Pilot Shortage

Pilot Shortage

There are two sides to every argument. In aviation, there are those who believe that there is a pilot shortage and those who believe that there is no shortage and that the problem is pay. Many believe that there is a pilot shortage. More and more people are flying every year. In the United States alone, both U.S and foreign carriers transported a record high of 895.5 million people in 2015 (U.S Department of Transportation, 2016). Major airlines fear that they may run out of pilots in the upcoming years as their senior pilots begin to retire. According to the University of North Dakota, there are less young pilots who want to fly commercially (Schlangenstein, 2016). If the major airlines are worried, then the regional airlines must be horrified, as many commercial pilots often times choose to begin their careers in the regionals and work their way up to the majors. With the high cost of flight training, low pay, and long hours younger pilots do not see viable way to support themselves. To alleviate the problem, airlines are changing their requirements to make it easier to be a commercial pilot and offering incentives like signing bonuses, hoping to attract enough pilots (Schlangenstein, 2016).

On the other side, the ALPA does not believe that there is a pilot shortage, just a lack of motivation related to pay. According to Tim Canoll, President of ALPA, states that bankruptcies filed by regional airlines such as Republic Airways are not caused by a pilot shortage, they are caused by the low pay that regional pilots receive (Reed, 2016). There are not a lot of pilots who are willing to work long hours for low pay when they have high debt. I believe that there is a pilot shortage, mainly caused by low pay. If the regional airlines were to increase the salary of their pilots to a livable standard, then the shortage wouldn’t be that big of a problem.

With the new regulations requiring pilots to have 1500 hours ATP, it puts strain on regional airlines as majority of their pilots are recent graduates with less than the required time. It also burdens pilots financially. Flight training is incredibly expensive, as it can easily go over $100,000, pilots may find themselves short of obtaining 1500 hours because they ran out of money, which furthers increases the pilot shortage. One solution could be for airline executives who make millions to take a cut from their salaries and bonus and use that money to train new pilots so that can obtain 1500 hours. Regional airlines could increase the pay for their pilots, which of course will lessen the impact of a pilot shortage.

There are other associations that represent aviation. For airport managers, there is the AAAE (American Association of Airport Executives), which is one of the largest aviation associations in the world. They represent thousands of airport personnel from public commercial-use airports to the general aviation airports. (AAAE, n.d.) For aviation businesses, there is the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association), which focuses on issues such as aviation safety, operational efficiency, business aviation advocacy, and etc. They provide assistance to over 10,000 member companies which earn annual revenues of over $5 trillion. (NBAA, n.d.). For aircraft manufacturers, there is the AIA (Aerospace Industries Association), which represents the major aerospace and defense contractors in the United States. The AIA focuses on topics like civil aviation, defense and security. Members include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, BAE Systems, and etc. (AIA, n.d.).

Colgan 

Professionalism is projecting an image that is compatible with the organization’s corporate culture. One way in there was a lack unprofessionalism demonstrated in the documentary was when a member of the Regional Airline Association, stated that regional pilots can live on a $20,000 salary. The other was when Colgan altered the weight and balance so that the aircraft was within regulations. The regional airline’s low pilot compensation contributed to the lack of professionalism seen at Colgan. When pilots are paid so low, they can’t afford to live near their base and are forced to commute to work. This equates to decrease in the quality of sleep pilots get since they have to travel long distances to get to work. The pilots on Colgan Flight 3407 were fatigue. When people are tired, they are not at their best. Two ways I can maintain and expand my professional once I’m employed is to be vigilant in my tasks and to know when I’m unable to perform my job responsibility and not endanger anyone because of it.

References

AAAE. (n.d.). About AAAE. In American Association of Airport Executives. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://www.aaae.org/aaae/AAAEMBR/About_AAAE/AAAEMemberResponsive/About_AAAE/About_AAAE.aspx?hkey=17fa23bc-bfe6-4589-9c8b-c362c1e7c303

AIA. (n.d.). About AIA. In Aerospace Industries Association. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://www.aia-aerospace.org/about-aia/

NBAA. (n.d.). NBAA history. In National Business Aviation Association. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from https://www.nbaa.org/about/history/

Reed, T. (2016, March 3). ALPA: don't blame pilot shortage for Republic plight. In TheStreet. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from https://www.thestreet.com/story/13480389/1/alpa-don-t-blame-pilot-shortage-for-republic-plight.html

Schlangenstein, M. (2016, June 29). Shrinking pool of future pilots keeps major airlines on edge. In Bloomberg. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/shrinking-pool-of-future-pilots-keeps-major-airlines-on-edge

U.S Department of Transportation. (2016, March 24). 2015 U.S based airline traffic data. In United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/press_releases/bts018_16