Flying Cheap: The Regional Airlines

The regional airline industry grew rapidly and the regional airlines could not keep up with this expansion. This created a culture that put safety second and making money first. A result of this culture was the crash of Colgan flight 3407 . The regional airline industry has recently taken a new direction in the wake of the Colgan crash in 2010. Since the FAA now requires all first officers to have a minimum of 1,500 hours in order to get there Airline Transport Pilot certification (ATP), the regional airlines are having a difficult time hiring new pilots and filling their classes. Airline pilots in the majors are forced to retire at the age of 65 therefore they are hiring many regional pilots to fill their spots. The problem is that the regional airlines are not getting enough new pilots to fill the their vacancies creating a pilot shortage in the regionals airline industry.

In an article published by The Dallas Morning News back in December, Republic Airways and SkyWest were attracting enough new pilots to fill their classes while a smaller regional airline Great Lakes Aviation had to end services to 12 cities in the past year. I believe that this is not evidence of a pilot shortage rather it is due to the fact that all three airlines have the same requirements of 1500 hours. Therefore if you’re a qualified pilot with 1500 hours, it is much more appealing to go to companies like Republic and SkyWest where you can fly larger jets to more destinations rather than going to Great Lakes and flying 9 passenger turbo props.

There are two sides to the argument. Many people believe that is a pilot shortage and that there are not enough qualified pilots out there to meet the demand of the regional airlines. The other side believes that there is not a pilot shortage and that there are enough pilots out there but they are unwilling to work for the low wages that the regional airlines are currently paying.

First year First Officers in the regional average about $23.73 per hour. This pay only includes the time in which they have the engines running and are actually on the clock. Pilots do not get paid for all of the time that they are sitting around at the airport waiting for their flight, doing their preflight inspections, or commuting to and from work. The Federal Aviation Administration allows pilots to fly a maximum of 85 hours per month. According to the Airline Pilots Association, the average pilot spends around 240 – 300 hours away from home each month, which means that he or she are only able to be compensated for a maximum of 85 of those hours. Many people believe that this along with the lifestyle of living in a crashpad is enough to deter many pilots away from becoming a regional airline pilot and thus creating the pilot shortage that we are seeing today.

I believe that both of these arguments to be true. I think that the low pay and unappealing lifestyle forces a lot of people to choose a different career but I also believe that the cost of flight training along with the new 1500 hour rule and low pay is making becoming an airline pilot not worth it.

With the new regulation, regional airlines may be concerned with their hiring pool because the new 1500 rule will only deter more people than previously to become pilots. The rule is making the process longer and more expensive for anyone to become an airline pilot. For aspiring pilots, it has become more critical to further their flight training and earn their CFI and CFII ratings in order to flight instruct to reach the 1500-hour requirement for ATP. With the fact that most regional airlines are looking for new applicants to have a college degree, a viable solution might be to raise the pay of pilots, making it more appealing to be a regional pilot. This will allow pilots to afford to pay off their student debt.

The ALPA represents most of the regional pilots. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association represents (AMFA) represents airline mechanics.

I am not entirely sure but I believe that the Regional Airline Association (RAA) represents the managers of regional airlines.

To me, professionalism means not only have the expertise and skills to do your job proficiently and safely but to conduct yourself in a professional manner. To have the courage to always to the right thing and to be respectful of others whether they are customers or coworkers.

Two instances in which there was a lack of professionalism in the documentary Flying Cheap:

1.)                   Both the Captain and the First Officer of Colgan flight 3407 were involved in non-pertinent conversations during critical phases of flight. The first officer talked about how she was sick but did not want to call off because she would have to pay for herself to stay in a hotel for the night.

2.)                   There was a lack of professionalism when a Colgan Captain tried to claim fatigue because of his numerous 16 hour shifts, the Vice President of Operations at Colgan called him on the phone and not only pressured him to take the flight anyway but was willing to falsify his duty day times so that he could complete the flight legally.

I personally do not believe that the lack of professionalism in the documentary was due to low pilot wages. I believe that the lack of professionalism was due to the rapid growth and expansion of the regional airline industry and the difficulty of the regional airlines to keep up with this growth. Flying Cheap shows that in order to keep up with the rapid growth, Colgan would upgrade first officers to Captain after only 9 months and make pilots check airmen of aircraft they have never flown and were not rated for. There were also examples of both pilots and upper managements falsifying numbers in order to get the flight completed on time. The example of the lack of professionalism when the Vice President of operations was willing to falsify the Captains record so that he would complete the flight on time even though he was fatigued shows that the low pilot pay is not the reason for the lack of professionalism. Both management of Colgan and the FAA were lacking professionalism and I do not believe that increasing the pilot wages would have solved the problem of unprofessionalism. I believe that the lack of professionalism existed because of the culture that existed within the regional airline industry and that it became normal to do what ever it took to complete the flights and make money.

Two ways that I can maintain and expand my level of professionalism:

1.)  I will always continue to expand on my expertise of aviation and the aircraft that I fly. It is important to not get complacent and think that you know more than you know. As a professional your customers should be able to undoubtedly trust in your abilities to do your job safely.

2.)  Always doing what is right and always trying to become a better leader can enhance professionalism. As you assume more responsibilities it is important to stay focus and stay professional. If you are always trying to improve your leadership capabilities it will show in your professionalism.

References

1500 Hour Rule. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2015, fontline https://atpflightschool.com/airlines/1500-hour-rule/

Bachman, J. (2014, March 07). Pilot Shortage Adds to Regional Airlines' Woes. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-07/regional-airlines-suffer-a-pilot-shortage

Maxon, T. (2014, December 22). No. 10 on our top 10 airline stories of 2014: The pilot shortage begins to bite. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/no-10-on-our-top-10-airline-stories-of-2014-the-pilot-shortage-begins-to-bite.html/

Salah, O. (2014, September 25). Opinion: The Pilot Shortage Myth, Maybe Not. Retrieved January 19, 2015, from http://aviationweek.com/ideaxchange/opinion-pilot-shortage-myth-maybe-not

Schaal, D. (2013, August 28). The U.S. Airline Pilots Who Barely Make Minimum Wage. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://skift.com/2013/08/28/the-u-s-airline-pilots-who-barely-make-minimum-wage/

Young, R. (Writer), Young, R., & Rentz, C. (Producers), & O'Brien, M. (Adapter). (2011). Flying Cheap [Video file]. WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/flyingcheap/view/?autoplay