Flying Cheap

Flying Cheap and Professionalism

Two words, “Pilot Shortage.” Now don’t freak out, pilots aren’t getting shorter. What this means is there are more jobs then pilots available. Again, calm down this doesn’t mean a recent college graduate with very little time in a plane is going to be flying you to your destination. Each pilot still must get a minimum number of hours to be able to fly for the airlines. The shortage is brought on by too many retiring pilots and not many new pilots entering the industry. This topic is mainly looked at towards the regional airlines. I believe the shortage of pilots is industry wide and worldwide.

I believe that low pay for low time pilots and the number of retiring pilots are both contributing factors as to why there is a pilot shortage. I also believe there are other factors as to why there is a pilot shortage. Now this one is just speculation (and my own view) but kids only fly maybe two or three times while growing up. Therefore, it’s not a part of their everyday life as a fireman or police officer are. In class when I was a child I always put down, “when I grow up I want to be a fireman.” My grandfather was a fire Chief for Engine in Detroit. Fireman and police are a part of a child’s upbringing. Firemen and police come in to schools to talk about fire safety and stranger danger all the time. Not once do I remember a pilot coming in to talk about plane safety. The people that are retiring now were alive in the golden age of flying. Back when flying was a huge privilege. Everyone wanted to be a pilot and to travel the world. This was high class. Now flying is seen as a tuna in a tuna fish can; jam packed with people, paying for every accessory to the flight. Also, every news story about aviation is a crash or a negative story about the industry. Not a very an enlightening story line to a career.

The FAA raised the minimum retirement age for part 121 pilots from 60 to 65 in 2009, to avoid this big of a pilot shortage. Then in late 2009 Colgan Air flight 3407 crashed in Buffalo. Following this accident, the FAA raised the minimum Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) requirements from 250 hours to 1,500 hours. (Reynolds, 2107) For students learning to fly this meant finding a job outside of the regional airlines to build their hours. This in turn lead to a decrease in the number of pilots the regionals could choose from. Now pilots had to wait a year or two to build up 1,500 hours. This lead to many pilots giving up on the regionals and choosing part 91 and part 135 companies to work for due to a lower hour requirement. Many would stay in the “corporate” sector also due to money. The average salary for a first officer at the regional airlines was $18,000-$20,000. (O’Brian, 2010) That pay makes it hard for living because many students took out loans for flying and college. Then after college they must start repaying those loans back, which can be upwards of $800 a month. Take that and living expenses into account that doesn’t leave much if any money left over for food and everyday activities.

I believe the “pay increases,” will help with some of the pain with the shortage but won’t necessarily solve it. The pay increase I am talking about is located at the regional airlines. Now these are increased pay, but they are a gimmick. Let’s look at Envoy Airlines. They advertise that their starting pay is $60,000. For a student that is only making $20,000 a year that seems like a great deal. BUT, the catch is their starting pay is not $60,000. Looking through their website I found that you can receive up to $22,100 in as a sign-up bonus. Again, looks like a great deal, BUT money that is given as a bonus is taxed at a higher rate than earned income. So, you won’t even see all $22,100, and that’s even if they give you all of it. Digging deeper into their website, I stumbled across their cadet program. This program allows private, commercial, and instructors a way to get an interview with the Human Resources department at Envoy. This program also offers $5,000 total in tuition help for every 100 hours logged from 500 hours to ATP minimums. So, say I am a part 141 graduate and can earn my ATP at 1,000 hours, after 500 hours I would receive $1,000 every 100 hours. Reading further into the cadet program it states I could receive up to $17,100 in a sign on bonus. Now I am no expert at math but 17,100 plus 5,000 equals 22,100, the same amount as the bonus stated on the first page. This means that any one not apart of the cadet program is only eligible up to $17,100. All this is just for signing up, after your first year there are no bonuses for signing up. If we take the $60,000 they advertise as starting pay and subtract the bonus, that’s only $37,900. That’s not very good. I believe that the pay increase needs to be an actual increase and not a bonus gimmick to make a difference. As for me, I am buying into this gimmick because my end goal is to work for American and Envoy offers a flow through program. If the gimmick works on me it will work on others.

The 1,500-hour rule has shrunk the hiring pool for the regionals. A pilot is eligible for his commercial rating at 250 hours. That is a 1,250-hour gap needed to be made up somewhere. Many go on to be flight instructors, survey, aerial photography. But some go to cargo companies or charter service companies because their hour requirement is 1,200 hours for Pilot in Command duties, which every pilot wants. These pilots begin working at a cargo company at 600 hours as a Second in Command to build hours to the 1,200. By the time they reach 1,200, they have probably been working at the company for a year and can upgrade to the Captain spot (MORE PAY). By the time they reach 1,500 they pass on the opportunity to go to the regionals because they can’t afford to take the pay cut.

Regional airlines have cadet programs which allow a sort of mentorship for beginning pilots. I believe this is a great idea, but I believe they need to broaden their horizon. These cadet programs are for sponsored schools and there aren’t many. I believe they need to open the cadet programs to all aviation students to give them a goal to work towards. They also need to increase their pay because no one wants to pay back loans while making $40,000 a year before taxes.

Professionalism to me is holding oneself to a higher standard.

Professionalism lacked in the documentary when the director of aviation safety stood at the footprint of a crashed plane that killed all on board stating the regional airlines are safe. This was very disrespectful to the families that lost loved ones on that flight and showed a lack in professionalism in his work. Another lack in professionalism was the pilots of Colgan Air. The pilots were in no way able to fly that plane. Money is not more important than the safety of other humans and your own life.

I do not believe the pay structure at the regional airlines is a contributing factor for the lack in professionalism. I believe this because it’s the way they are trained. If they are trained lackadaisical then they will fly lackadaisical. I also believe it’s the supervisors and management that contributes to the lack of professionalism. Management wants to make money for the company putting pressure on the supervisors who in turn puts the pressures on the pilots.

Two ways I will maintain and expand my professionalism once employed is to always stay learning. Becoming complacent in the ways you accomplish tasks leads to a lack in judgment, leading to an accident. I will also hold others to a higher standard that is set out by the company. If I notice a lack of professionalism I won’t hesitate to report it even if they are my superior.

References

Reynolds, M. (2017, October 16). Small Airports Could Soon Be Doomed Thanks to America's Growing Pilot Shortage. Retrieved January 19, 2018, from http://fortune.com/2017/10/16/pilot-shortage-airports-tickets-flights/

Young, R., & O'Brian, M. (Producers). (2010). Frontline[Video file]. United States: PBS. Retrieved January 20, 2018.

University & Commercial Flight Schools. (2017, December 18). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://www.envoyair.com/cadet-program/