Disqus - Latest Comments for bluestreak

Re: Turbulence Ahead: The Coming Pilot Shortage and How It Came to Be

bluestreak — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:40:44 -0000

ALPA is exactly the group who negotiated the low starting wages. What you don't see in this article is that after year 1, pay more than doubles! Look at US Airways pay scale: http://www.airlinepilotcent...

ALPA wants low starting pay so they can make senior pay $240k. They have chosen a steep pay curve, mostly because there are more senior pilots that vote than junior pilots, and zero unhired pilots (unhired pilots are completely unrepresented, although there's really nothing to do about that).

This is the irony of the whole sitation. ALPA created this situation, and now they're using it as a tactic to raise pilot pay. Do you really think they will negotiate to raise starting pay, or will they ask for more for their senior pilots. I'm an ALPA member, and have been through countless negotiations at several airlines. I've seen how this works, and the public just eats up the spin.

Read through these comments about how people are saying pilot pay needs to be higher. they have no idea what they're talking about. Pilot pay averages about $100k per pilot. They don't show that in the article. They've focused on the one year probationary period that ALPA has created to preserve the ultra high pay for the senior guys.

An ignorant public is a dangerous thing. This article just made it worse.

Re: Turbulence Ahead: The Coming Pilot Shortage and How It Came to Be

bluestreak — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:30:41 -0000

They are having trouble.

Re: Turbulence Ahead: The Coming Pilot Shortage and How It Came to Be

bluestreak — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:25:03 -0000

Pay rates are public. As a captain with 29 years experience in the A319/320/321, Sully was making $180,000 a year

Re: Turbulence Ahead: The Coming Pilot Shortage and How It Came to Be

bluestreak — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 10:19:14 -0000

Great illustration of the attitudes and problems in the industry. A bit of maturity will serve you well before you enter our profession.

I do not, nor have I ever worked for PSA. I did, however, spend time at the only regional airline with enough guts to strike. I've walked the picket line only to watch other airlines undercut us out of jobs (including the ones you think are "holding the line" now). There is a lot more history here than your experience as a flight instructor has exposed you to.

The fact of the matter is that there was no pilot shortage before the 1,500 hour rule. There is a big one now. We like to only point out the $23k probationary salary to make for better headlines, but when you consider how steep the pilot pay curve is (which was designed by pilots), you realize that we have collectively chosen lower starting pay for the opportunity at $300k/yr. And pilots still line up for that opportunity.

The problem isn't in finding pilots, it's in finding QUALIFIED pilots. The qualified pilots are coming out of universities with airline simulators with 600 hours. Then we're sending them home to do something else until they hit 1,500 hours. Literally overnight, we went from no pilot problem to an extreme shortage. What happened that night? The 1,500 hour rule went into effect.

Raising starting pilot pay will do nothing for this. It makes for great headlines, but we have to consider that pilots always have been willing to trade lower starting pay for higher later pay, and now is no different. We chose and designed that structure, and now we're taking the opportunity of an ignorant public to try and get what we want at the detriment of our industry.

It seems inevitable that the pilot shortage will be resolved by a reduction in aircraft needing to be flown (and the level of air service with it). Using first year probationary pay as an excuse to raise pilot pay will only accelerate this. The industry will shrink, but for the pilots already in it, it will be great for them. It pays well to be in demand, and screw the repercussions if it pays me more.

But this question is not a question of how can I be paid more money, it's a question of how can we attract the required number of pilots to the profession. The answer is we already can, and we still do. The problem is we have disconnected those who can fly with those who meet the new 1,500 hour rule.

Re: Turbulence Ahead: The Coming Pilot Shortage and How It Came to Be

bluestreak — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 16:33:27 -0000

7-8 year FOs are not paid $23k/yr. It's $40-50k. I was an FO for 7 years at a regional. Trust me, I get how tough the job was. But the reason we stayed making $45k / yr as an FO was the opportunity to make $300k as a wide-body captain. The starting pay is so low because we structured it that way, now we complain about it. You can't reference a pilot making $23k for one year of his career without mentioning that the same pilot will be making $300k for the last 15.

There is a coming pilot shortage, but it's not because new pilots aren't willing to work for the starting pay, it's because they can't. The new 1,500 hour rule has prevented any good college educated pilots from entering the work force without first going out to do something else for a year or two making much less than $23k. In fact, there are even enough 1,500 hour pilots willing to work for that, they just can't fly airplanes. Pilot resumes at my regional are as strong as ever, and all with 1,500 hours. Simulator failure rates have tripled as a result.

The obvious way out of this shortage is to lower safety standards and hire the pilots who have the hours, want to fly, but are currently failing out of pilot training. Be careful what you wish for.

Re: Turbulence Ahead: The Coming Pilot Shortage and How It Came to Be

bluestreak — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 08:35:03 -0000

During the period mentioned in the article, starting salary has actually increased from near $16k to $23k. 2nd year pay is over $30k and within 4 years it's over $70k as a pilot upgrades. What DID decrease was top pilot pay from $300k to $200k.

Be careful how news is spun.

Re: Welcome to Booker, Texas! Unless you're from Al Jazeera

bluestreak — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:00:14 -0000

Nowhere did I read anything about you being kicked out because you worked for Al Jazeera. In fact, you weren't even kicked out, yet your far-from-objective headline suggests just that. You just didn't like the welcome, or lack of it. ANY journalist interviewing fans at a high school event is suspicious, especially in a town where journalists just don't do that.

Were the people of Booker polite? Nope. Were they racist? No evidence, although still possible. Were they suspicious of you? Absolutely. Anything beyond that is entirely speculation on your part, and that makes for pretty rotten journalism.

There are plenty of racist people in Texas, but you certainly didn't find them in Booker. You found people very suspicious that a journalist would be interviewing people at their high school game, when they're responsible for protecting kids from people who are far less suspicious. No offense, but I would expect the same from my community's school administration, no matter if you were from Al Jazeera, Fox News, or ESPN8. There are stories of kids going missing all the time from these types of events, and I'm sorry you were collateral damage. This isn't an Al Jazeera thing, or a middle eastern thing, or a muslim thing. This is a "keep suspicious people away from our kids" thing.

Sorry you weren't allowed to interview people at a school event. At least you were able to vent your anger.

Re: Kwote.Me Uncontrolled Airspace - Uncontrolled Airspace #127 "Getting Spread Thin"

bluestreak — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:32:50 -0000

I wouldn't mind a 1957 C-172 for $50! http://1940airterminal.org

Re: Kwote.Me The Guys Podcast - Episode 59 - Who’s Watching the Watchmen?

bluestreak — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:52:41 -0000

I really think D.G. broke something. The dog video that nearly killed D.G. can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: How Not To - Landing a Sea Plane | Airline Empires

bluestreak — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:38:26 -0000

Any one you can walk away from, right?

Re: Episode 1 - Improving Service at the Airlines?

bluestreak — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:43:52 -0000

Henri,

Thanks for the note. I know one of the areas we'd like to discuss in a little more detail is the European airline industry. There's a lot going on over there, especially with a certain Italian airline (but I won't name names).

Courtney