Waitingformins

O yeah,
There already getting hush money every year now. Reminds me of that scene in Waterworld when the captain throws a can of SPAM and a loaf of bread off the balcony, "they'll row for a month before they figure out I don't know where were going".
It just depends on how much fast cash INC throws at them first.

Is offline

Kids today would have to put in $80,000-$100,000 to become qualified regional pilots. Starting pay has started a positive trend, but say it's $40,000 a year. No one should be dumb enough to take that deal, but some do thinking "one or two years at a regiona and I'm on with a legacy". Ten years later they are still at a regional.

There is no return on the investment of becoming a pilot, and until that is fixed there will be a shortage of regional pilots.

Kids today are much more family and social oriented. They don't want a job that keeps them away from home for 20 days a month.

atpcliff

More than three. For example, if I wanted to leave my airline, I would apply at DAL, AA, UAL, SWA, Hawaiian, Alaskan, FedEx, UPS, and JetBlue, not to mention some overseas airlines and businesses and charter/fractional companies.

When some guys get hired, at, say, UAL, 10+ applications just vanished from the system.

atpcliff

This is NOTHING like the 80s and 90s. Pay has gone up in China double since then. They are hiring expat FOs in China, for the very first time. Regional pay is much higher. There are MANY, MANY less new student starts than then, WAY less military pilots available, and MANY, MANY, MANY more guys retiring, or soon to retire, since then. Also, flight training costs, relative to the median family income in the US has gone up significantly. PLUS, the banks won't led anyone money for flight training anymore.

Nantonaku

Yeah but you've been saying this for years now. And every year you keep saying how open the market is abroad. I'm still not able to get a job abroad that makes me want to leave the US and many people I know haven't found it as easy as you make it seem. Getting a job at a regional is easy but it has always been easy, it is just easier now. Yes, pay is up but that doesn't necessarily mean that the pilot market is going to dry up any time soon and the majors are going to start hiring high school kids and training them. It seems to me the path to the majors is just as hard as it has always been, the short lived boom in 2007/2008 it was probably easier even. Back then everyone was singing the same tune, a huge hiring wave coming up, huge retirements right around the corner. Just like the 90's when all those Vietnam era pilots were suppose to retire. It is always right around the corner.

ChrisJT6

Riddle me this? A regional airline orders a bunch of expensive 100 seat C-Series airplanes and then claim they can't operate under these onerous new pilot qualifications (despite being announced several years ago) that are causing a shortage. This Ch11 has nothing to do w pilot availability but everything w riding themselves of financial obligations to Bombardier. They failed to bust 100seat scope and are hosed now and are blaming George Bush...the excuse of the new century! If you can't make money in the air transport biz when fuel is at record lows...you need to go! I have found RaH crews qualified and professional and look forward to seeing them move on and up!!

word302

We had over 100 for 4 or 5 months in a row.

FirstClass

Spot on.

Filler

garrett490

We have several guys at Mesa that left RAH. They are CAs now and the 2 I know personally had very negative experiences with management at RAH. Apparently there a bunch of ass holes to work for...from my view point, RAH is filing bankruptcy because they didn't treat the people they had right and they didn't make sound business decisions. Look at Mesa now....growing, hiring, expanding and the pay is the lowest, but upgrade times are short and the company doesn't ride your back so they are able to fill classes. Sure we could use more pilots, but not everyone can afford to take a pay cut to $22 or start commuting for another job when they are based at home making $35-40.

ToooonSteamer

Add in the cost of a four year college degree and I spent just over $200,000. I barely make my loan payments with my current pay