I fly several times a month for work - much of it on regional carriers to Canada and New England. I absolutely want my pilots to be paid well - VERY well.
Sometimes I look up in the cockpit and literally see kids behind the stick. And those of you who say that they have the prospect of moving up over time, those opportunities are greatly reduced now that regionals handle most of the load. There’s only so many coast-to-coast and overseas flights available for people who want to move up to the big carriers and equipment - and most of those jobs are already filled.
Come on Mag the reason those guys up front look like kids is because we are twice their age.Right?
“I absolutely want my pilots to be paid well - VERY well.”
I have to chortle to myself on this one. Not laughing at you, but I must make a point. I’ve had businessmen tell me this same thing as I was deadheading, and I always told them that my income was governed by my labor contract. However, I did point out that there was a loophole in said contract that did not preclude me from accepting gratuities from passengers.....SUBSTANTIAL GRATUITIES. It was fascinating how quickly these profligates began edging away from the subject when they were offered a method of making their wishes come true. Well, it just makes my point. Many folks feel safer if their pilot is well paid. Of course, they have no real motivation to make that happen with their own funds.
But good wishes are always appreciated, I suppose.
Transportation is a least cost equation for most consumers. Pilots now find themselves in a free market system, that is quite different than for those that cut their aeronautical teeth in the regulated airlines. I do not agree that there is any shortage of pilots to fill the seats at the major carriers. Well, I’ve been at this job since the 70’s, and I have never seen a shortage of pilots in any of the equipment I flew right up to the Boeings. Making it to there, had less to do with true merit (there were plenty with that who never made it). Much of it had to do with a happy conjunction of experience, industrial health and timing. Past a certain point, ability becomes less important in your progression.
Many of my “brethren” will disagree, but you can actually be too smart to be a good pilot. Most of the really good ones I’ve flown with were of surprisingly average intellect. So much so, that those of us with advanced academic degrees had/have to hide our “light” lest we intimidate those we fly with. No one wants to spend four days with a “smarty pants”, so the brainiacs go back into the closet as soon as they hit the cockpit. It makes the trip run so much better. So the superman theory of what makes a good pilot has been discounted by me for some time.
Oh, yes. Do you know how many passengers offered me a gratuity over that 20+ year span (even after the crew and I occasionally saved hundreds of their lives, and our own, just doing our jobs)?
Yeah. I’m sure the class has guessed correctly on that one. Ok, it was a gimme’. :-)
I live at a private airpark with several commercial pilots,
Each say the only growth area is China and India.
Both are vastly expanding regionals.