Flying Cheap

     The buzz around the regional industry is a good one from the standpoint of an aviation student who is legitimately targeting a career in the airline industry.  We've had two meetings over the last year with two different regional carriers at Eagle Flight, both of which were encouraging to students because the focus was on the hiring process and what to do for the interviews.  There was never a thought of we won't take people because we're full right now, and the attrition rate in training is minimal because the hiring process is supposed to weed out weak candidates.  Endeavor planned on hiring 30 people every 30 days for the foreseeable future, even out to 4 years from now.  This buzz seemingly represents the need for pilots right at the regional level.  This argument is a multi-headed one I believe, and Endeavor also represented the side of the ALPA by showing us their Delta gateway program and signing bonus that they've implemented to battle the argument for higher pilot wages.

    According to the ALPA, there are tens of thousands of pilots that would could qualify as regional first officers based on the new regulations, ATP requirements, and their current medical certificates.  In my opinion, they're including a decent handful of people that have no desire to be an airline pilot.  These estimates include guys with 135 jobs, career instructors, and life long GA pilots that happen to be over or close to 1500 total hours.  When you subtract those numbers, I personally doubt that number is in the tens of thousands area.  Furthermore, I believe some of those people wouldn't make it through the interview process, no matter how badly the regional's need pilots.  In agreement with the ALPA, however, I believe a number of these candidates would be further attracted to a regional job with the perks that ALPA says are the cause of the pilot shortage itself, as it were.  ALPA claims that unless we work to make the airline pilot profession an attractive career, providing livable wage, benefits, and career-progression opportunities, we will for sure be faced with a shortage of qualified pilots (ALPA, 2015).

     The other side of the coin comes directly from the regional airlines themselves.  Carriers like Republic Airways Holdings complain because they've had to cut down flights, which has cut down their stock prices, because they can't hire enough pilots to fly all their lines (Schmertz, 2015).  Others, like Hopscotch Air, Endeavor, and Trans States, are realizing their business models have to change to incorporate a culture and wages that aspiring pilots will desire (Schmertz, 2015).  A lot of carriers are blaming the FAA requirements for minimums of 1500 hours (with exceptions) to enter training to fill a pilot position with these regional carriers (Jansen, 2015).  Those, in conjunction with the mandatory retirement age set by the FAA, have the regional's losing pilots from their top tier to the majors and they can't fill from the bottom, a lose-lose situation according to carriers.

   The ALPA says the FAA’s new first officer qualification rules were not intended to, and cannot, address the airline industry’s broken business model as it relates to regional air carrier operations and profitability (ALPA, 2015).  The broken business model they're referring to is the one regional carriers use to make money.  The advanced aircraft they fly and the short distances they fly them mean the variable operating expenses they face are relatively high.  They have the same cost of maintenance as any 121 operator, but they have to take all that on at their own level since the major airlines only help them out as far as painting major's paint schemes on the regional's planes and boarding passes.  Therefore, they can't afford to pay pilots what some believe pilots should be paid.  In fact, the five lowest paid first year pilots make between 20 and 21 thousand dollars for the first year (ALPA, 2015).

     Other organizations are already well aware of these issues and have addressed them, such as the International Federation of Air Traffic Controller's Association and the National Air Traffic Controller's Association in the US.  Furthermore, companies pay mechanics very well thanks to their representation by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).  Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) represents manufacturers in the industry dealings, and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), along with IATA, represent management spots and what they have to offer our community also.  ALPA actually addresses paying all these highly skilled professions well on their website, as another point in the broken business model for regional air carriers.

    I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support the complaints of the regional airlines, even in their fight with congress over the 1500 hour rule.  The government accountability office stated in 2014 that the demand for air travel had not exceeded the supply of new pilots, even though 11/12 regional carriers contacted by USA Today claimed issues of hiring new pilots (Jansen, 2015).  From an aspiring pilots standpoint, I know 90% of the aviation program I'm in can't wait to get in with a regional to begin their path to the majors.  That's approximately 100 candidates right here from EMU.  Also from our standpoint, the 1500 hour rule makes it very difficult for some of us to reach the minimum, and we'd love to see that repealed or at least reduced to some extent.  That would decrease student loan debt, alleviate some of the stress of instructing or trying to find jobs banner towing, and would assist with the problem of getting burnt out in small single engine aircraft to the point where flying is borderline unenjoyable.  There are plenty of pilots hired with with only a few hundred hours that have progressed just fine in the airlines, and the ones that crashed in the Colgan accident had 2,200 and 3,400 hours each.  I believe, as the FAA legislated after that accident, more in depth training would've been a far better solution than the 1500 hour rule.  I firmly believe, for both parties, we need to continue the fight with Washington to reduce that number, although the solution to the pilot shortage itself is going to come from improving regional profitability and providing a decent lifestyle to their pilots, and all their professional personnel.

     The corporate culture that surrounded the pilots of the Colgan accident was one of cheapness, for sure, as the flying cheap documentary points out.  Professionalism, to me, is being the best at what you do.  This means maintaining all the situational awareness you can on mission, honing your physical and mental skills to be more efficient and precise with decisions and movements, and doing everything it takes to accomplish that mission.  Our mission as pilots, with the FAA's proactive safe culture, is to get our passengers and crew from pint A to point B as safely as possible.
   
     One example from the movie is the addition of a check airman to the new aircraft acquired by Colgan before the buffalo accident.  It is unsafe to put a warm body in a check airman position just to fill a legal requirement so your company can take on routes it's unprepared for in order to increase profitability.  The guy they chose to fill the spot as the guy who makes sure other pilots know their stuff, knew nothing at all about the airplane he was going to be assigned to.  Another premium example is the pressure captains would receive from the Colgan's that had infiltrated their own organization.  The captain in the video said there was a Colgan in every office, and they would tell him they'd find someone else to do the job if he said he wasn't comfortable going.  That pressure comes from guys who've never sat in the front seat of an aircraft and had to make that decision of whether or not to go.  Even with the incredible amount of legislation passed by the FAA over the years, the pilot in command STILL has legal authority to make that decision.
   
     I do believe the tiny compensation for first year, and even fourth and fifth year first officers, is absolutely a contributing factor in the lack of professionalism in the pilots themselves.  They're already subjected to 16 hour days, multiple days away from home, and flying 10 legs a day.  On top of that, they're resting in crash pads with 10 other guys coming and going at all hours, all because they're not paid well enough to rent a place that would be better.  The stress, the amount of training and knowledge required, the level of safety required to be a pilot is incredibly high, and $20,000 a year isn't even close to compensating for that.

     For me to remain professional as a pilot, I'll have to primarily focus on the fact that people have willingly placed their lives in my hands.  Stemming from military experience where people live or die based on my inputs, this is critically embedded in my decision making process.  I believe any person that places a decent value on human life should be concerned with that over all else.  The airplane, your record, or your income wouldn't mean a damn thing to you if your spouse, child, or sibling was put in danger, so why would I be the person subjecting someone else's relative to that danger?  Secondly, the decision for safe operation of the flight always comes back to the pilot in command when the engines are running on his or her airplane.  I will never forget that, and no amount of pressure from a guy type rated in an Ikea mahogany two-tier is going to change that.  There used to be a level of pride associated with being a pilot, and that has seemed to diminish greatly in the world of regional air carriers.  I think that's in part because of the low pay, and lack of straight forward career progression.  People get nervous with the tension that comes with dealing with people like the Colgan's, wanting to keep their jobs and keep moving forward toward a major carrier.  I have to maintain that pride and remember that the decisions are mine, and that they can't fire me over it because its not making them enough family money.  If they do, I'm sure there's some legal action that can be taken since the FAA says its my decision, and not theirs.


References:

ADVANCING AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY SINCE 1931. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12,
     2015, from http://www.alpa.org/advocacy/pilot-pay-shortage

Jansen, B. (2015, August 27). Airline fears of pilot shortage spark Congress fight over required
     training. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from
     http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/27/pilot-shortage-faa-1500-hours-required-colgan-
     crash-alpa/32008451/

Schmertz, A. (2015, September 4). Airlines Complain About Pilot Shortage They Created. Retrieved
     October 12, 2015, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/airlines-complain-pilot-shortage-created-
     andrew-schmertz

Young, R. (Director). (2010). Flying cheap [Motion picture]. WGBH Educational Founation.