Trans States Airlines (@transstates) announced yesterday that its pilot group (represented by ALPA) has passed a Tentative Agreement (TA) on a three year contract extension. The TA, which was unanimously recommended by the ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC) for a rank and file vote, passed with 71% of voting pilots voting in favor of the contract extension.
The new contract increases first year, First Officer pay to $35.81 per flight hour, and also includes increases in cost-of-living pay and the pilots' per diem rate. It also boosts the company's 401(K) contributions and decreases pilots' health insurance costs. Hats off to Trans States and their pilots for setting a positive trend for other regional carriers and their pilot groups. Let's hope that ALPA can/will do the same in supporting the pilots at other 'regionals' currently negotiating their TA's, such as Mesa Airlines (with its pathetic 1% offer / pay raise for its first year pilots) and Republic Airlines, in an attempt to avoid a potential (threatened by Republic's CEO) Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. These are significant events in the airline industry and they will have a major impact upon the future of operations, pilot hiring and recruitment and in maintaining the continuity of operations for the major / mainline carriers at AA, DL and UA. I'm cautiously optimistic that these pilot groups will continue to circle the wagons and build on the momentum of companies like Trans States in the very near future. The tables are turning. Pilot lives matter, folks.
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The main reason for the pilot shortage is a SHORTAGE OF PAY. Short and sweet. "The airline industry is built on starting salaries for regional pilots that are roughly equivalent to fast-food wages."
Charts and graphs speak volumes, and these numbers are hard to ignore. I came across this enlightening article today regarding the pending pilot shortage. It's time to separate fact from fiction, and this article does a good job of it, with comments from Captain Paul Ryder, a regional airline pilot and spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association (@WeAreALPA).
Pilot Shortage: Fact or Myth? Low Pay, Pending Retirements Cited (You may need click on 'Skip Survey' to view article text) It never ceases to amaze me the gall and utter disregard that the airline industry (primarily the major carriers) have shown in the recent months and years leading up to what many are referring to as a pilot recruitment crisis. The crisis is real and although it may not affect the traveling public on the surface, its festering issues are being ignored by the C-Suites of airlines and their affiliates. There's a HUGE elephant in the room, and it baffles many experts and leaders in the aviation industry as to how much longer they can turn a blind eye.
The main reason for their indifference is the fact that the major airlines really not seeing any sort of a pilot shortage in their mainline hiring / operations, but peel back the onion a layer or two and you will expose an incredible crisis that has been brewing at the 'regionals' and 'express' carriers that currently support up to 60% of domestic and many international operations for the major carriers like American, United and Delta Air Lines. As a pilot, I've seen the writing on the wall from miles away at this point. Why is that? It's simple really, as a lifelong aviation geek, or as many refer to us, AvGeeks, I have paid very close attention to the aviation industry for the better part of my life. When I decided to walk away from a very successful and lucrative career with a major international airline in 2001, the airline industry was experiencing incredible growth and profitability, much as it is now. The decision to sign off on some big student loans for flight school seemed like a no-brainer at the time, but in retrospect I was embarking on a fifteen year 'career' that would test my patience and love of the industry to points that I had never envisioned. The sole reason for coming back into the choppy and murky waters of the airline industry earlier this year was due to the fact that anyone with basic math skills can see. There will be a mass exodus of retirements over the next 5-7 years from the mainline carriers, and one only needs to take a short stroll through the terminals of ATL, DFW, IAD, or LAX to get a look at all of the veteran, soon to be retired 'gray hairs' walking to their gates to get an idea that the imbalance is real, and the pilot shortage crisis is here and now, not years from now as many organizations and airlines would have you believe. I'm back in the game to (hopefully) benefit from the retirement exodus and to ride the front end of a major hiring wave at a major carrier in the near future. Seniority is everything in this business, and I want to nail my number down as soon as possible. Maybe, with a little help from good timing, patience and with mainstream media spotlighting the current scenario, I, along with many, many others who have gone far beyond the call of duty to sacrifice in the Lost Decade of aviation, will get to achieve what we all ultimately set out to do long ago. Much more on this subject to follow in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. This blog was created to create awareness of the crisis that is facing the airline industry around the world, with a specific focus upon the industry's blatant disregard of a 'pilot shortage' that has been exacerbated by poor working conditions, low morale and incredibly low pay / reward for a career that is one the most highly regulated and tested in the world. More to come.
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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
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