top down and bottom up. Give a bigger bone to shoot for you may be able to snooker some qualified pilots in to the pipe line. Up regional pay, everywhere and you will not see crazy stupid cross country commutes, horrible crash pads etc. Give pilots decent money so that they have a little expendable cash.

Problem is we are making a market wage in an industry that is not truly open to competition, and not regulated to the point that profits can be made across the board. The LGA slot swap is a great example. Airlines are trying to find new ways to make money. Not necessarily to pay pilot better, but to quit losing their shirts. If we can start to make money the QOL of the employees better come back as well.

The government is as much or more to blame than the airlines. Airline managers are ruthless and will pay exactly what gets ppl to arrive at the doorstep, but the government needs to either open it up completely( no slots etc) or regulate the entrants and everything else so that what they deem a national asset can perform as such. Not a half working broken system that by the grace of god does not kill more people that it does.

IMO without a major change the next generation will not be of the caliber of pilot that I want driving my family around. We have about four years to turn the ship.

Rant over!

Originally Posted by Denny Crane

[/B]

I think your theory is a little flawed if you think there will be fewer jets landing in LGA or whatever airport that's slot controlled. If airlines go to bigger jets and less frequency to some markets, the slots that are now freed up will just be used to start new service some where else and now the airlines are right back where they started only with bigger jets, which is good, but it will not lead to less conjestion. IMO

Denny

Originally Posted by Pineapple Guy

+1

Give that man a cookie. You are SPOT on!

And I'll go one step more. If the gold at the end of the rainbow is big enough, there will never be a shortage of very qualified candidates to fill regional seats at minimum wage. But with major wages now significantly altered, and regional wages still pathetic, the caliber entering now is very likely of considerably less quality than ever before.

I have a list of regional airlines that I won't fly on. If we have another hiring boom, I suspect that list will grow considerably.

Originally Posted by ratsnrip

Had the momma ask me how bad this was going to be for her son, an Auburn grad from their aviation program. Supposedly he got a certified letter from the FAA saying some part of the program at Auburn in '08 was no longer valid. She thinks he will have to retake that part or he was offered the opportunity to "test out of it" with some kind of FAA test.

I had no idea what to tell her, I suggested he ask Auburn for a refund and then changed the subject. The only other information I have is that he is trying to get on with a regional as a pilot. Anybody here know what this Auburn thing is about?

Originally Posted by Superpilot92

BINGO!! We cant be the nations #1 carrier with the best product when we have the most regional jets in the industry. MGMT needs to come forward with a plan to replace our regional jet domestic feed with a mainline jet of choice. They need to realize that people hate regional jets and with the recent scrutiny of of the regional providers now would be the perfect time to adjust the business plan.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar

The show painted with a very broad brush. Some regionals are a lot better than others. ASA, IMHO had an outstanding training department. Their record has been outstanding too. The only losses of life the airline has ever sustained was the result of massive mechanical failures which rendered the airplane incapable of remaining airborne. Even then, by all accounts the crew performed admirably.

Also, the mainline operations are not the model of perfection which would make much of a contrast with the regional world. Southwest's corner cutting is legendary and it sounds like American in about to get a lot of press they do not want.

Hey, everyone can't be Delta ( I keed, I keed, but it is pretty good here compared to other places I've flown )

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

I agree for the most part Bar;

ASA, OH, SKW, Mesaba, Pinnacle, Piedmont, etc are established regionals with very good training programs. Heck I would even submit that Freedom, and Mesa have good training as I know a few of their APD's. Training is very important, but what IMHO is more important is the quality of the candidate coming to the interview.

We have a major problem in this industry,that no one wants to see. Majors have cut pay and bennies to the point that a smart kid will look at and say, "Heck for 150K a year in 20 years I can go be a dentist, a Anesthesiologist Tech, a Doctor, Lawyer, business man, government servant etc." Why would anyone in their right mind sign up for 15K a year for three to five years, then 50-70K a year for another five, then 30K at a major to get to senior FO when they are 40 making 100K and if they are lucky by the time they are 45-50 make 140K + ?

With all of the pitfalls and risks in this industry bight ppl are bright enough to avoid it. Add to it the banks do not want to lend money to students that want to join aviation. They are a bad debt risk.

The problem really is top down and bottom up. Give a bigger bone to shoot for you may be able to snooker some qualified pilots in to the pipe line. Up regional pay, everywhere and you will not see crazy stupid cross country commutes, horrible crash pads etc. Give pilots decent money so that they have a little expendable cash.

Problem is we are making a market wage in an industry that is not truly open to competition, and not regulated to the point that profits can be made across the board. The LGA slot swap is a great example. Airlines are trying to find new ways to make money. Not necessarily to pay pilot better, but to quit losing their shirts. If we can start to make money the QOL of the employees better come back as well.

The government is as much or more to blame than the airlines. Airline managers are ruthless and will pay exactly what gets ppl to arrive at the doorstep, but the government needs to either open it up completely( no slots etc) or regulate the entrants and everything else so that what they deem a national asset can perform as such. Not a half working broken system that by the grace of god does not kill more people that it does.

IMO without a major change the next generation will not be of the caliber of pilot that I want driving my family around. We have about four years to turn the ship.

Rant over!