HercDriver130

nobody knows REALLY what the future holds....any guess past next week for any company is just that.... a guess.

SkyHigh

No one knows what the real estate market will do tomorrow but when you examine a graph over time it is easy to see the overall trend.

As with aviation next week will be a surprise. Ten years into the future is easier to guess.

SkyHigh

buffalopilot

SKYHIGH

I cant say i really agree with that. If you look at carriers in other countries, the training that the pilots get fro day 1 is geared toward airlines. They dont do it like we do here with the time building. They hirfe pilot with 0 hours and put them in an Airbus etc. Their pay is OK. So i dont agree that multi crew rating ets will ruin the industry. Its a quick fix for lack of pilots. When the mins go up again, that rating will be useless

fosters

Buffalo, ask yourself "why is there a lack of pilots". It's because the career and pay are nothing compared to what they used to be. When I got my commercial DAL pilots still made $300+/hr, and the regionals had 50 seaters max. It's nothing like it was.

buffalopilot

I also think that cheap labor, increase in regional flying at lower wages etc was a solution that major airline management thought would work. But they are now realizing that you get what you pay for. RJs arent profitable, even the 170's and that we need less flights and use bigger airplanes. Its happening already. In Buffalo, 3 months ago it was mostly RJs, now is all main,ine overnighting in Buffalo, 757's A320 etc. The RJ was the immedaite fix to 911 but it did not cure the disease! IMO

groovinaviator

I think we still do at least 2 CRJ200's there a night. I do so many freakin BUF overnights... be there Tuesday and Thursday night this week! Not a bad overnight for us... one of my favorites. Great place to be in the summer!


PM me if you wanna grab a beer.

buffalopilot

yeah there still are some RJ but USair 757 United 737 etc. Beer is great. I MAY TAKE YOU UP ON IT.

tcasra

"Bottom of the barrel guys (Mesa and TSA types)?" Who are you to judge others for choosing an airline that does not "meet your standards"! You are assuming that because someone chooses Mesa, TSA or Pinnacle that they are less experienced and qualified than others. There have been plenty of pilots at these carriers that haved moved on to Majors, Legacy carriers and Fractionals. It is my assumption that many go to places like these to get the quick upgrade so they are able to move on and progress their careers. And if you're wondering, I don't work for above. QOL is pretty good where I am, but sometimes I wonder if QOL while sitting right seat for 3+ years is worth it. I don't plan to stay here forever...do you?

groovinaviator

I never said Pinnacle... are they bottom of the barrel? Interesting.I have quite a few friends from college at TSA and although I don't agree with where they went to work I am by no means better than them. Some have a reason they need to be there, but let's face it most of us (not all) entry level pilots are young and single and could go wherever we wanted. Anyway, My point is that the less money someone is willing to work for the less money we will all make. My company formerly had bases in the midwest, but now we do not and I get paid much less money than I would have because a second rate company that doesn't pay their pilots crap undercut us. I suppose those pay cuts which we had to take to stay afloat helped inch us along in the race to the bottom... Glad we are not winning that race.

How does going to a company like MESA, TSA, and apparently Pinnacle (among others I'm sure) help anyone but yourself. I suppose that in the end everyone is only looking out for #1 anyway.

Same old story... That is part of (dis)honest future.
This has been argued so many times before. There is nothing new from either side to be said.

Didn't mean to sound arrogant... I by no means think i am better than anyone else. I however do think I did my part (through research) to get a job that wasn't screwing over other entry level pilots... although it could be argued I am screwing the guys at the majors... the argument could go on forever.


And no... I don't plan on being at AWAC forever, but i do no if there is another down turn in hiring I will have made the right decision. By the way... don't get caught up on upgrade times. They can (and do) change overnight.

SkyHigh

High training costs are the driving force behind the MCL. In 3 years we could be paying $10 a gallon for avgas. It is highly possible that in the near future it could cost 140K for a commercial MEL license. Eventually private training programs will drop off.

Rather than to raise wages airlines will constitute their own European style cadet programs and hire high school kids as indentured servants. As with the age 65 rule, the MCL is just another way for companies to continue the supply of cheap pilots.

Skyhigh