Thoughts?
Earv,
This discussion comes up from time to time and fortunately does not seem to gain any traction. I don’t think that having 1,500 hours necessarily makes one a safer pilot, but it does mean that somebody needs to be more committed to the idea of being a pilot. Now this is not based on anything scientific, but it does seem to me that the people who are starting flight training now, knowing that it will be at least two years until they fly a jet are more serious and more committed than many who started when you could be in a jet six months after starting flight training. Those more serious pilots make safer pilots.
The 1,500 hour rule is not the reason for the shortage, the reason is the airlines themselves and the decades they spent paying very low starting wages. After awhile, people just started losing interest in flying as a profession and the numbers on rate of return of the cost of flight training relative to future earnings just didn’t work. Well, eventually that chicken came home to roost and we found ourselves in a self induced shortage.
Even if the rule is changed, it will not do much to help the shortage other than a quick bump in eligible applicants. If the airlines really want to fix the shortage, they need to continue to raise wages. Think about it, the majors pay very well and there is certainly no shortage there.
Chris
“The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has steadfastly stuck to the story that there is no shortage of pilots, only of pilots willing to work for the traditionally low wages paid by most regional airlines“
I mean that’s the nail on the head there. More required hours = more money to be spent on getting the proper licensing to fly for an airline, which is hard to justify sometimes for men/women with families.
Do any flight instructing schools have programs where they go into high schools/colleges and offer free test flights? I feel like that could help a little with getting the next generation interested, especially for kids who wouldn’t normally be exposed to flying as a career. Maybe some major airlines could sponsor something like that?
For me personally, my only experience flying was as a passenger, it never even occurred to me I could take a test flight until my girlfriend’s dad told me about it, and I was 25 at the time lol. I had just always thought you went into the military if you wanted to be a pilot, which wasn’t a route I wanted to go
Earv,
Nothing to see here, move on. As Chris said ever since the rule came into existence there have been those looking to change it. While I personally don’t think it’s necessary the fact is we haven’t had a major crash since which is all the supporters need to keep it in place.
Adam
1 Like
Zach,
Actually, more required hours does not in anyway increase the cost of flight training. The training required now is exactly the same as before the rule change, thus so is the cost. It just takes longer to be eligible for the airlines, but the cost is the same.
There is no need for flight schools or airlines to go in and try to drum up business, ATP is busier than it has ever been. The airlines just need to continue to increase pay. This is simple free market economics at work here.
Chris
1 Like
I was thinking more in terms of people needing larger loans possibly to hold them over through the thinner times when starting at an airline, but I guess a lot of people plan well ahead already when they have families, which I didn’t take into account.
The majority of people I know have had no clue that you could become a pilot in ways outside of the military. I was just thinking out loud that catching kids in high school when they are starting to think about their futures might be another way to attract future pilots
Zachary,
For better or worse there have always been lean times. Fact is while I got hired back in the day at ExpressJet with only 540hrs first year pay was only $18k so I actually took a pay cut from instructing and second year wasn’t much better at $28k. The bottomline is things are the best they’ve ever been, the 1500hr Rule contributed to the shortage which in turn helped to raise the salaries. It’s not going to change anytime soon and that’s not a bad thing.
Adam
1 Like
Zach,
I wouldn’t say that making $60k during the first year at a regional is “lean times”. People seem to forget that an RJ first officer is an entry level position into the industry, essentially it is an apprentice position. This is somebody entering the airlines with basic FAA training and no real world knowledge of how jet airplanes and the airlines work, one really can’t expect that position to pay but so much. I can’t think of many jobs that start at $60k, heck, my girlfriend is a school teacher, with a Master’s degree and makes $49,000 per year after having taught for thirteen years.
I am also not sure where this perception that pilots have to come from the military came from. The vast majority of airline pilots are civilian trained and it has been this way for many decades. Keep in kind that shortages are good things, they drive the price of an airline pilot up. An excess supply would lower the value of a pilot.
Chris
1 Like
Good points for sure. I’m from a military family, and from smaller towns, so all the pilots/airline pilots I know are former military and that’s what a lot of others I have met have experienced.
I was talking more in terms of getting the 1500 hours being the lean times while flight instructing, I was thinking of the airline stuff while typing the CFI part out, my bad! The first year salaries at regionals are plenty even with massive loan principals. Way better than the 12k I make working 50+ hours a week at Publix!
The airlines investing in going to schools was just a spitball thing because that’s what military recruiters do, and it works well for them haha
Agreed!