Flying Cheap

#1
State of the regional airline industry: 

Currently, the regional airlines industry is doing fairly well for itself. According to The Regional Airlines Association (2017), in 2015 regional airlines were responsible for "44 percent of the nation’s departures and safely carried 157 million passengers on nearly 4 million departures" (p. 1) which equates to about 11 thousand departures a day. 

Pilot shortage:

The pilot shortage is not only a real problem, but a worsening one. The projection of the amount of airline pilots that are going to be retiring in the next ten or so years are staggering. CNN Money (2017) stated that "more than 42% of active U.S. airline pilots at the biggest carriers will retire over the next 10 years, about 22,000" (p. 1).

Pay increases to solve pilot shortage:

Just like many other jobs in the world, solely increasing the amount of money that someone receives won't change the long-term satisfaction of the employees. In today’s world, the reason someone wouldn't want to become a pilot is because of the instability that the job creates in that person’s home life. The very definition of flying implies traveling, and if someone wants to be home every night with their spouse and kids, then increasing the amount of money they'll get won't make them want to work there anymore. 

#2
1500-hour rule's impact on regional airlines:

The 1500-hour rule is most likely hurting the regional airlines application pool. Meaning, that a qualified pilot would only apply to a regional airline if they have been turned down buy every other airline that they have applied for. This would ultimately mean that the people that apply to a regional airline are of a lower quality than the other pilots that get picked up.

Solutions:

One solution to this pilot shortage problem would be to lower the mandatory hours necessary to get an Airline Transport License. Since that rule was enacted, there have been a near immeasurable number of reports and studies that would speak to how the rule hasn’t made much of a difference in safety. In my opinion, it’s because the pilots that become eligible to get an ATP license have obtained the mandatory hours through the cheapest and easiest ways available to them. Getting the hours through these means is a significantly different training than if a young pilot was to get the necessary hours working for the airline and being trained by other, more experienced, airline pilots.

#3
1)  Being a professional is a combination of being good at a specific job, have an appropriate appearance related to the job, and carrying and conducting yourself with a certain level of respect for yourself and others.

2) Two notable ways that management behaved unprofessionally is by making the company catch phrase “Move the rigs” implying that it was more important to get the wheels off the ground than to value safety. And by having one employee rightfully claim fatigue and the manage asked him “wouldn’t you like to get home tonight” again implying that it was more important to make money that to be safe.  

3) I believe that the first-year pilot pay doesn’t help the professionalism because it doesn’t make it easy to live or motivating to be the best employee you can be but I believe that the upper level management and experienced employee’s is what effects the professionalism of the employees in the company more than the low payment.





Citations

RAA, 16 Mar. 2017, "RAA Issues Statement on President Trump’s 2018 Budget Proposal". http://www.raa.org/news/335963/RAA-Issues-Statement-on-President-Trumps-2018-Budget-Proposal-.htm 

Ostrower, Jon. 31 July, 2017. "The U.S. Will Face a Staggering Shortage of Pilots". http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/27/news/companies/pilot-shortage-figures/index.html 








Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 22, 2018 at 10:36 AM

    I think you're totally right about the effects of pay increases on the pilot shortage. It's about more than money and the work demands a lifestyle commitment that can be hard to navigate with a family and other commitments.
    I also appreciate your comment on the importance of respect in professionalism. Respect for yourself and the people around you is an essential piece of upholding professionalism.

    ReplyDelete

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