FlightCom Magazine 7There are a few regional airlines in the
US closing their doors at present. All cite
the pilot shortage from one angle or another.
Some were already wobbling, and the huge
jump in salaries for new First Officers either
meant they couldn’t pay or couldn’t retain
enough to keep operating. This, thanks to
the change in ‘experience’ requirements by
the FAA, following their Congress’s knee-
jerk reaction to the Colgan Air (another now
defunct airline) accident of 2009.
I say ‘experience’ because higher hours
in one’s logbook does not necessarily equate
to better ability in the cockpit. I have dealt
with a super-competent 2,000-hour wonder
in the Airbus simulator and struggled with
some much higher hour individuals.
This has also been acknowledged by the
FAA, who successfully proposed changes
to the blanket 1,500-hour rule for new
First Officers. Those candidates coming
from certain approved civilian and military
programmes may gain airline employment
with 1,000 and 750 hours respectively.Although the 1,500-hour rule has
aggravated the pilot problem, it has not
caused it.
Those in the US with the most to lose –
regional airlines – are scrambling to try to
do something about it.
An unprecedented industry first is
seeing some money being splashed about
in the most unlikely direction – specifically
at pilots-to-be. Non-pilots, who pass an
interview and aptitude test, can now benefit
from US$11,000 ‘sign up’ fee and up to
US$42,000 once off annual living expenses
while undergoing basic flight training at
certain approved establishments.
This is from Delta Connect, a regional
airline affiliated with Delta, operating CRJaircraft. What success the programme is
having remains to be seen, as it is all of a
few months old at this stage.
Whichever way these sorts of incentives
go, it is extremely telling that, in an industry
which is booming and where jobs abound,
people have to be paid to show interest.
The FAA, as always, keeps and
publishes regular statistics of their licensed
(certificated, in US speak) pilots, and trends
over the years. I have crudely summarised
the extensive statistics as follows, for a
broad 10-year trend comparison.What looks like a promising jump in
Student Pilot Licences (SPL) from 2007 to
present is due to a specific change made by
the FAA in 2009. Prior to this date, SPLs
were valid for 36 months (compared to 24
months here in SA). This was changed to 60
months after 2009, hence more people are
retained in the ‘system’. This also changes
the total licence figures as well, giving the
impression of less of a reduction overall.
There was specific thinking as to why the
change was made – an attempt at reducing
the SPL drop-out rate. Just by virtue of the
fact that you still hold a valid SPL may well
assist in you deciding to complete your
training after a lay-off (possibly due to
lack of finance, enthusiasm or temporary
medical incapacity), as opposed to being
lost for good.
The PPL figures, however, are more
telling. A 24% decline in the ‘bedrock’ of
a training process is not good in anyone’s
terms, and would probably
be worse without the
SPL changes.
The increase in
ATPs may well be
a direct result of the
push to get more CPLs
to move from the right
to the left side of the
cockpit, although the
17% reduction in valid
CPL licences tells the
same story of a career pathin decline despite the booming industry.
The ‘incentives’ previously mentioned
are a basic attempt at easing the pain
produced by the barriers to entry to the
industry. These issues, without a doubt,
constitute the major reasons to the decline
of interest in becoming a pilot.
First and foremost is cost. The
successful CTC Wings programme in
the UK and Europe works extremely well
at fast tracking newbies to the right seat
of an airliner. Unencumbered by the US
requirement of 1,500 hours to get there, this
programme has been extremely effective
at transforming 300-hour youngsters into
productive First Officers.
It is worth noting that there hasn’t been
a spike in co-pilot induced accidents in
Europe with all these super inexperienced
pilots bombing around in fast jets and bad
weather. So much for the well thought out
US p ol i c y.
It’s a great scheme – for the rich kids.
Two million Rand, excluding the type
rating, is a huge chunk of tin for anyone to
part with. This eye-watering amount gives
you 750 hours of theory in the classroom,
150 hours of flight time, a frozen ATP and
a Multi-Crew Coordination (MCC) course- eina. However, most importantly, it buys
a ticket to the interview at various airlines
hungry for young, cheap, right-hand seat
warmers.
It does work, and it is extremely well
subscribed.
The next barrier is without doubt time
to successful completion. The minimum
expected for someone who flies like the
offspring of Chuck is around three years.
Then, it is without an absolute guarantee of
employment.
There is no
in an industry
which is booming
and where jobs
abound, people
have to be paid
to show interest.
Licence
Type Year
2016 Year
Total
Valid
Licences 584
362 590
Student
Pilot 128
313 84
Private
Pilot 162
313 211
Commercial
Pilot 96
081 115
Airline
Transport
Pilot 157
894 143
BELOW: Number of commercial pilots in the US
has dropped noticeably over the past 10 years.