Posted on 06/06/2017 4:07:37 AM PDT by Kaslin
EAA and other Aviation organizations have been well aware of the present and future pilot shortage for at least ten years. I am quite sure some of the blame, if we are blaming, can be place squarely on the Obama administration for their shrinking of the military budget as well as the military itself.
It will take a long time to reverse the damage he has done. Can President Trump do it in eight years? Maybe, but I doubt it. It will most likely take much longer.
After the Colgan air accident in Buffalo NY the primary drivers of the rule change to require all airline new hires to possess an ATP rating were Senators Clinton and Schumer.
Another huge factor is the rapidly expanding airline industry in the developing world. Indian’s airline industry alone is expanding about 40% per year. India has virtually zero general aviation and literally zero flight schools. They, like the rest of the world, hire mostly western pilots.
As you know there are plenty of qualified pilots available to fly for the Regional carriers but not at low wages and poor work conditions.
Bring back the Flying Sergeants !
"It would be much better to offer citizenship to pilots from Yemen and Somalia than it would be to allow free-market forces to increase wages to American-born pilots."— Our Elite Establishment.
I suspect that drones will be a big part of this solution. We’re heading for driverless cars and trucks. I think transport and passenger planes could manage with no one on board. That decision may not really be “smart” but The Powers That Be may decide that this decision “makes economic sense”.
“They, like the rest of the world, hire mostly western pilots.”
Well daa, otherwise their air traffic controllers wouldn’t be able to understand them.
I don’t have time to post right now because I’ve got to go fly a trip. The pilot shortage is a storm brewing on the world’s horizon. America will be hit the hardest because of government mismanagement. Airlines in America will start going out of business because of it. Small cities all across this country will lose airline service forcing people to drive to airline hubs. This will result in a higher fatality rate. The net result will be the destruction of American Airline industry and more dead Americans.
Congress has no business addressing this “shortage”. The invisible hand of the market has and will always, fix this.
Congress has no business addressing this “shortage”.
...except for the fact that to some degree they caused it.
11 million to train a fighter pilot? Give the military pilots a $2 million bonus to reenlist.
Another huge factor is the rapidly expanding airline industry in the developing world. Indian’s airline industry alone is expanding about 40% per year. India has virtually zero general aviation and literally zero flight schools. They, like the rest of the world, hire mostly western pilots.
...
That’s a big factor and I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned in the article.
That is just it. When the market for commercial pilots makes it a very attractive choice to leave the military, then it makes sense to increase bonuses as part of retention.
“....with qualified pilots at the controls.”
Well, there you have the solution right there. Just change the definition of “qualified” until you have enough pilots to meet the demand.
Getting an ATP has always been required for left seat drivers of scheduled air carriers (even small one like Cape Air, which flies the 402C). The cost of getting the ATP has become so prohibitive ($60,000-$90,000) that the only sources are military training or civilian multi-engine instructing, the latter yielding perhaps $25,000/year wages, weather permitting. Obviously, military training is preferable to airlines. But you can find trailer dwellers at all larger airports, where six new co-pilots share a trailer and three beds as they cannot afford anything better.
In the final analysis, if you want a flying career you have to be ready to sacrifice a lot. Far fewer people these days are willing to.
The time for pilotless aircraft is at hand.
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