Delta's pilot hiring pool is shrinking fast
03-21-2016, 04:14 PM
#52
Line Holder
Joined APC: Dec 2013
Position: CA
Posts: 56
Delta's cure to their "pilot shortage"= farm out the international flying, increase productivity amongst domestic flying, and start recruiting at the local cakewalk benefitting the boys and girls club. There's a reason delta is cozying up to their international partners, and it ain't cause they're trying to expand the fleet. We'll do two or three Asian destinations (NRT, HND, PVG), two Europe (AMS, CDG), and one Mexican, and one Brazilian(GRU)...my $.02
03-21-2016, 04:56 PM
#53
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2015
Position: Power top
Posts: 2,960
Excellent post. Can you imagine the day Delta announces a codeshare with one of the ME3?
03-21-2016, 05:33 PM
#54
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Position: stake holder ir.delta.com
Posts: 10,456
Can you? http://www.etihad.com/en-us/about-us...s/jet-airways/
Q: Given that Etihad Airways owns a 24 percent stake in Jet, and those two airlines operate a strategic alliance that includes codesharing across their networks, is it hypocritical for Delta to partner with Jet when it is fighting to push Etihad out of U.S. markets?
NP: Etihad’s minority investment in Jet doesn’t change the fact that Gulf carriers have deeply distorted the playing field on international flights to India, in violation of the Open Skies agreements. We are asking the U.S. government to open consultations with the UAE and Qatar to address the subsidy issue. But in the meantime airlines like Delta are forced to find ways to adapt, and this codeshare is beneficial to our customers as well as Jet’s.
Last edited by notEnuf; 03-21-2016 at 06:13 PM.
03-22-2016, 05:49 PM
#55
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Posts: 163
That's exactly right, but I don't think you understand why it has come to this.
Do you remember the events of 9-11? Do you recall what happened to all the Major airlines afterwards? They all filed for bankruptcy, furloughed thousands of pilots, cut pay rates by nearly 50% and completely eliminated retirement benefits, which were worth millions, PER PILOT.
At the same time, fuel prices were going through the roof, and the economy tanked in 2008. Flying lessons were up to $170/hr for students (my son was one) and then there were NO JOBS for them to move up to, due to the furloughed pilots all being pushed backwards into those entry level jobs, many left the industry all together, and 25+ year Captains (like me) could NOT afford to pay $170/hr for our kids flying lessons, after taking such huge pay cuts in bankruptcy.
There was simply NO POINT in pursuing the career at that time, too much cost, no reward.
Add to that the explosion of new technology available to kids today. There are simply too many other things they can pursue in the IT world, that don't take nearly the same amount of time/money investment to learn, offering more jobs to move into, which all pay much better than starting pay at any RJ outfit. Oh, and no time away from home required in the IT world either.
Compare that to the lifestyle and pay of the average new RJ pilot, and see how many years and how many thousands of dollars he has invested...to earn minimum wage and be gone from home, 15-20 days a month.
The industry has now 'restructured' itself, through 4 major mergers. What was once 8 competing carriers has become only 4, and they are smart enough not to run Fare Wars, undercutting each other. Fuel prices have come down, the industry is now making unforeseen Billions, but the pilot's pay is STILL far below what it was 15 years ago, with NO REAL RETIEMENT PLAN!
These 4 airline management teams are now using these billions in profits, to enrich themselves through stock buybacks, instead of restoring the ongoing pilot pay/benefit cuts!
You call it whining, I call it reality.
So guess what?
There's a pilot shortage coming.
Why?
Nobody in the training pipeline.
Why not?
See above.
I can tell you that when I was 14 (1973) and thinking about what I would like to do for the rest of my life, the fact that I knew a couple well off airline pilots in my neighborhood had a LOT to do to influence my decision to pursue flying as a career.
Contrast that to the last 10 years airline pilot's lives; furloughed, or losing their homes to bankruptcy, or divorce, or all of the above. Why would any teenager paying attention want to go down that road, even if he could afford the flying lessons, when he can play on the computer and write code instead?
I'm going to post a clip of what Sully Sullenberger said to Congress several years ago, re the future of the piloting profession, and why no airline pilot today wants his kid to get into it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kePiiZ8_YA
Do you remember the events of 9-11? Do you recall what happened to all the Major airlines afterwards? They all filed for bankruptcy, furloughed thousands of pilots, cut pay rates by nearly 50% and completely eliminated retirement benefits, which were worth millions, PER PILOT.
At the same time, fuel prices were going through the roof, and the economy tanked in 2008. Flying lessons were up to $170/hr for students (my son was one) and then there were NO JOBS for them to move up to, due to the furloughed pilots all being pushed backwards into those entry level jobs, many left the industry all together, and 25+ year Captains (like me) could NOT afford to pay $170/hr for our kids flying lessons, after taking such huge pay cuts in bankruptcy.
There was simply NO POINT in pursuing the career at that time, too much cost, no reward.
Add to that the explosion of new technology available to kids today. There are simply too many other things they can pursue in the IT world, that don't take nearly the same amount of time/money investment to learn, offering more jobs to move into, which all pay much better than starting pay at any RJ outfit. Oh, and no time away from home required in the IT world either.
Compare that to the lifestyle and pay of the average new RJ pilot, and see how many years and how many thousands of dollars he has invested...to earn minimum wage and be gone from home, 15-20 days a month.
The industry has now 'restructured' itself, through 4 major mergers. What was once 8 competing carriers has become only 4, and they are smart enough not to run Fare Wars, undercutting each other. Fuel prices have come down, the industry is now making unforeseen Billions, but the pilot's pay is STILL far below what it was 15 years ago, with NO REAL RETIEMENT PLAN!
These 4 airline management teams are now using these billions in profits, to enrich themselves through stock buybacks, instead of restoring the ongoing pilot pay/benefit cuts!
You call it whining, I call it reality.
So guess what?
There's a pilot shortage coming.
Why?
Nobody in the training pipeline.
Why not?
See above.
I can tell you that when I was 14 (1973) and thinking about what I would like to do for the rest of my life, the fact that I knew a couple well off airline pilots in my neighborhood had a LOT to do to influence my decision to pursue flying as a career.
Contrast that to the last 10 years airline pilot's lives; furloughed, or losing their homes to bankruptcy, or divorce, or all of the above. Why would any teenager paying attention want to go down that road, even if he could afford the flying lessons, when he can play on the computer and write code instead?
I'm going to post a clip of what Sully Sullenberger said to Congress several years ago, re the future of the piloting profession, and why no airline pilot today wants his kid to get into it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kePiiZ8_YA
Excellent post! Thanks for taking the time!
03-24-2016, 03:02 PM
#56
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2014
Position: Recovering OBOGS addict
Posts: 385
I totally snarfed my beer reading this... and now I can't stop laughing.
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