Flying Cheap and Professionalism in the Industry

     In 2009 a fatal accident occurred in Buffalo, NY aboard a Colgan Air flight which killed everybody on board. Colgan was a regional air carrier which operated in partnership with Continental Connection and the outcome of the accident was deemed pilot error by the NTSB. With this accident (and a slew of other previous accidents in prior years) there was public pressure to make changes to the pilot qualifications the FAA required of airline pilots. The outcome ended up being a new regulation that required an airline pilot candidate to obtain an ATP (airline transport pilot) certificate and accrue 1,500 flight hours before they could be employed. This is where the idea of pilot shortage became a hot topic. The increased flight hours paired with the analysis of projected retirements in the industry have many fearing that a pilot shortage is imminent and the US won't be able to supply enough pilots to their airlines. According to a study conducted by Boeing and Oliver Wyman that I obtained through an article written by Brian Prentice, there is an estimated 95,000 pilots that will be in demand from 2015-2034 (2016). Compare this demand to the estimated 64,000 pilots from the same study who will have the 1,500 hour experience and go right from a CFI (certified flight instructor) career to airline career, and you have a gap of about 31,000 qualified pilots (2016). Grant it these are estimates, but that number appears daunting. In the same article by Prentice, it is mentioned that military pilots (which was at one point considered the largest source of airline pilots) has only attributed to about 30% of new airline pilots (2016). That percentage and supply of military pilots appears to continue to be shrinking considering that the military is rolling out programs and incentives to keep their pilots longer (Prentice 2016). With all of that being considered, I believe there is a larger issue at hand, I think the pilot shortage is there, but the true concern in the regional airline shortage is the lack of pay and incentives.

   If you look into the Colgan accident report and other accidents involving regional carriers, you will notice that the NTSB observes that some conversation picked up by the ACARS system in the plane address salary, pay cuts, or the concern of not making enough money being talked about among the pilots. These regional pilots have reason to be concerned though, because the average pay for a right seat (a first officer) in a regional airline ranges from $20,000-$30,000 a year (Tallman 2015/Smith 2016). With that thought in mind, and the increased rise in regional jet use in the airline industry (up to 53% of US departures according to Patrick Smith), a career as a regional pilot is a likely outcome for new incoming pilots in the industry (Smith 2016). Further proof that the pilot shortage is blown out of proportion and that it is more due to the low wages at regionals is evident in a recent Wall Street Journal article about Republic Airways. In the article, which I obtained an excerpt from through an ALPA publication, it is mentioned that the CEO of Republic filed for bankruptcy-court protection due to pilot shortage, but since January 19, the pilot loss in the airline has seen a significant slowdown after a new pay accord (Alpa No Excuses 2016). It';s not that pilots aren't there, it's that pilots don't want to go through the grind of schooling and training all while racking up tens of thousands of dollars of debt just to scrape by at a regional air line and still be worked harder than their pay compensates.

   ALPA continues to support and represent regional pilots to improve wages and benefits for them, but there is another organization which looks after the manufacturers and the regional airlines as a whole and that is the RAA (Regional Airline Association). According to the RAA homepage: "The RAA serves as an important support network connecting regional airlines, industry business partners, and government regulators in bolstering the industry; as well as promoting regional airline interests in a changing business and policy environment" (http://www.raa.org/). Another organization not as well known is the RACCA which is the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association. This association caters to on-demand cargo carriers typically under the part 135 operation and are dedicated to meeting the policy, communications, and information needs of its members (http://www.raccaonline.org/).

   I would define professionalism as being accountable for the actions you perform while maintaining a high level of character in all that you do. In the Flying Cheap documentary I think the largest absence of professionalism was in the Colgan management when they completely overlooked the 3 check rides that Captain Renslow failed through his career. It was also believed that some of these failed check rides were not disclosed to Colgan so the same lack of professionalism could be attributed to Captain Renslow for withholding information due to the fact that it was detrimental to his career. I do believe that the first year pilot pay and regional airline compensation structure leads to a lack of professionalism by their entry-level pilots, but I don't think that the money justifies the reasoning. I understand we all have to make a living and that starting pay is very discouraging considering all the work and time and money put into becoming a pilot, but I think a true professional upholds the quality of their work regardless of pay or treatment. Two ways I plan on upholding my definition of professionalism once I'm employed is to 1) stay rooted. By that I mean I plan on looking at how far I've come, the work I've put in to get to where I'm at, and how much I've grown, to admire my work and take pride in it no matter the circumstances. My second way would be to uphold the disciplines I instill on myself in conjunction with my company's rules.

Works Cited

 No Excuses: Keep U.S. Airline Pilot Qualifications Strong. (2016, February 24). Air Line Pilot, 85(2). Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http://www.alpa.org/news-and-events/air-line-pilot-magazine/2016/032016/no-excuses

 

 Prentice, B., & Anderson, B. (2016, January 28). Pilot Shortage Threatens To Slow U.S. Airline Growth. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverwyman/2016/01/28/pilot-shortage-threatens-to-slow-u-s-airline-growth/#41dec989bb6e 

 Smith, P. (2016, March 1). Fact and Fallacy of the “Pilot Shortage”. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http://www.askthepilot.com/pilot-shortage/ 

 Tallman, J. W. (2015, May 5). Pilot shortage: Yes or no? Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/May/05/osu-pilot-supply-conference 

http://www.raa.org/

http://www.raccaonline.org/

Commercial Space Tourism: Is it Viable?

1) The advent of space tourism began in the late 1990's-early 2000's with a deal struck between a Russian company called MirCorp and an American company called Space Adventures Ltd. (Seedhouse 2014). Thanks to that deal (and 20 million dollars later) the first space tourist was Dennis Tito in 2001 who flew on a Russian Soyuz TM-32 rocket and was aboard the ISS (International Space Station) for seven days. There have been a few other wealthy people who have forked over the big bucks over the years in order to achieve space travel for their own personal enjoyment, but the real idea that space travel could be a future commercial venture began in 2004. Up until this point space travel and the "space tourist" was someone who paid big bucks to fly a government or country-owned space shuttle, but when Richard Branson announced his idea for Virgin Galactic and later funded SpaceShipOne (which went on to win the Ansari X prize) commercial space travel began to look like a viable future. SpaceShipOne became the first nongovernmental organization to launch a manned spacecraft into space and back. Since then, companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and XCOR have all enrolled candidates and booked customers on their first official suborbital space flights. Notice how I haven't stated that they've completed these flights yet, as you can see (and imagine) the concept and demand of taking passengers to space is easy enough, but the execution has proven to be difficult for each of these commercial space travel companies. XCOR has continued to have delays with it's first test launch of the Lynx spacecraft, Virgin Galactic had a fatal crash losing one of the two test pilots in 2014 (guardian,com), and SpaceX has had continual landing issues with it's Falcon 9 spacecraft. Amidst all of this bad or negative news is some good news, and that is that these companies have started and are testing their craft's for space flight, something I would have never foreseen 3 years ago.

2) In 2004 following the success of SpaceShuttleOne the CSLAA (Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act) was established which is a brief amendment explaining the need for safety through all practices of space flight and how permits are needed if someone would like to begin conducting space flight (faa.gov). I think the CSLAA needs to be more restrictive but isn't able to because an official flight hasn't been conducted yet. Like we always say and here, "aviation regulations are written in blood" and I don't agree that this needs to be the case for commercial space travel, but I think it is hard to create regulations that restrict more if they don't have a foundation of flight experiences to regulate.

3) I think space tourism has potential to be a viable tourism option in my future, but I do not see it as something you (or a family) can consistently do. Like I don't see sub-orbital travel as an annual vacation families go on and seeing as how most prices range from $100,000-$20,000,000 it isn't an option 70% of the world can even afford. I think as technology continues to advance and our exploration of the universe continues to expand space tourism will become a high demand of more than just the multi-millionaires of the world. I don't see it as a form of transportation however, I just don't think it will be something we use as travel due to the high cost and stress put on the spacecraft frame and on the passengers/pilots. I mean if people experience jet lag could you imagine how bad space lag would be? Not to forget the sporadic G forces a space pilot would have to endure taking off and entering orbit on multiple trips in one day.

4) According to Goehlich (2013), space pilots would require an FAA pilot certificate with an instrument rating and the FAA class I medical is still considered viable. Recommended qualifications are pilots who have operated flight at high speeds and in pressure suits (pretty much jet fighter pilots). Virgin Galactic has began hiring pilots from its sister airline but these pilots must have 3000 flight hours and experience in multiple aircraft in the fleet (2013).

Works Cited

 Seedhouse, E. (2014, October 31). Space Toursim. Retrieved March 14, 2016, from http://www.britannica.com/

Gajanan, M. (2015, July 28). Virgin Galactic crash: Co-pilot unlocked braking system too early, inquiry finds. Retrieved March 14, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/28/virgin-galactic-spaceshiptwo-crash-cause

 

 Goehlich, R. A., Anderson, J. K., Harrold, N. N., Bemis, J. A., Nettleingham, M. T., Cobin, J. M., . . . Ilchena, N. Y. (2013). Pilots for space tourism. Space Policy, 29(2), 144-153. Retrieved March 14, 2016. 

United States., Congress. (2004, December 23). Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. Retrieved March 14, 2016, from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/media/PL108-492.pdf

 

Global Airline Issue

1) Two long haul foreign carriers that receive government subsidies from their respective countries are Emirates Airline which is an airline that is the subsidiary of The Emirates Group; a group that is wholly owned by the government of Dubai's Investment Corporation of Dubai (wikipedia.org/Emirates_(airline)). Another long haul foreign carrier is Qatar Airways which as of May 2014, is fully owned by the Qatari government and is the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar (wikipedia.org/Qatar_Airways). Emirates was conceived in March 1985 when Gulf Air began cutting back its services to Dubai. Since then, Emirates has continued to grow as an international airline and currently is the 3rd largest international carrier by scheduled passenger-kilometers flown and the 7th largest airline in the world in terms of revenue (wikipedia.org/Emirates_(airline)). Qatar Airways began operating in January 1994 and has been expanding its fleet and routes ever since. The Qatar Airways Group recorded its first ever profit in the fiscal year of 2004 and was also the first Middle Eastern airline to receive the Dreamliner (Boeing 787) as a part of its fleet (wikipedia.orgQatar_Airways). Both of these airlines are owned by their respective countries/governments and have been receiving subsidies from the government and according to Tim Canoll in a recent Huffington Post article, "The government in Dubai is currently spending tens of billions of dollars on airport infrastructure to benefit Emirates and shielded the airline in 2009 from $4 billion in fuel-hedging losses. The government of Qatar has granted more than $17 billion in interest-free loans, shareholder advances and other types of support to Qatar airways to underwrite the airlines' massive growth." These Persian Gulf airlines are not the only airlines to receive government subsides however, the US had their time when government subsidies were apart of the airline industry.

2) During the times before deregulation the US airline industry was government owned and therefore received funding from the government for their airmail routes. Also, the Federal Airport Act of 1946 brought about government spending to improve and increase the amount of airports and runways available in the US through the Federal Aid Airport Program. Because of this Act and the program it brought about, roughly 75 million dollars was the be allocated to airport construction annually (avstop.com). Let's not forget about the EAS (Essential Air Service) program that still is implemented today which provides government subsidies to smaller communities in order to ensure they still receive scheduled air service they otherwise would not receive due to deregulation. These may not be long-haul flights (most are 30-50 seat aircraft on regional jets), but long haul carriers like Delta do provide air service to some of these communities through their Delta Connection flights (specifically Sault Ste. Marie,MI, Escanaba,MI, Pellston,MI, and Muskegon,MI) just to name a few. According to an article by Keith Laing on The Hill, "U.S. Airlines receive about $1 billion per year in tax breaks from state and local governments" which could be seen as a government subsidy even if it isn't direct government money going into the airline. The article goes on further to say that if airlines were not to receive these tax breaks then airline ticket fees would be higher and there would be less investment in new aircraft, customer amenities, and training (which I agree with) but still, it can be argued that the US airlines receive government subsidies in the form of tax breaks.

3) Two of the three Gulf carrier airlines have received financing (close to $5 billion) from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. According to their website, the Export-Import Bank is an independent, self-sustaining Executive Branch agency that is the official export credit agency of the US; it's mission is to support American jobs by facilitating the export of U.S. goods and services (exim.gov/about). "According to the banks database, Emirates received close to $3.7 billion from Ex-Im since 2007" (Quinn 2015). Quinn also states that the loans awarded to Emirates and Etihad were used for the purchase of Boeing aircraft and seeing as Boeing is an American "good" so to say, this is why the loans were given out. You see, Ex-Im provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchased of U.S. exports. This is how the foreign carriers are able to purchase aircraft at below market interest rates.

4) Seeing as the subsides that U.S. carriers receive are through tax breaks and not actual government funds being put into the airlines, no, I do not see the global "playing field" as fair. The reason being is that the Persian Gulf carriers can continue to purchase newer aircraft for cheaper (using their governments money) and allow their ticket prices to be much more competitive than the US carriers because essentially, they don't have to worry about a loss, or paying back their loans. To a degree they do, but with their governments funding part of the bill, the carriers are allowed to cut ticket prices and include more customer amenities (like showers in the airplane *cough cough* Emirates) to attract a larger customer base to their airlines. This causes US airlines to try and step up their competitiveness but it becomes difficult without still trying to maintain their own profit goals for each year. Also, the loans being paid back by the US carriers has much more interest on it than the foreign carriers do which I find unfair regardless if it means providing more purchases of Boeing aircraft. I am in full agreement with the Americans for Fair Skies movement and have signed the petition on behalf of my company to ensure these foreign carriers properly obey the Open Skies agreement and I suggest you do too.

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Airways

(n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_(airline)

 

 Canoll, T., Cpt. (2015, July 6). Gulf Airline Subsidies Have No Parallel in U.S. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/captain-tim-canoll/gulf-airline-subsidies-ha_b_7738462.html

 

Federal Airport Act of 1946. (n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2016, from http://avstop.com/history/needregulations/act1946.htm

 

Laing, K. (2014, August 25). Study: Airlines receive $1B in tax breaks from states annually. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/215921-study-airlines-receive-1b-in-tax-breaks-from-states-annually 

http://www.exim.gov/about

Quinn, M. (2015, April 13). Gulf Airlines Win Big With Subsidies, Taxpayer-Backed Loans. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from http://dailysignal.com/2015/04/13/bank-rolled-how-foreign-airlines-win-big-with-government-subsidies-and-u-s-taxpayer-backed-loans/