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The SHOW: Airlines still a "good gig"??

taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
But most of my colleagues were in mid to late 20s and unmarried. They were having a blast. Paid to fly and build time. That is all they wanted.
The guys (kids!) I’ve been flying with at the local flight school are like that. CFIs that live at the airport and know to the decimal point the number 1500 - hours in their logbook. Great bunch. One of the alumni stopped by the other day in his regional pilot regalia, bragging about using Mach numbers and whatnot. Big stoke for dudes.
 

SynixMan

HKG Based Artificial Excrement Pilot
pilot
Contributor
I don’t feel bad for the CEOs at all and I agree with you about that part.

I do disagree though that it’s a shortage of pilots willing to work for regional wages. I honestly believed this WAS the case, but isn’t anymore, yet is still stated just due to inertia. Regional wages used to be half of what they are. Furthermore, it legitimately is a problem of number of pilots required vs available (using “number of ATPs” from the FAA website indicates a surplus, but doesn’t account for those retired, inactive, disabled, mil leave, etc.). Finally, the application pool at the regionals is thousands and thousands deep. People ARE willing to work for the wages currently offered. Based on all the data I’ve seen, it’s a legitimate supply problem to staff the airlines for the foreseeable future.

I see it first hand daily. These Regional FOs are grinding to hit the next milestone (1000hrs 121), upgrade, build TPIC, and move on. But most have student loans they’ll be paying for a decade and live meager lives for now.

Right now at least, the crush is CAs. Can’t upgrade and train them fast enough (LCAs leaving, IOE backups) to keep up with the majors hiring, and not enough lifers to stay. As much as I’m grateful for a chance to get back in the cockpit after staff duty, I don’t think this business model is sustainable long term.
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
The major airlines are going to hire like gang busters...
... right up until they start to furlough.

If you want to dress up and play airline pilot, then get ready for a fucked up career.
It's true, and along the same logic the best advice I've ever heard about this two-fold:

Starting on day one, prepare for your future furlough, [so that]
When it comes, [you can] enjoy it

Me, I've hedged my bet with a mil pension and the baseline of healthcare that comes with it. Others choose to get hired much earlier in their lives, squirrel away a nest egg, and enjoy the seniority. I'm not sure one or the other is clearly better or worse.
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
If you want to dress up and play airline pilot, then get ready for a fucked up career.
Might be a good idea to plan for it, but, like the Navy, it is all timing. During my 32 years in the Bigs, my airline went through just 3 furlough periods (not counting post 9/11 due to it not being a cyclical downturn ). And me, never came close to furlough. Most everyone takes the first offer they get from a major and quickly has too much invested seniority wise to leave. So again, like the Navy, a good bit of luck involved as well. No one at Pan Am ever thought it would evaporate one day or when it did, they would not make the transition to Delta.
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Frontier and Spirit pilots are both represented by ALPA... so the seniority integration should go silky smooth.
You are kidding, right? Does it ever go smoothly? Certainly some better than others. Same union helps a lot.
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
You are kidding, right? Does it ever go smoothly? Certainly some better than others. Same union helps a lot.
The MEC lead at Spirit is a former neighbor and a good buddy (his son incidently is at the Hornet RAG at Miramar) - he is the veteran of a ton of mergers (and seniority integrations) and is well respected for his style no BS style and and is the genuine article. It will be interesting to see how this comes together.
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
A Navy guy I know recommended that their post-merger radio callsign be "Trailer Trash".

You'll get there, as long as another passenger doesn't shank you first. :D

(Though, sadly, this is also true on the big 3 these days.)
 
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