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/