Watching Flying Cheap documentary was very informative. It really opened my eyes to how bad the regional airlines specifically Colgan Air is. There are also other problems with the aviation industry as well. Right now is the beginning of a pilot shortage which is great for all of the current college students who are in training to become pilots. In an article that was written this year found online, "Boeing, the plane manufacturer, projected a need for 558,000 new pilots worldwide during the next 20 years, including 95,000 in North America." A lot the baby boomers that all came back from the war and entered the aviation industry are now reaching the age of retirement, which is good for us college aviation students but not good for the industry that is going to need to fill these vacancies. Although I agree with the second statement I still believe that pilot pay is also an issue with today's aviation society. According to Bloomberg business, "The starting salary for a first officer at a regional airline is a little more than $21,000 per year—about $40,000 lower than the same job at Delta (DAL) and United (UAL), according to the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest U.S. pilot union." Personally, I wouldn't want to spend thousands of dollars to become a pilot and then start off making next to nothing. Even though their pay does not stay like that, it is rough for the first few years not making a lot of money.
After the Colgan accident in 2009, a lot of the regulations changed. People are now concerned because people say that the new pilots wont have enough experience. After the Colgan crash, people were upset about the requirements needed to become a pilot. Possible solutions for regional airlines as well as prospective pilots would be to have a training period where they just observe the flight deck for "X" amount of hours and once they feel comfortable they take the right seat and become a first officer.
As we already know, ALPA represents regional pilots. There are other organizations that represent the rest of the industry as well. American Association of Airport Executives represents a lot of the management side of the industry. And the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) also represents a lot of the industry as well.
If I had to define professionalism in my own words I would say that it is how well mannered someone carries themselves in the workplace. In the documentary, there were many ways that lacked professionalism. The first major example is when they altered the documents to make it seem like the flights they were operating were legal as far as weight and balance goes. The second example is when one of the first officers spoke out against one of the Colgan captains and how he was unethical and how Colgan still decided to back the unethical Captain instead of the first officer who was trying to do the right thing. I do feel like pilot pay plays a big factor in professionalism in the regional airlines. If pilots don't feel like they are being properly compensated, they wont work up to the standards they are supposed to be at. The documentary talked about how some regional pilots live with up to 8 other people at a time because they cant afford anything by themselves. So its hard to keep a level of professionalism when that is their living standards. Being an operations manager at an airport, having professionalism means treating people with respect and being on time. Being on time is huge considering it creates a big first impression and being late to meetings shows that someone isn't professional and creates the wrong first impression. Also being fair to all of your employees and treating them with respect goes a long way. If someone treats their employees with respect then they will turn around and be loyal employees for you.
References
Jansen, B. (2015, August 27). Airline fears of pilot shortage spark Congress fight over required training. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/27/pilot-shortage-faa-1500-hours-required-colgan-crash-alpa/32008451/
Pilot Shortage: Regional Airlines Are Cutting Flights. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-02-11/yes-theres-a-pilot-shortage-salaries-start-at-21-000
I like your point about the retiring pilots being a two edged sword there! There are definitely a handful of us that can't wait to take advantage, especially with the old historical track record of the industry that made it seem almost impossible to pick up an airline job in the '90's. You'd like to think, just from our specific standpoint, that the pilot shortage would have no problem being wiped out with so many of us motivated and ready to go from all around the country.
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