Pilot Hiring Boom Enabled-Update

It's on.  A USA Today article stated publicly what we in the industry already know. The pilot shortage is beginning to be felt in the industry.

FEDEX is hiring, Alaska, ASA, Eagle, and many others are opening the pipeline. Although the commuters are and have been the stepping stone to the majors, many of these pilots are opting for the Asian Pacific ring to fly. It isn't the skies over the USA but the pay can be very lucrative.



Don't limit your imagination and options. Look at other locals for flying opportunities but you have to start. Do it, do it now. Start learning how to fly. To get your pilots license you still need 40 hours flying time. 20 dual and 20 solo. I did it over 33 years ago and so can you. It took me a couple years but determination drove me through it.

My suggestion is to talk to an airline flight department and find out exactly what they are looking for and set your sights there. You will be much more successful if you have a plan.

6/23/2011 Update;

Boeing stated today that there has been a lot of pilot sniping, where airlines have been recruiting pilots from other airlines. Also, based upon aircraft orders and replacement data, there will be a need for almost 459,000 pilots over the next 30 years. This is due to retirements, regulations, Asian Pacific expansion, and general International growth. That's a lot of pilots needed.   

Go Corporate, Fly A LearJet

On very dark, early, cold and windswept mornings I was in charge of the launch of about 8 airplanes that launched from the center of Dallas Love field to points as far away as Salt Lake City. The Salt lake crew would fire up one engine to get the airplane warmed up for the flight. I could stand about 40 to 50 feet behind the that engine and remain warm as toast and watch as the other Barons, Bonanzas, and others departed. Even though the temperature was hovering in the teens, that big kerosene heater kept me warm until they throttled up to taxi out.  

It was my job to quickly handle any anomaly that arose so we could meet our delivery deadlines. Sometimes I had to pull a backup airplane out of the hangar, swap planes, reroute, or pull and ship our freight or even call a charter to meet our hectic schedule. There was little room for error. We flew checks. Money. Cash and financial instruments of money in the hundreds of millions of dollars from points across the country.

Our piston airplanes were rolling through C-check inspections about every 90 days. That is 300 hours of flying. In a C-check, the airplane is pulled apart and looks like it will never fly again. But the mechanics replaced cracked cylinders, missing baffling, cleaned spark plugs, and inspected the wing box and other parts for cracks. Timed components like fuel systems, mags, prop governors and propellers were replaced or overhauled and returned to service. You learn a lot about pilots and airplanes in an environment like that.

This industry of flying checks sadly is gone. But it was a perfect environment for smart and enthusiastic pilots to learn the craft and they did. I worked in flight operations and although I am a pilot my flying was relegated to Part 91 ferrying planes in and out for inspections or maintenance because I was not a commercial pilot. So, I handled pilot communications, manifests, scheduling maintenance, and other duties like trying to keep my aviation brothers out of trouble. Sometimes this was hard because there were a few pilots that did not have the work ethic and dedication to the craft of flying. An important part of that craft is paperwork and it didn't take me long to find out who the slackers were simply by reviewing their manifests.

There is a lot to do in aviation. If you want to fly, start now. Obama will be out of office soon and the economy will begin to recover from this malaise. What is recovering right now is Corporate flying. Today I watched as several Corporate Jets departed Addison Airport. One was a LearJet. That reminded me of  the early morning launch of that old Lear-24 and pilots that flew the late night arrival and early morning departure.

Corporate flying has many rewards. Most fly the best and better equipment than airlines. You have no specific schedule and spend downtime at some very cool Fixed Base Operators. I've been to dozens getting fuel, picking up or dropping off someone. It's a completely different environment than slogging in and out of Airline terminals. Often the pay and benefits are better than Regional's certainly and the flying is far less frenetic with fewer cycles of the landing gear.       
     

From A Cockpit Mockup

 

This is the front office of a Boeing 737-300 that was retired from the Southwest Airlines Stable. Southwest Airlines has grown to be one of the most formidable Airlines in the industry, Their plan was simple. Fly short routs to popular places with no frills service and a short turn-around at really cheap prices.

The original rout was from Dallas to Austin to San Antonio to Houston. Any city as long as it was one of these four was only $20 bucks one way. Southwest took off and never looked back. They used the exact same equipment to make training, maintenance, and logistics simple. 10 minute turn arounds were the norm. Things are a little different today since Southwest has acquired two other airlines.

In order to begin a climb to a cockpit similar to this one it all starts with the first flight. Start flying now.

"Do You Want To LEarn To Fly?"

It's time to fly! 

It isn't getting any cheaper and all indications are that a pilot shortage looms with  new regulations. 

One way to earn and learn is of course to teach. Learning from an operation like ATP you would likely be a candidate for an instructor position. Getting twin time is essential but just building time is required and PIC or Pilot In Command time is needed too.

PIC time is required because companies want pilot who have time learning and selecting their own decisions. This comes in the form of selecting best routs to avoid weather, carrying the proper weight which may mean leaving someone or something behind or selecting a better time or day to fly. The best outcome of each flight depends upon the decisions the PIC selects. Select the wrong decision and an overweight airplane can quickly become a sad statistic. 

If you have an endearing dream to fly for a living, start now. There are ways to earn and learn. The stepping stones may be expensive but if you look around there are some ways to get into aviation without spending the family fortune. 

During WW2 the German Airforce taught their pilots the basics in gliders. This was because they could haul several airplanes and instructors into the blue in the time it takes to instruct one pilot in a powered airplane. Learning good stick and rudder techniques was essential in airplanes of that day and even now. Gliders are one way of doing that. 


The first thing to do is get a plan together. Getting the written's like the Private Pilot Exam out of the way is necessary to get your Private Pilot License. But, you have to start. So, get going!

 

     

More Pilots Wanted!

Unless you've been living under a rock or do without internet, TV, or any other sort of media and are interested in aviation as a career Commercial Pilot, you are missing out.

Citation Air, a Fractional Charter operation run by Cessna has recalled all their furloughed pilots. Not all returned. Of about 80 plus pilots there are still over 30 vacant pilot slots with Citation ratings. The Citation aircraft are from the Citation CJ-3, the Citation XLS, The Sovereign, and the Citation X. The X is fast big boy of the fleet.

Of the pilots not going back to work for Citation air we could easily assume some were hired by other carriers or decided that degree seems to be paying better somewhere else. But, the majority going back to work there says something.

Fractionals and charters are flying gangbusters. They are expanding and buying more equipment to handle the demand. This only means that they will need, "more pilots" Although most growth of air traffic will be in the Pacific Rim, the US has seen consistent growth in traffic and here's why. People still have to travel across the US for business, vacation, visits friends, relatives for various reasons.

Take a trip from North Texas where I live to Redding California. I've flown that in my Cessna Cardinal before but lets talk about driving that same distance instead. To drive that trip would take about 36 plus hours with little sleep, about 1800 miles @ say 25 mpg average would take about $280 bucks worth of fuel one way.  I can get a flight with Southwest Airlines for $190 to $408 round trip!

So, aviation will always be in our future but do you want to be part of that future? As a pilot you will be needed. Aviation is still growing even in this economy. Fuel prices will come back down. Aviation will continue to expand so be ready for it.

I know that many flight students come from all over the world to learn to fly here in the US. The most prevalent reason is the cost. However, if you can learn to fly in our busy skies you can fly anywhere.

In Germany during WW2, Germany taught pilots to fly gliders first. This was because fuel was in short supply. But, in doing so they taught pilots that were very good indeed. They learned stick and rudder and energy management. Something few of us here in the US studied unless you ever watched Bob Hoover do his routine in an Aero Commander.

So, no matter where you live, there is aviation. To get started, go to an airport and talk to local pilots. Most pilots I know are happy to help their aviation brethren in some way. 

Notice! Potential Airline Pilots,

If you ever wanted to be an airline pilot, I can't explain how important it is to get going on your flying career right now. It isn't getting any cheaper and it will potentially be much harder in the future with new regulations in place.

There is word that funding for pilot training is drying up in major flight schools and the primary culprit is starting pay with commuter airlines. However, the commuter is the stepping stone to larger equipment and the reasons are obvious.

Commuter pilots fly longer hours, fly at lower altitudes, worse weather, make many more cycles of take offs and landings. Crew Resource Management (CRM) is paramount with the commuters and major airlines love commuter pilots for the reasons stated. They have a lot of experience with new nav systems and are familiar with glass cockpits. As a matter of fact, many pilots who have been hired by the majors are actually stepping down in navigational equipment as the legacy carriers have been hard pressed with global competition to upgrade the cockpit.

This is understandable with the older McDonnel Douglas DC-9 series and Boeing 737 series aircraft. The newer 717 was a technological leap in the cockpit but there are but a few of them. Boeing now owns Douglas and that will be the end of the nines, Super 80s, 88, and 90.

Now Embraer with their 170 Series carrying 76 seats and advanced cocpits are filling the void left by the early DC 9 and the 737-100 with an 85 seat capacity. The 737-100 was quickly followed up with the 200 which carried even more passengers and the demise of the "flight engineer" soon to be followed by the Boeing 727.

The point of this article is to hopefully instill a sense urgency in you. You that have a desire to fly. A burning desire to experience the vistas daily that few humans experience. To be part of a community that is rare, disciplined, professional, respected, and eventually, financially rewarding.

But, you need to start as early as possible.  

Yet Another Reason For A Pilot Shortage

Money. "Yep", funding for flight training across the globe has dried up. The romance of jetting all over the country spending time in exotic locals has lost it's luster. Flight training from Private Pilot to a Co-pilot slot on a commercial airliner be it corporate, commuter, or major airline, has become even more difficult as the fuel prices have risen and funding for training dried up. This full route could slice a $100,000 bill out of your savings account if you had it.

There are ways around it but be prepared to be away from home and become a flight instructor for some time. I know many that went this route but it is easier and less costly to just learn to teach and build time and experience from there. You should also consider getting flight simulator software to help you learn to fly before you fly.

When I started m instrument ticket I was able to program instrument flights around Dallas Ft. Worth and was able to learn frequencies and procedures before flying. Now, there is no substitute and nothing is like the real thing. Nor is anything more expensive. But, for less than $300 you can get some flight hardware and a couple different types of software to learn the basics that are also aircraft specific. You can at least learn approach speeds, performance rates, and instrument functionality.