My Aviation Journey!

Final Blog: Flying Smart Examined

As stated before, there is a huge problem in the aviation industry today. Its not emissions or how many people these airliners can hold, the main problem is the pilots. Back in the 1950's after World War II ended most of the Air Force pilots went to become pilots and the atmosphere was more of a luxurious experience than it is today. According to Sam McManis who interviewed William Stadeim, who is the author of Jet Set: The People, The Planes, the Glamour and Romance in Aviation's Glory Years said "Even in economy (class)-tourist class, I guess they called it-those seats would be the best premium-economy or business class today" (McManis, 2014). Passengers were greeted with seats having copious amount of leg room, exquisite dinners like lobster, caviar and other expensive food even smoking was allowed in the airlines at this time. It really felt that aviation was in the golden years during the 50s and 60s. Fast forward to now and commercial aviation is having a rough time finding pilots to replace existing ones. But why is there such an issue? How come we went from a time where flying was to be a luxurious experience considered by some to now almost the airlines are ready to take anyone who has a slight interest in aviation? We need to look at the issues that caused this and how the airlines are combating this to make sure their companies stay afloat.

The first reason would be the 1,500 hour rule. According to the FAA, to be able to hold the Airline Transport Pilot certificate (ATP) you must hold 1500 hours total time as a pilot in which 500 of those hours have to be cross countries, 100 hours of night time flying and 75 hours of instrument time. Having this requirement on student pilots is definitely challenging because of how much money one has to spend to get to the ATP license and then having to apply for a job in a legacy carrier like SkyWest, ExpressJet just to name a few. Yes having this time contingent is good for the airlines making sure that passengers feel safe with whom their pilots are but also it is ultimately hurting their growth. This rule is ultimately why most airplanes are sitting on the runway and having legs cancelled because they do not have the personnel to fly.Another reason for the pilot shortage would be the training aspect. As mentioned before, it takes a lot of money for a person to go from earning their private pilots license all the way to their commercial license takes money and extra time aside of other responsibilities a person might have. For example, over at Eastern Michigan to complete their flight program it estimates to being 60 to 70 thousand dollars with it even costing more over at other schools. Not only to mention how the weather can affect their flight. 

With all of the requirements and training there are some proactive approaches that the airlines are taking to bring in new pilots with the introduction of the restricted ATP (R-ATP). What this does is except of having that 1,500 hour rule it slashes the extra 500 hours making it only having pilots get 1,000 hours to able to get this license. This can be a risk/reward because a lot of aspiring pilots want to be able to fly comercially but slashing the flight hours could risk the companies safety. Another way the airlines are taking the proactive approach to this shortage is moving the retirement age from 60 to 65. This is helping the airlines short term but in the long term scale it is only hurting the First Officers from upgrading to Captain and not having new pilots taking the First Officers position. 

I still believe that if the commercial aviation wants to flourish and stay afloat, I believe that they should help student pilots with the cost of training. What could come out of this would be that the company steps in to help the student pay for their training as long as the student signs what they call a gentleman's agreement to fly for their company for a certain amount of time. Even though some companies are fighting this by giving applicants sign on bonuses and tuition reinbursement opportunities, I still believe that giving the students money for their training would help expedite the process and get them into the cockpit. In turn it would also help the airlines be able to accomplish legs on trips with the exceeded demand for travel by passengers.

Refrences

McManis, S. (2014, September 07). When luxury ruled the skies: Flying in the 1950s and '60s. Retrieved April 17, 2018, from http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/article2608655.html