Not long after Mark Baker joined the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) as president, I was at a breakfast the AOPA Foundation hosted at SUN ‘n FUN.
Following a briefing from Mark, he called for questions. “What’s your opinion of the pilot shortage we’re starting to hear so much about?” asked a fellow attendee.
Mark’s answer has stuck with me since. He felt there wasn’t a pilot shortage. There are hundreds of thousands of pilots in the United State and around the world.
“What we are seeing is a limited supply of pilots willing to work for the amount the airlines want to pay. Once the airlines pay what the pilots feel they are worth, plenty of pilots will show up.”
While General Aviation News doesn’t cover the airline industry directly, I try to pay attention to what is happening. A healthy flight training industry is good for the aviation industry, period.
And Mark’s words popped into my head as I read an email from Glendale, Arizona-based Arizona Flight Training Center announcing a “pilot pipeline agreement” with GoJet Airlines. The announcement states:
The Wingman Pipeline Program provides promising pilots (I rather like the alliteration) currently enrolled in a professional airline training program an internship at GoJet while they build flight hours. Program participants become GoJet First Officers upon completion of ATP minimums.
Participating students are mentored by GoJet pilots throughout the duration of their internships. Additionally, the program prepares student pilots for the GoJet First Officer training program by providing course materials months in advance.
“We want our pilots to come to GoJet and do well,” stressed Brad Sargent, GoJet’s Chief Pilot. “That’s why we start preparing them for success well before their first day of class.”
The Wingman Pipeline Program provides promising pilots (I rather like the alliteration) currently enrolled in a professional airline training program an internship at GoJet while they build flight hours. Program participants become GoJet First Officers upon completion of ATP minimums.Show me the money…
In addition to $10,000 in tuition reimbursement, participating students can earn $2,500 for each successful pilot they refer to GoJet during their time as an intern (funds are banked until the students become official GoJet pilots). Other benefits include limited flight benefits and jump seat privileges.
GoJet first officers earn $36.96 per flight hour with 75 hours guaranteed.
That’s $33,264 per year. And that doesn’t include the $12,000 first officer signing bonus or the unlimited $2,500 pilot referral bonus.
While that won’t put any pilot on easy street, the pay scale is still rising.
Additionally, GoJet will provide up to $12,000 in rotor-transition training to military and civilian helicopter pilots seeking commercial pilot qualifications.
GoJet Airlines operates as United Express and Delta Connection flying the Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900. It has a total fleet size of 47 CRJ700s and 7 CRJ900s.
There are huge numbers of pilots scheduled to retire over the next five to 10 years.
When I think of today’s college and high school students, I admit I’m a tad envious. They were smart enough to be born at just the right time. All they have to do is head out to the airport and earn those wings.
There’s a good career waiting for them on the other end, if they are willing to work for it.
Construction jobs pay start at close to fifty per hr on wage jobs,(mandated by government contract laws), to more than seventy depending on trades. During that time while learning you get only about four dollars less than a journeyman while getting paid to learn and there is overtime also. Why would anyone shell out thousands of dollars to get a flying job other than love of flying. You are usually within thirty minutes of home and get travel pay and expenses if over a specified distance in your work agreement. On top of that there is little responsibility, as the lead man bears that. Construction supers make well into six figures, but a college education is generally required. And there is a shortage in all trades?
John,
I joined Tricounty Flyers based out of Morgantown PA. great club for very reasonable rates, a 150 and 172. I would suggest you check into it if it is near you. There is currently a share available. Great way to add ratings or build time! Check it out at Tricounty Flyers.com
-Charles
I am an ex USAF trained pilot & instructor with more civilian time (total ~5k hrs) with numerous required CRM classes under the belt. 55 active years in aviation have taught me several things and one of which is don’t knock automation. Humans are not good at routine automatic tasks but computers are. My last employer had a fully automated little plane (the Global Hawk) that was a s/w driven machine. It would fly 1/2 way around the world all by itself. Every leg had EVERY ‘contingency’ considered and ‘answered’ by the s/w. It is interesting that the s/w code was written mainly by non-pilots! They decided what the plane should do if the engine quit at ANY point in each leg and depending on where is was in that leg how high it was, where the nearest landing field was, what the local winds were so which runway it should use, which ATC site to notify that it was enroute for an unscheduled landing in X minutes and its route of flight to the field. It looked at every system in the plane every 50 ms and notified ‘home base’ if something was going yellow, red, or flashing red and where it was going to go i.e. back to base or to Y and to order spare parts to which airport.
During the CRM ‘classes we were challenged to find the fault of any number of famous crashes / accidents. Only ONE, the X-31 (a fouled frozen pitot sytem that had not been checked during preflight) would not have been averted with software flying the plane and that has been covered. I challenge anyone to review ANY accident that would not have been averted with good software flying the plane. Don’t misread this message I fully believe that there should be a pilot on board even two, but s/w should be “helping” handling the controls. Todays pilots are not taught or have forgotten how to fly a plane – sorry, but that is the truth by and large.
Nobody wants to drive a bus in the sky. Back and forth, back and forth, every day. Not for that kind of liability. If anything goes wrong, it’s the pilot’s fault. And not for peanuts.
If the airline industry wants more pilots, they can pay the 100% cost to train them.
Nobody is going to shell out $120,000 of their own money to train themselves to be an airline pilot and log in all the flight time and hours in a jet, because quite frankly, nobody has that kind of money to do that.
If you had $120,000 in the first place, you’d buy a small house or house trailer, and kick back and relax and never have to work another day in your life. So why spend it to bus your ass jumping through hoops to be an airline pilot ferrying noisy, stinky people around in the sky in toxic, recycled air for the rest of your life?
Hmmmm…I fly with many that have done exactly what you say they won’t do. And guess what? The are making 6 figures.
You are not airline pilot material. Those that are will reap the benefits.
I have been trying to fly – get my licenses, and an aircraft since 1972. I keep rediscovering the reoccuring 5 most famous words in aviation. ‘I ran out of money.’ Thank goodness for the computer simulator.
John,
Be careful here – the simulator (most desktop computer based ones) don’t fly like airplanes. You may have to unlearn what you learned on the simulator, and re-learn it in the airplane. (Educators call this the law of primacy, you remember the first thing you learned.)
Best use for the simulator is non-flying stuff, radio procedures, navigation practice, NOT stick (or yoke) and rudder.
Find a grass strip, find a cheap to rent 150, find a retired-military instructor who is doing it because (s)he likes to fly, not because they are instructing only long enough to get an airline job. You can actually DO THIS for under $5,000, I know one person in California who got everything aligned just right and did it last year (not in 1975!) for a whisker over $3,000. Your local EAA chapter will also know where the good connections are.
Stay away from the big airports and the big, fancy FBOs and CFIs wearing uniforms . . . they’re very good, but they’re very expensive.
Go do it!
Best Regards
Miami Mike
John,
I am not sure where you are located, but our club at Morgantown PA has a 150 and a 172 for very reasonable rates and buy in. We have connections to instructors for nearly half price of going rate. there is currently a share available. we have students, corporate pilots, and airline pilots in our club. check it out online at Tricounty Flyers LLC.com. Great for getting additional ratings or building time…excactly why I joined, based out of a small grass strip too!
-Charles
Yes, Gbigs, the excitement of dragging a roller bag through Cleveland Hopkins to the airport hotel for a reduced rest overnight and then do it again in Poughkeepsie, and again in Champaign the following night, spending all that time away from the family and the kids activities….the excitement and the travel!!!!
Give me a break. Obviously you’ve never done the job.
Just some statistics – from the FAA database – (and I would love to send you the chart) STUDENT pilot certificates (essentially applications to do training) peaked in 2007 at 69,000 – and has fallen off steadily to 36,000 in 2016. From the peak – add two years typical to get to PPL’s and we see a peak of 20,000 that has fallen off to 17,000 over the 9 year period. ATP’s however went from about 3,000 to 9,500 in 2016 – so some hope there (although I would think a part of that are the military pilots converting to ATP?) So ATP trend is improving, but nowhere near the some ?17,000 per year needed in USA. The more concerning number is the 36,000 student applications today – if the ratio of starts to finishes remains constant – then we are in for a real fall off in three years – wrong direction. (Check out our website for a part of the long term solution)
The good . . .
I taught ground school for 11 years at a medium sized flight training school. The students’ level of enthusiasm was amazing, their motivation was astonishing, their focus was unbelievable. They made me work hard, too, these were smart, inquisitive people who were totally immersed in their choice of career.
The bad . . .
The numbers just don’t work. Training costs are insane, the 1500 hour rule makes it worse, the starting pay is you-must-be-kidding-me-you-want-me-to-pay-you-to-fly-your-airplane-for-you? When the airline you work for merges or goes out of business, your seniority and pension both evaporate. There is another risk as well. You are one failed medical away from being unemployed, and with NO other skills to fall back on so you can make money to support your family, mortgage, health insurance, car payments, and so on (and we didn’t mention the HUGE student loans, which never, ever, ever go away).
Some possible solutions . . .
Primary training in electric airplanes (there is at least one available now, more are coming). This would greatly reduce the initial costs of training because the fuel and maintenance requirements are FAR less than for the Cessna 172, which seems to be the trainer of choice nowadays.
Allow training in LSA aircraft, same.
More simulator time for radio work and nav training. You can get just as lost in a simulator as you can in a real airplane, and it costs a LOT less to run a simulator. Simulators are being used now for emergency training for the big iron, any real reason why they wouldn’t work as well for smaller aircraft?
Reduce the 1,500 hour rule to better reflect the FAA’s very well documented hours/vs/accident rate statistics. The FAA finds that most accidents happen under 400 hours, so where is the problem (other than the visuals and politics) of reducing PIC time required to 750 hours, at least for RJs? One size doesn’t fit all – say 750 hours for an RJ, 1250 hours for a narrow body twin (DC-9?), 1,500 hours for bigger stuff and 2,500 hours for airplanes which carry 250+ passengers?
Have a program and a procedure for attracting retired military pilots. Don’t want to fly for Uncle Sam any more? Come fly for us instead!
There ARE solutions to this very real problem. We just have to be imaginative and think about it some. Doing it the way we’ve always done it because we’ve always done it that way has gotten us to where we are now.
Best Regards,
Miami Mike
Great analysis, Mike. The bottom line is still a risk versus reward issue. Unless the airlines are prepared to pay for the services of a pilot commensurate with the cost and risk to become a pilot there will continue to be a shortage during good economic times.
Airlines have multi-billion dollar price tags on their fleets and huge fuel and maintenance costs in their operations. The only costs they can truly control are employee expenses so that is why they squeeze the pilots to take less pay. That has now come back too bite them in the good times. However, they have traditionally always been reluctant to find new ways to acquire new pilots because they believe the bad times will ultimately produce a pilot glut. So why spend the airline’s profits on producing new pilots? And the cycle continues.
Airlines have always considered pilots an undesirable expense and one day they will be eliminated through technology. Until that time, we can only hope that there will continue to be acceptable alternatives to employment, such as corporate flying, for pilots.
I’m an ATP and Citation, G4 and Falcon 50 rated, and 10,000 plus TT. With automation and flight management systems it is feasible today to have an aircraft fly a trip totally automated, but, things happen, and the best responder is a trained human.
Safety is where someone sets up the flight management system, has the plane’s autopilot fly the approach, and be there in case ot an error.
Now, transpose the automated approach on the Colgan example where a couple of low time pilots screwed up big time, and ask how automation would oversome their stupidity. It would not have helped. Automation can’t anticipate windshear, diversion around weather cells, mechanicals etc. With an approach to land at 200 kts, both pilots are so busy that I just can’t see automation replacing a good pilot’s training and execution.
I was an FO. 25 years ago. The pay then was less then a Manager of a McDonalds or a guy driving a Garbage truck! $1100 NET per month!!!!!! Yet if I wanted to live in Memphis, of all places, NO, NO, NO! My quality of life was better then then today. My usual work week was, a Monday. Night overnight, in my own bed on Tuesday night, over night Thursday night then sleeping Lin my own bed Fri., Sat., and Sunday! Today, you get paid more, but your quality if life, especially for. COMMUTER, is mush worse! Away from home, in a hotel 4-5 Nights a week! A WEEK! And flying with possibly the same folks all those days, which if you have NOT the friendliest people, will make for some pretty miserable LONG days. I just cannot understand, that in over 25 years, WHY! WHY? With todays computer programs, has no one, figured out how to create a program where the Trips allow for people who want to flay during the day, to work during the day and people who want to fly during the Evening/Night, fly then?? If you fly the same Routes weekly, chances are it can be much Safer, because Pilots will be more then familiar with the “Lay of the Land”, Route, STARS, SIDS, DP’s, Terminal Procedures, etc….I believe there is a way, so that Flightcrews CAN have more “Home-Time”, with their Families, then having Families break-up because their Fathers, Husbands, Wife’s, Mother’s, Are HOME more often the NOT! I KNOW THERE HAS TO BE A PROGRAM THAT WILL MAKE PILOTS? Flight ATTENDANTS QUALITY OF LIFE MUCH BETTER!! And at this time, also, WHY? Do the “Major” Airline pilots get paid more the Regiomnal Pilots? I KNOW! I KNOW! It’s all about “Revenue Seating”! But I have been on Regional Flights, where they fly the SAME ROUTES as the Majors! And in todays Technologically Advance Jets, Pilting a Jet with 50-75 people is ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENT THEN FLYING ONE WITH 300! NO DIFFERENCE! The only thing that changes are the “SPEEDS”! THATS IT! SPEEDS! JET, IS A JET IS A JET! The same Aerodynamics! The same Configuration of BY-PASS TURBINE JET ENGINES! From Regionals to the Majors! They all have FMS’s, EFIS’s, MFD’s, PFD’s, Autopilots and ACARS, and in todays world, Mobile Flight Desks/Mobile Charting/Mobile Flightbags! SOOOOOOOO
I cannot disagree with any of the other respnders, however it is hard for me (an old Marine) to think that the military which I believe is the best option is not even mentioned. It has not been that many years that most of our commercial pilots cane from the military. I find it sad that our military is not considered.
All markets, financial, human, or technology correct over time. But there isn’t just one answer for why these events shape any given market. There are several.
1 – The 1500 rule, in my humble opinion, was an overreach for consumer confidence in pilot training. Certainly we do not want a 250 hour pilot commanding a CRJ, but competency shouldn’t be restricted to just a convenient number. If this was true, from the FAA’s perspective, they wouldn’t provide for graded levels of ATP requirements based on where you receive your flight credentials/educations. This requirement, of the 1500 hours, has indeed contributed to a shortage of ‘1500 hour qualified’ pilots.
2 – Cost of aviation education/flight training has exponentially outpaced the cost of living. There doesn’t exist fluid methods for prospective candidates to receive flight training (and hour building) that doesn’t involve substantial debt (which leads us to # 3).
3 – The debt to income ratio for a newly hired first officer for many of the regionals places the pilot in a highly disadvantageous position. ATP (the flight school) from zero time to MEI could cost upwards to 150K. Other professions, let’s say doctors, have significant merit and need based programs that afford some relief. I would argue that a doctor saving a life, and a pilot performing to standards — also saves lives. But the pay disparity is remarkable (I’m setting aside the intern, residency path — which is similar to the CFI route).
4 – Reputation management, some would argue, also plays a role. The job of a United, or American First Officer just isn’t as appealing as it once was. The allure of flying heavy equipment oftentimes outstretches the issues with ready reserve, low salaries and complicated hire processes.
My 2 cents…
What the airlines have done to there AMEs and Pilots for a compensation package is a crime. Yes
they robbed them of there retirement funds and new pilots can make more driving for Uber. Even the
USAF is cutting back on flight training air time. Airports have had been locked up and are fighting for
funds to keep even on the books. How do we get out of this fix between the Nany gov. and the greedy
Industry?
“plenty of pilots will show up”,,,,, LMAO!,,,,ohhh lawdy , that’s a good one. MADE MY DAY 🙂 , Thank you for the article!
Nonsense. Flying is not an ordinary job. Part of the compensation is TRAVEL and excitement. The military has been cutback over the past few decades and they stopped training pilots. Kids are not interested in aviation like the post WWII crowd was in the 60s so that feed is down too. The requirements for ATP have been raised in the middle of all that…
None of it matters anyway since automation is entering the cockpit and in the towers. A machine needs ZERO pay, ZERO bathroom breaks and ZERO sleep. Solving all the problems.
Oh, my…… clearly, you are not a commercial pilot. To say that part of the compensation is TRAVEL shows that you haven’t done the job. Flight jobs are another night away from home, another hotel room, another meal, a visit to a city which (outside the USA) is likely a slum, or dangerous. Having had aggressive airline consolidation the travel benefit has paled since passes are space available and one can’t get on a plane when they are full, as most are now. Before 9/11 I could jumpseat with any carrier, and that’s gone now.
The ONLY reason to be an airline pilot, to put up with the politics and management b/s, is a paycheck. Unless the paycheck is reliable and competitive with other forms of employment then pilots won’t apply.
I must disagree with those who say there are plenty of pilots out there, that the problem is lack of pay, there are plenty of Commercial rated pilots with less than 250 flight hours, but that doesn’t make them qualified to get hired by even the Regional Airlines. As a flight school, I feel like a training academy for both Trans States and Go Jet Airlines in that as soon as my instructors reach the magic time required to be First Officers, we loose them to the airlines. The big problem hopeful professional pilots face is building flight hours, and the best way to do that is through becoming a flight instructor at schools like ours. In years past instructors had to take pay cuts to leave our employ as flight instructors to take jobs with the Regional airlines, but today that is no longer the case. As things stand now, we only have our instructors for about a year or so and they build enough time to get hired by the airlines and we are back looking for good instructors once again. The airlines are experiencing a severe shortage of qualified pilots and they are now realizing that they must step up and pay their pilots more than they had in the past, and if this trend continues they too will have to pay a livable wage in order to get pilots who can do the job for them for years to come.
This statement is just as true today as it was 35 years ago when I started in the business. My brother became a commercial pilot. He is three years older than I am so got into the market before I did. I got to watch him starve. That made me realize I had to take a slightly different path, so I became a maintainer, an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer in Canadian parlance.
Now for the kicker… My starting wage as an AME was 50% higher than what my brother was earning with three years experience as a pilot.
Pilot jobs will be filled once the pay/benefits catch up to modern reality. Baggage handlers make more than pilots. Fix that problem and there will be competition for the seats in the pointy end of airliners.
Thanks for saying it like it really is.
My only dream was to fly for a living, but at the time I showed up and was of age, something was just not appealing about 100k in debt in 22k / year. I’m super envious, but okay with my career path. This will always be my “second choice” though, but I figured I’d do what I’m doing and “one day fly again,” which is what I’m doing now.
For once the TRUTH is spoken! A guy/gal with. BScun Business/IT can start with $40/50k AND fly on weekends “recreatioal pilot”etc! The airlines, will increase their fare to cover the incresed cost, witin this decade!