Airline pilots are leaving the profession!
My prediction is that in the next few years the regional pilots who have college degrees and have other options will be seriously considering moving on to other professions.
The industry is changing very quickly and in the wrong direction for job security and pay. It now sounds like Delta pilots may take another pay cut.
I was talking to one of our flight attendants and she said that she had a senior Delta flight attendant friend and she went from about $77 an hour to about $34 an hour. That is a serious pay cut and a change in lifestyle and the cost of living is running away.
This is the trend and it is not going to stop for a while. Airline pilots in the past have spent a lot of time and money to get the skills and time necessary to make it to the majors. It used to be worth it, there was more pay and security at the majors. Well now that is gone and it is harder to justify the time, money and dedication it takes to get to the majors now.
Lets use a doctor as an example. I feel a doctor is a good example because an airline pilot can spend as much time and money after college to gain the skills need to do their job well. They are also responsible for peoples lives everyday like a doctor.
Doctors spend a lot of money for school, I would guess over $100,000 dollars for medical school. They also spend many years after college in medical school and residency at low pay but there is a pot of golf at the end of the rainbow.
A pilot can spend $50,000 to $100,000 for training depending on the route they take. They will also spend a few years after that flight instructing, flying freight, and flying for a regional to make it to a major.
Working at a major airline used to be like a doctor making it to a practice or a hospital where they made the bigger paycheck.
There is no longer big paychecks or job security in the airline industry. It is all gone except for a few like Fedex or UPS and these jobs are very hard to get.
I know that a big paycheck is not everything. But you can't tell me that a good part of why people become doctors is not because of the pay. I am sure it is nice to help others but everything does become a job.
Some of the other reasons we work is for our family and the fun things we like to do. When your job can't support your family then what do you do, well you may move on to something that does.
I think that the more qualified better pilots who can do something will move on to jobs that can support their families. Flying for an airline as an airline pilot is fun in the beginning but it does become a job. If it can't support your family then it is not worth it.
unfortunately the airline pilots that stick around may consist of the ones who are not the best, not the sharpest tools in the shed and may not be able to move on easily.
In the future less pilots will want to go to the airlines because of pay and job security. Many of the best will move on to other jobs. Then the airlines start scraping the bottom just to get pilots to fly their planes. What happens is the most qualified pilots are not flying the airplanes you are getting on as passengers.
Competition from many means the best get hired to the airlines. When there is no competition because of all the reasons mentioned, then the not-so-good slip by. Does that make you feel good about getting on the plane.
I am in the industry and I see it happening. The skill level and experience of the first officers I am flying with is way lower then it was 4-5 years ago. The average total time of the pilot in new hire training at a regional airline may be only 1,000 hours or less. It was about 2,500 to 3000 five years ago.
Lets say the pay for doctors was really decreasing and they were having trouble supporting their families. They had no job security and the average experience level was very low due to the experienced doctors leaving the profession. The doctors were also being asked to work much longer hours for less pay. How good would you feel going to the hospital?
The day is coming where this same concern will cross your mind the next time you get on an airline flight.
The industry is changing very quickly and in the wrong direction for job security and pay. It now sounds like Delta pilots may take another pay cut.
I was talking to one of our flight attendants and she said that she had a senior Delta flight attendant friend and she went from about $77 an hour to about $34 an hour. That is a serious pay cut and a change in lifestyle and the cost of living is running away.
This is the trend and it is not going to stop for a while. Airline pilots in the past have spent a lot of time and money to get the skills and time necessary to make it to the majors. It used to be worth it, there was more pay and security at the majors. Well now that is gone and it is harder to justify the time, money and dedication it takes to get to the majors now.
Lets use a doctor as an example. I feel a doctor is a good example because an airline pilot can spend as much time and money after college to gain the skills need to do their job well. They are also responsible for peoples lives everyday like a doctor.
Doctors spend a lot of money for school, I would guess over $100,000 dollars for medical school. They also spend many years after college in medical school and residency at low pay but there is a pot of golf at the end of the rainbow.
A pilot can spend $50,000 to $100,000 for training depending on the route they take. They will also spend a few years after that flight instructing, flying freight, and flying for a regional to make it to a major.
Working at a major airline used to be like a doctor making it to a practice or a hospital where they made the bigger paycheck.
There is no longer big paychecks or job security in the airline industry. It is all gone except for a few like Fedex or UPS and these jobs are very hard to get.
I know that a big paycheck is not everything. But you can't tell me that a good part of why people become doctors is not because of the pay. I am sure it is nice to help others but everything does become a job.
Some of the other reasons we work is for our family and the fun things we like to do. When your job can't support your family then what do you do, well you may move on to something that does.
I think that the more qualified better pilots who can do something will move on to jobs that can support their families. Flying for an airline as an airline pilot is fun in the beginning but it does become a job. If it can't support your family then it is not worth it.
unfortunately the airline pilots that stick around may consist of the ones who are not the best, not the sharpest tools in the shed and may not be able to move on easily.
In the future less pilots will want to go to the airlines because of pay and job security. Many of the best will move on to other jobs. Then the airlines start scraping the bottom just to get pilots to fly their planes. What happens is the most qualified pilots are not flying the airplanes you are getting on as passengers.
Competition from many means the best get hired to the airlines. When there is no competition because of all the reasons mentioned, then the not-so-good slip by. Does that make you feel good about getting on the plane.
I am in the industry and I see it happening. The skill level and experience of the first officers I am flying with is way lower then it was 4-5 years ago. The average total time of the pilot in new hire training at a regional airline may be only 1,000 hours or less. It was about 2,500 to 3000 five years ago.
Lets say the pay for doctors was really decreasing and they were having trouble supporting their families. They had no job security and the average experience level was very low due to the experienced doctors leaving the profession. The doctors were also being asked to work much longer hours for less pay. How good would you feel going to the hospital?
The day is coming where this same concern will cross your mind the next time you get on an airline flight.
posted by Jet Airline Pilot at 5:12 PM
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