The incredibly unique appeal of flying big jets and traveling the world for a living draws people of all ages into the aviation and airline industries. Yet, very few understand the harsh realities of the career and the fact that the 'glamorous' side of the career often fades quickly. Those of us who have 'hung in there' and weathered a series of tumultuous series of global events and industry specific changes can attest to the fact that the only thing that is predictable in this industry is constant change.
The following excerpt from the recent 'Is Airline Flying for Me' article in Flying magazine struck me as incredibly on point, as it literally summarized 90% of my own flying career and its uniquely unpredictable pitfalls since 2001. There will be more, but to list a few: "A terrorist attack; a global virus outbreak; a major recession; the mandatory retirement age gets raised or abolished. Furloughs; downgrades; long stagnation; base closures or realignments that necessitate uprooting your family or commuting. Concessionary contracts; bankruptcy courts slashing pay and benefits. Seeing the airline you’ve worked at for decades suddenly close its doors. Starting all over again at regional FO wages. These aren’t imaginary threats. Most airline pilots of a certain age have lived through several of these scenarios in their careers, and I’ve even flown with two or three unlucky souls who experienced every single calamity on that list. You may well escape them, but an honest appraisal includes thinking through a few plausible scenarios and contemplating how you would handle them. If your career suffers turbulence, will you still consider your investment in training worthwhile? Would you be able to retain your positive outlook and sense of humor and love of flying?" I'm certainly not the only one who has somehow (through luck, timing, constant networking and A LOT of patience) endured this storm, but many of these events altered my life in ways that I would have NEVER imagined. It's been an incredibly humbling experience. To those of you who are considering a career in the airline / aviation industry, do not think that your future career is above outside influences and political strife from unions and from many, many other outside show-stoppers. As I told a good friend several years ago, "If you're focused on becoming a pilot, get ready for the ride of your life," and I didn't mean that in a good way. You WILL encounter challenges beyond your imagination, so be ready for them, if that's actually possible. You can read the full article from @FlyingMagazine here: https://www.flyingmag.com/is-airline-flying-for-me
0 Comments
As airlines become more aggressive in hiring experienced pilots, the available pool of qualified pilots has tightened considerably for business aviation operators, industry leaders agreed. “Looking out into the marketplace, it is really, really challenging for us,” Don Haloburdo, vice president and general manager for Jet Aviation, told attendees at Aeropodium’s U.S. Corporate Aviation Summit on November 17 in Washington, D.C. "The pilot shortage is beginning to affect the business aviation segment. There are now fewer qualified candidates and companies must pay those that are qualified more to keep them from jumping over to the airlines."
Haloburdo described the challenges management firms face in hiring a crew for clients and how, in the current climate, “sticker shock” has set in. Many prospective owners, when gathering information on costs of ownership, are receiving information that is 24 months to 36 months behind current trends, he said. These owners, who are spending millions on high-end equipment, come to firms such as Jet Aviation wanting the best-qualified pilots. But, Haloburdo noted, those pilots all have jobs. This puts the management firm in the position of recruiting pilots who are already employed. A pilot might earn a salary of between $245,000 and $265,000 to fly a Gulfstream G650 or Bombardier Global 6000. To get them on board with a new client, the salary may need to go up to $300,000. For a large aircraft, an owner might need as many as four pilots to provide the quality of life that the new generation of pilots expects. Add in a flight attendant and maintenance technician, and an owner may be $1.8 million into costs of ownership before even putting any fuel in the aircraft, he said. Complicating matters is airline recruitment. For the first time in his career, Haloburdo said he is seeing pilots leave corporate aviation to return to the airlines. He cited one instance where a pilot flying a Global 6000, making $250,000 a year and flying about 10 to 15 hours a month, returned to American Airlines “as if he never left” with full-time credit. “That’s really tough to compete with,” Haloburdo said. “There’s not a shortage of pilots that have a license—there’s a shortage of people that have requisite qualifications.” At the other end of the market, Ben Hamilton, CEO of charter operator ImagineAir, called the shortage of available pilots “one of our biggest constraints.” ImagineAir, which flies short-range trips using a fleet of Cirrus SR22 piston singles, is looking at adding operations on the East Coast in part to tap into additional pilot pools. “There are pilots out there, but they don’t use their certificates,” Hamilton said during the summit. “This is one of the biggest challenges to our model.” ImagineAir, which seeks pilots with a minimum of 1,200 hours, has looked a variety of means to attract qualified pilots. One involves hiring career-path pilots, who have 1,200 hours but need the 300 additional to make the jump to the airlines. Those pilots might gain time for about a year and then make the leap. The second means is to recruit non-career pilots who have other jobs. A third option has become airline retirees who still want to fly, with Hamilton noting that retiring baby boomers might present an opportunity. “The stats describe a slow-motion demise.”
Total active FAA-issued PPL Certificates: 1980—357,479 2016—162,313 (-55%) Average Age of Private Pilots: :1993—42.7 years 2016—48.4 years GA Ops at FAA and Contract Control Towers 1990—40,000; 2016—27,544, (-30% ) TROUBLING trends. Who will fill the pilot supply pipeline?? I came across this defining statement recently. Spot on insight.
“The answer to the #pilotshortage is not simply a matter of encouraging more people to become pilots: it’s the culture that needs to be changed. Actions need to be taken urgently to improve the appeal, affordability, and access to the career of professional flying.” "The Regional Airline Association estimates that there will be a shortage of 19,000 pilots in the U.S. by 2020." via @RAAtweets
That's just 2 years from now, folks. #PilotShortage This was originally published in 2015 by @armstrongerika1. Some of the brutal realities of being an airline pilot are shared here. Don't walk into the industry blindfolded or naive. Flying is, and will always be, expensive and demanding because it is. It can be a hobby or profession, but whether you pay for it, or it pays you, it is an industry that demands respect and self-discipline from its participants. The reasons why 80% of student pilots drop out have also always been the same; lack of money and the high demands of the industry. But, given that it has always been difficult, why are there really 210,000 less licensed pilot now than there were in 1980?
It’s a complex question and there are as many answers as there are pilots. There are thousands of people who say they want to learn how to fly, but there is a disconnection between that statement and actually going out there and pursuing aviation as a career. The common denominator is that it is too expensive to learn how to fly and the financial rewards once you make it, are comparable to minimum wage. An equally significant cost is the perpetual lost time away from spouses and children. Add in insurance, fuel, consumables, airport fees, taxes, flight physicals, check rides, ground school, books, computers, medical exams, maintenance/annuals, and upgraded required equipment, on top of having to pay a flight instructor, and this is enough for most flight students to walk away, despite their passion to fly. Compound these basic costs with foreign countries sending students to larger American flight schools, and this formula keeps prices high at formal training facilities. All these factors create a high threshold for the up and coming generation of pilots and it’s the main barrier that most can’t get over, no matter how much passion they have to fly. But, what about the carrot that lures the rest to climb over this giant wall? What awaits them once they get there? Is there still an incentive to keep climbing to reach the airlines, or have the airlines lost enough allure that the dreams vanish once pilots start reaching for it? In order to answer that question, it is necessary to pull back from the fundamental details of getting there, and relook at the entire industry of the airlines to understand where the true disconnection comes from. The ideology that came from last week’s conference at the International Air Transport Association seals its fate. The airlines have gone from pride to prejudice while riding record global profits for the airline industry. During this annual meeting of the world’s top airline executives (2015), a buzzword was bantered around by several of the airline CEOs and CFOs: “Discipline”. Discipline means requiring punishment for bad behavior, but in this case, it is code for wanting to cut even more costs and squeezing more money out of passengers. I thought it was ironic that this accountant style leadership used this word to describe their view of what is lacking in the aviation world. It makes me shake my head in shame at what the airlines have become. The formula for failure is simple; take away pride and all you have left is disdain. Take away pride, and the new generation of potential pilots, who learn from the present, will turn towards other possibilities. What the CEOs forget is that discipline is something you force, not something you earn. With the leaders in aviation thinking this is what we need, the industry is doomed to stumble. What every airline CEO needs to be giving and earning is respect. Respect. Respect for their passengers, their employees and the pride of the industry. Setting up ideas like charging passengers, especially families traveling with children, to reserve a seat together is completely disrespectful and creates an air of shame for the industry. It starts at the top and flows down, no matter what industry it is. The collapsing of pride over cost is epidemic and the sentiment is retaliated on a wide, but quiet quest by millions of employees. They aren’t doing anything wrong, but they are quietly pushing against the disrespect. It costs the industry exponentially more than just fixing the problem, but it won’t show up directly on their spread sheets. They just can’t see past the ledger. The best I can do to summarize this complex ideology is to give you just one simple story: I was a junior captain sitting reserve in MSP so my flying schedule was feast or famine. I was either sitting day after day waiting to fly, or I was on the road for days at a time, never knowing when I’d get home. Crew scheduling would tell me to pack for two days and seven days later, I’d be walking through my front door. It is okay, I accept those terms. The only thing I knew for sure is that I had spent fifteen years, tens of thousands of my own money in training, college, and years of exhausting work and self-discipline to earn a slot in the captain’s seat. In exchange, I received one week of vacation that was assigned to me. I didn’t get to pick when it was, it just showed up on my schedule. Assigned vacation. Either way, I relished knowing I could disconnect from the constant pressures of work. Not wanting to fight standby status to get on a flight, I purchased a ticket to Miami and reserved a car to get me to Key West. This would put me far away from any major airports. I knew better than to answer my phone on regular days off, but since this was assigned vacation, I had no fear answering it on my second day of vacation. I reflexively cringed when the voice coming through was like getting a call from the Devil himself. “Hi Erika! This is crew scheduling. Glad I got a hold of you, we have to junior assign you for a trip day after tomorrow.” “Oh, sorry guys, I’m on assigned vacation. I’m in Key West and not coming home for another five days.” “Nope, Erika. That’s not how this is going to go. If you don’t come back and fly this trip, you’re fired. You are junior on the captain seniority list, and since you answered your phone, you have to comply.” “Then, you have to get me back to MSP. My airline ticket can’t be changed and my flight is not for five more days.” “Nope. Your base is MSP, so you are responsible for getting yourself back to your base. Where you are on vacation is not our problem.” “I’m on a vacation that was assigned by crew scheduling. I didn’t have a choice. You not hiring enough pilots to cover your flight schedule is your problem, so why do I have to pay for your problem?” “Do you want your job or not? If you hang up, the next call is to the chief pilot. I promise, if you don’t cover this trip, you’re gone." I have self-pride, self-respect and I need my job. I also did dispatching in the past, so I knew how hard it was to get trips covered. To keep a long story short, after paying an extraordinary amount to get home, I made it back to MSP in time for the trip the next morning at 0600. At 2200 hours the night before, I got a call from crew scheduling saying that they did, indeed, find another pilot to cover the trip, so I could continue my vacation days. When I explained what I did to get back for them, they’re response was basically that it wasn’t their problem. So what? It’s just one of many examples of disrespect that have happened to thousands of professional pilots. This happened to me, so how could this affect anything else? It starts by pulling a low level frustration I had with the company into the cockpit. I was proud of my position, and I have a deep appreciation for my comrades, so I would never do anything to harm my professionalism, but there are things I could and did do which cost the company thousands - enough to pay for another pilot to be there on reserve, and the bean counters will never figure this out because they’ve never been in my seat. When I first started in the industry, it was a personal challenge to save my company money. It was a collaborative effort because I felt like they were family, so I did everything I could to cut costs. I would always taxi out on one engine, keep the APU off and just use external power/air, fly at the best fuel burn altitudes, take the cheaper hotel rooms, etc…but as the years passed and the industry evolved into “discipline” mentality, rather than respect, then a new attitude entered all of our perspectives. For example, it’s more beneficial for me and my crew to have a little longer flight, so let’s just take on a little extra fuel and fly at the altitude which burns more fuel and takes longer because we get paid a little more. Let’s ride the brakes to earn a few more minutes while we wear away the brake pads. Why hold the airplane for connecting passengers when it’s our last leg and we all have to commute home. My crew wants to catch their flights home too, so why should I care about the passenger who will miss the connection. There are no rules broken, so you can’t “discipline” that, but this changing pride costs the airlines more than what the accountants can plug into their formulas. Just ask the professional pilots flying right now. They have worked tirelessly for many years, through the perils of flight training, furloughs, commuters, charter, mergers, and company shutdowns. They have flown in the dead of night, in all weather, in many different aircraft and scenarios. Their value is in their experience and it is priceless. They are proud of their accomplishments because they should be. However, read any electronic pilot posting board, where free speech rules and anonymity pulls down the fear of speaking out, and you can see and feel a palpable change in pride for the industry. They are often ashamed of what it has become and what their leaders ask of them. They are ashamed that the “product” they deliver, their passengers, are being charged for a can of Coke while their CEO makes $17.4 million. Pilots understand profit margins, so they have to caveat recommending this industry to new pilots. The next pilot generation is losing the exuberance of its mentors because aviation is currently filled with cynicism, uncertainty and extraordinary expense to family and friends. The decline began when deregulation pulled us all away from small town airports, where many pilots began their dreams. 9/11 put a barrier around the rest, followed by shallow accounting leadership over the last decade. Factor in that student pilots no longer have to dream about seeing the world because they have access through their keyboard, or other well-paying jobs, and you can understand why those 210,000 people turned away from aviation. Just a few people with a positive ideology can change the world. The aviation industry begs for leaders who recognize the balance required between honoring this glorious industry, while still making enormous amounts of money. It can be done, but not with a ruler and “discipline”. It will be done with respect, pride and profit. Bring back the pride and you will bring back the pilots. Erika Armstrong has been in aviation for 30 years. From the front desk of an FBO to the captain’s seat of a commercial airliner, she’s experienced everything in between. She is also an aviation professor, Director of Instructional Design at Advanced Aircrew Academy and author of A CHICK IN THE COCKPIT . If you have comments or questions, or want to tell her your story about aviation, she can be reached at [email protected] U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao recently announced Forces to Flyers, a new research initiative that will encourage military veterans who are interested in becoming commercial pilots. Spearheaded by DOT and its Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, the three-year program will examine strategies for employing military veterans as pilots in order to address the nation's current and future pilot shortage. "In order for America to continue to be a world leader in aviation, we must search for ways to address our country's pilot shortage, invest in our nation's workforce, and ensure that our veterans have the support they need as they transition to the next phase of their careers," "There is a commercial pilot shortage due to the increased demand for air travel," she said. "The Forces to Flyers research initiative is a new strategy to address the pilot shortage by offering interested military veterans a path to becoming commercial pilots." DOT cited Boeing's 2016 Pilot Outlook, North America, as saying the industry needs to hire 112,000 pilots by 2035 in order to meet demand. "In order for America to continue to be a world leader in aviation, we must search for ways to address our country's pilot shortage, invest in our nation's workforce, and ensure that our veterans have the support they need as they transition to the next phase of their careers," Chao continued. U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who chairs the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, applauded the move. "As just about anyone who comes from a small or rural community can tell you, maintaining adequate air service has been a major challenge for many years and has recently been exacerbated by the pilot shortage facing the airline industry and the U.S. military. Forces to Flyers is an innovative initiative for helping veterans who aspire to fly and a step toward helping rural communities threatened by the loss of safe passenger air service. I applaud Secretary Chao and the Department of Transportation for launching this initiative, including the planned research into pathways for entering the pilot workforce, as recent rules have significantly increased the cost and entry requirements for this critical career," he said. Researchers working in the program will study pathways for entering the pilot workforce, identify barriers to training and employment, and design and implement an initiative that can provide flight training to people interested in becoming commercial pilots. And a major priority of the initiative will be preserving and increasing air service to rural and small communities. Details on how to become involved in the Forces to Flyers research initiative will be made available at a future date. Great article from @ClayLacy regarding pilots in business aviation. Enjoy! Experienced and qualified pilots are a valuable and necessary asset in business aviation; now more than ever before. Over the next two decades, private jet operators will be challenged to quickly fill vacant crew positions; which could significantly impact aircraft owners and private jet charter. "To many pilots, flying is not a drug, but oxygen— essential to their existence. Economic prosperity, increased travel demands, mandatory retirement, and various barriers to entry into the career as a professional pilot have contributed to the pending pilot shortage edging close on the horizon. Aircraft owners need be aware of the inequality of supply versus demand for professional pilots. The mismatch could have a significant effect on operating budgets, aircraft crewing, and private jet travel.
As the pool of qualified pilot candidates leans, the expenses associated with private jet travel and aircraft ownership will increase. “The topic of pilot salaries is a top discussion point from aircraft owners,” says Preston Williamson, Assistant Director of Operations for Clay Lacy Aviation. “We participate in annual salary surveys and maintain open lines of communication with our pilots and peers in the industry in order to provide sound advice to our clients.” In the current market, professional pilots have options regarding which aviation company to join. Some corporate pilots— interested in quality-of-life, stability, and compensation growth— are leaving business aviation and joining commercial airlines like Southwest, United, and Alaska. While commercial airlines are getting more and more aggressive in their recruiting tactics, data indicates that there are just not enough pilot candidates available industry-wide. At Clay Lacy Aviation, the attention to hiring quality professionals— highly skilled aviators, with the desire and ability to communicate effectively with aircraft owners and other high net worth travelers— will remain the same, regardless of the pilot shortage. What will change are the salaries such candidates garner and the amount of time it takes to find professional pilots with the necessary experience and abilities. “When hiring pilots, we maintain a strict standard of safety, competency, and professionalism,” says Preston. Compensation is always important, but for aircraft owners, the solution to the pilot shortage may involve more than throwing money at the problem. A pilot’s quality-of-life is profoundly influenced by a variety of factors beyond dollars and cents. According to Tom Wachowski, founder, and host of ‘Private Jet Podcast,‘ there are a few reasons why pilots remain happy in their business aviation careers. One point mentioned is the ‘direction,’ or management landscape of a private jet operation. “Flight attendants, maintenance technicians, and pilots want to be confident in the leadership at a company,” Tom says in his podcast. Clay Lacy Aviation has historically seen longevity of employment in its pilot group. “One of the major benefits that airlines offer over private aviation— which is inherently fluid— is stability. Pilots hope to find a place to ‘hang their hat,’ if you will,” says Preston. “At Clay Lacy, we work extremely hard to provide that same level of employment stability. Most of our pilots have flown for Clay Lacy for five or more years, and some for as long at twenty-five years.” The longevity of professional pilots translates into greater continuity for aircraft owners and charter clients; resulting in a more efficient and safe operation. Preston states that, “Providing continuity of employment is one way we offer the element of ‘quality-of-life’ that most pilots seek as they look to their future.” To many pilots, flying is not a drug, but oxygen— essential to their existence. The profession is as natural and necessary to a pilot’s life as is the act of breathing. For the future growth of aviation— and continued increase of private jet travel— it’s essential to educate and motivate future aviators. “Flying is the closest thing to freedom that I have ever found,” says Rachelle Spector, founder of I HART Flying Foundation; an organization that inspires women to fly professionally. “Someone gave me the gift of flight, and that changed my life. Sharing that experience for others is essential.” In the future, aircraft owners may experience higher costs due to the lower number of qualified pilots. Regardless, the competition for the most sought after jobs— with the best aircraft owners and charter companies— will remain stiff. Ralph Salisbury, a professional Gulfstream G450/G550 pilot with Clay Lacy for many years says, “Hands-down, there is nothing that I would rather be doing than flying.” Throughout 2015, there was a fundamental shift in the assertiveness applied to the recruitment 'processes' to attract pilots and other candidates (dispatchers, flight attendants, mechanics, etc.) to the regional airlines in the United States. In my former life, I was an airline marketing rep, and I have noticed an emphatic shift in the strategies that each company utilizes to make their carrier stand out from the others, with perks such as high starting pay, bonuses, commuter hotels and other attractive incentives that have been developed in an extremely competitive hiring environment for regional airlines vying for a limited supply of candidates coming from flight schools and aviation tech schools. The aviation job market is as ripe as it has ever been, and that is a very good thing for applicants seeking the right fit for a good starting point to begin (and possibly end) their careers.
|
Author:The Pilot Liberator is a former corporate pilot (Part 135 & 91) and a current ATP-rated airline pilot (Part 121) for a well-known carrier in the United States. Archives:
March 2018
|