NightIP

I hear that.

JoeyMeatballs

Unfortunately it doesn't matter because the gov't and airlines will never allow themselves to be caught with their pants down, no way we will ever have a true pilot shortage because that would put too much power in the hands of pilots(LABOR), so instead they CREATE THIS LITTLE GEM THAT WE WILL ALL BECOME VERY FAMILIAR WITH.....................DRUM ROLL PLEASE............................................ ....MPL LICENSE. It won't matter if there are students enrolled in flight schools, the MPL license will take people with basically no experience and train them much like AB-INITIO or whatever it is..............

Pilotpip

Sad thing is we'll all be too busy arguing about who's turd is the most polished to notice it happening.

Cabotage, MPL, both need our attention and we need to make sure they don't happen.

JoeyMeatballs

Love your sig hang in there, hopefully we'll see better days soon, I keep asking myself how much worse can it get, but that always seems to be answered quickly and usually not a good answer

Pilotpip

Thanks Saab,

Yeah, honestly things are starting to look up. RAH announced another round of recalls. While it didn't get to me, it's beyond close and guys in my class are going back. I have no doubt in my mind that my letter will come within a month. In the mean time, I'm not forgetting that last year I celebrated Thanksgiving with a turkey sub in ORD and Christmas in Harrisburg, PA during an icestorm with power going out periodically. I really don't miss preflighting in ankle-deep type II either. Just wish I could afford to go skiing this winter. Oh well.

Our apathy is symptomatic of a much larger problem with society. We need to start holding our CEOs, Unions, elected officials etc accountable. We also need to do a better job educating those coming up behind us. Understand the nature of the beast, and focus our energy away from the territorial ****ing and towards fighting cabotage, RLA and getting better contracts for ourselves. The Mesa TA threads prove this.

SkyHigh

Hopefully there will be a boom however the majors still haven't recovered from 9-11 yet. They never really hired a whole lot of pilots during the last few years. SWA hired a few, UAL and NWA grabbed some but really there was no big surge of hiring at the majors. As far as I know AA did not hire any new pilots at all.

Everyone is holding out for salvation by being hired at a major however In order to make a difference in the lives of most line pilots the majors need to collectively hire a huge amount in order for the average line guy to have much of a chance. The majors really do not hire that many pilots anymore.

As such it seems more likely that the majors will continue to constrict as one or more major airlines succumbs to the economy. Career salvation I think lies elsewhere. There may be a boom in 2012 however it seems to me that it will come from disillusioned regional pilots who will be able to find employment outside of aviation by then.

However I think that there is a lot of merit to the idea that a shutdown on pilot training credit will result in a reduction in the number of new career entrants. It will be interesting to see what effect that has on the future.

SKyhigh

rickair7777

I'm somewhat with SH on this one...I'm not sure we'll see a big boom in the forseeable future where every RJ driver withh 1001 TPIC is getting called left and right. Baring total economic catastrophe, there should be some hiring after 2012 but it will likely be competetive. Better fill out that check airman application...or that chinese visa application.

3greens

I think the major airlines were going to lose 30-35% of their pilots over the next few years due to retirements and there was going to be a major shortage and crisis for the majors is why we saw the hiring spree at all the regionals last year. 2007 was great for people looking for their first jobs at the regional level with sign on bonuses being given out and the lowest minimums we have seen in years.

All this hiring was done because the majors were going to pull people from within the ranks of the regionals due to those increased retirements last year. But what happened then? The age 65 rule was passed, and all the newbies were pushed back basically 5 years.

This is the reason why we saw much reduced hiring at the start of this year, 1st quarter of 2008. And then, the gas prices hit a record followed by the economy crashing. This caused the furloughs and freeze on hiring by most airlines.

But my prediction and of most other people is that once that age 65 rule catches up in 2012, we surely will see another hiring spree at the regional level and also at the majors. Maybe it might not be like 2007, but I think it will be relatively the same, lowered minimums and a lot of bridge programs going through. Increased pay? I guess not.

In 2012, those 30-35% people who were to retire at the majors last year and then ended up getting a chance to serve for another 5 years, will have to start leaving as I doubt FAA will push up the retirement age to 70. And as soon as that happens, and the majors start hiring again, the regionals will pick up as well.

I also doubt the majors will cut flights back to the extent that 30-35% of their pilots leave, and it wont affect their operation. The economy will improve, obviously not overnight but by 2010 we should see it back on the upward curve. So fingers crossed.. just my 2 cents!

Utah

30-35% Last year? Where'd you get that number!

chongololo

Say no to MPL, say no to cabotage and say no to these single-pilot Citation operators out there trying to hire one less pilot.
Say no to lowering the minimums if the shortage returns and fight hard for increased wages.
Good luck to all.