Posted on 05/25/2022 7:00:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
Planning to fly this summer? Good luck.
Delays are up. Cancellations, too.
Why? Because of the pilot shortage.
A pilot shortage? How can this be? Flying is a popular job. Some people fly small planes just for fun. Why aren't there enough commercial pilots?
Because the government passed another dumb law.
In 2009, after a Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, New York, killed 50 people, Congress decided that airlines could only hire aspiring commercial pilots who already had lots of flight time.
Instead of 250 hours, now they have to have 1,500 hours!
"That never made any sense," says current commercial airline pilot Tracy Price in my new video.
The sixfold increase wouldn't have prevented the Colgan crash. Those pilots had many more than 1,500 hours of flight time. The pilot had 3,379 -- the co-pilot, 2,244.
That didn't matter to the politicians. "We need to improve pilot training, address flight crew hours and service," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Demanding more pre-hire flight time discouraged people from trying to become pilots. It had "the effect of pulling up the ladder," says Price.
Few people have the time or money to get 1,500 hours in the air before they can even apply for a job. The number of certified pilots fell even as flight demand increased.
The pilots unions didn't object.
"Fewer applicants means higher pay," explains Price.
I say to Price, "This rule is good for you!"
"Great for me (and other) professional pilots," he replies. "If you believe in freedom though, it's a bit of an issue."
The union blamed the pilot shortage on poor pay at regional airlines, so I push back at Price, "Some of these regional airlines were paying pilots as little as $21,000 a year."
"(But) there was no shortage of applicants!" Price responds. "Plenty of people were willing to take fairly low pay and live with roommates for a year or two to gain that really valuable jet experience."
Today's required 1,500 hours doesn't even create better pilots. Actual pilots get trained in simulators today. The computerized cockpit gives them more useful experience than unsupervised hours of hobby flying.
In fact, those hours may leave pilots less prepared. "Flight time does not equal experience," Faye Black of the Regional Airline Association told Congress. "We waste a lot of time in training, breaking bad habits pilots acquire while trying to quickly get to 1,500 hours."
The politicians ignored her.
That's not surprising. Once government creates new rules, those rules tend to live forever.
Many are just unnecessary. Airlines don't want to kill their customers, and pilots don't want to kill themselves, so they self-regulate.
The last fatal commercial airline crash was 13 years ago. Flying is much safer than driving, biking, and taking a bus or train.
"Safer than any mode of conveyance ever, including walking," says Price.
But politicians believe that if they're not passing more rules, they're not doing their job.
So expect more flight delays this summer.
"I spend a lot more time than I want to making announcements to people apologizing for being late," says Price. "We should be looking for ways to expand the availability of airline travel to more people so more people can take advantage of this amazingly safe way to get from A to B."
Soon airlines will demand you pay for fuel before they takeoff ,LOL
The shortage couldn’t have anything to with a lot of pilots rejecting the forced clot shots, now, could it?????
Politicians are reactionary, always passing laws after the horse has left the barn.
Or pilots that now have heart problems and can no longer fly?
My son got paid to sit at home for 3 month while he waited for the FAA airman check rides-—literally 3 flight legs and he had to wait 3 months just to get in line. There’s bottlenecks everywhere and this is caused by government.
The Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate carried a 1,500 flying hour minimum long before the Colgan Air crash.
Ha!
Since 2009....and, we’re just now seeing the ‘result’?
Um, no.
It’s the jabs.
They’re now considering to cut in HALF the number of required hours, just to fill positions.
No, thanks.
United Airlines has an ironic tagline....
Going, going, gone.
Yes, that is true as well...many are not passing their physical because of myocarditis...plus shortages of FAA airman for check rides, vaccines, etc-—all done by design. They can’t pass the “New green deal” so they’ll just destroy the industry.
Bingo.
More of the 80%+ unconstitutional portion of federal laws and acts.
There is NO Constitutional authority given to the feds for regulating much less taking over the airline industry.
NUKE THE 80%+ UNCONSTITUTIONAL PORTION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!!!!!
Or, politicians are culpable, opening the barn so that they can pass the laws.
Political margins of safety require no basis in reality, as long as the politician can shake the data in voters faces declaring "I did this for your own good!".
No need to sugar coat it.... it's more like 99% is unconstitutional.
I've heard an estimate that the feds are trying to do 6000 things, when Art 1 § 8 enumerates a mere 19.
Oh brother. Lautenberg was the prototype for Biden. Senator Bob Torricelli was caught red handed being an utterly corrupt SOB and selling his office right before the election. He dropped out of the election about a couple of weeks before the election and NJ jaw says you can't change candidates at that point so he must remain on the ballot. A judge said literally that it was more important that a viable democrat be on the ballot than to follow the law and so they went back to Frank Lautenberg. He had resigned years before because dementia was setting in. But they figured he had name recognition and average citizens didn't know he was brain dead (especially since he didn't campaign or make public appearances at all) so they voted for him and he won. Mission accomplished.
He was a vegetable as a Senator, someone was pulling his strings obviously. Anyway, I imagine in 2020 someone said "hey, remember how we put a mindless fool on the ballot in NJ because people knew who he was and thought he was experienced and competent and he never campaigned and it actually worked? We should do that again! Someone call Biden!"
Federal government — is there anything in our lives they can’t improve?
“The shortage couldn’t have anything to with a lot of pilots rejecting the forced clot shots, now, could it?????”
Nope.
“many are not passing their physical because of myocarditis.”
How many?
That was a cheap shot...
The issue and question is when will Patriots stand up and do whatever it takes to take back this outlaw government, reinstate the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, and restore our Free Constitutional Republic?
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