Flying Cheap: Professionalism in the Regional Industry

     Throughout the regional airline industry there is a debate about pilot shortages. There are people who believe there isn’t a pilot shortage, but that pilots are not being paid enough to live and pay the bills that they are discouraged from flying and then there are the people who believe there is a pilot shortage because there are going to be a lot more pilots that are retiring compared to the number of new pilots that come in. There is a lot of debate about which argument is right and which one isn’t. After the Colgan accident in 2009, the 1,500-hour flight rule was implemented. With that came some of the arguments as to what is causing a pilot shortage. “The regional airline industry Thursday blamed a key safety requirement stemming from a deadly 2009 plane crash in Clarence Center for creating a pilot shortage, only to encounter members of Congress from both parties who criticized the industry for not paying its beginning pilots enough” (Zremski, 2014). There are some differences in opinions based on which side of the seat you are sitting in. The airlines feel there is a pilot shortage while Congress feels there is a problem with pilots’ pay.  “Remarkably, regional crews apparently don’t realize this because ALPA denies any pilot shortage exists. Instead, it says there is a pay shortage” (CAPA, 2015). ALPA denies there is a pilot shortage, but instead blames it on the pay shortage of these pilots. Pilots are underpaid when they first start out working. “The ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Richard R. Larsen of Washington state, said the regional airline industry offers its beginning pilots ‘poverty wages’” (Zremski, 2014).

     The problem with becoming a new pilot in the working world is that you pay so much for your education and pilot training, that it is hard to afford anything when you are finished and just starting to work. “The cost of their four-year education plus flight training can be more than USD 125,000. Few could rationalize the expenditure for a USD 20,000-a-year starting salary, forcing many to drop out” (CAPA, 2015). This is a huge problem because people cannot afford to live once they graduate college on these starting wages. They cannot afford to pay student loans off and pay their bills. The Colgan accident that occurred in 2009 looked at many different factors. One of the factors was that the first officer was traveling all night before her flight. She didn’t have a crash pad because she couldn’t afford it. She wasn’t making enough money to be able to live in the area or rent a crash pad. “‘If you don’t have the quantity piece in there, they’re going to pay food stamp-level wages to these young pilots,’ Kuwik said, noting that the co-pilot of Flight 3407 – who, investigators said, made critical errors in the cockpit – made $16,000 a year and as a result lived with her family in Seattle even though her job was based in Newark, N.J.” (Zremski, 2014). This is a serious issue because it discourages interested pilots from pursuing this career. It can put a lot of strain and stress on beginning pilots because they are not making enough money to afford to live. For the first officer in the Colgan accident who did a lot of traveling, that can really affect someone and how they perform. From reading the accident report, she was becoming sick and was exhausted once she got to work.

     On the other hand, there is the argument that there is a pilot shortage. “Between 2015 and 2022, according to industry estimates, more than 14,000 pilots will retire” (CAPA, 2015). This is a large number of pilots that are set to retire within a seven-year span. After the Colgan accident, there was a 1,500-hour rule that got implemented. This required that pilots needed at least 1,500 hours before they could be hired in to companies. This required aspiring pilots to do a lot more training which costed more money. “Smaller airlines are having trouble hiring enough pilots because of a recently implemented safety rule requiring newly hired co-pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight experience or its equivalent” (Zremski, 2014). The 1,500-hour rule is said to play a part in why there is a pilot shortage. There are not a lot of pilots at this moment who are qualified to be hired in because they do not have the 1,500 hours. One regional airline, Republic explains some of the reasons why they are struggling to be able to recruit and acquire new pilots.

One, a change in federal law now requires pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of flying time before they can work for an airline (there are some exceptions to the hour requirement). Second, airlines need more pilots to fly the same schedule after the Federal Aviation Administration changed the rules on the amount of hours pilots can work and the amount of rest they must get. “The new limits became effective on January 1, 2014, and immediately had the effect of reducing pilot productivity 5-7%, further exacerbating the growing pilot shortage,” Republic said. (Maxon, 2015)

The fact that pilots need more hours of flight experience and cannot work as many hours as before limits the amount of pilots that you can choose from while needing more pilots to work for a company. This creates that issue of everyone needing more pilots, but there is a select few who meet the requirements. This leaves some companies short pilots because the amount of people they have to choose from is so slim.

     I think that both of these arguments are part of the problem. I think that the pay shortage and the starting pay for pilots discourages pilots from pursuing this as a career causing a pilot shortage. I think that the amount of money that people pay in order to go to college, get a degree, and take flight lessons and training is way too expensive compared to what one would make when starting out. This causes things to happen such as in the Colgan accident where people will have to travel too far to work causing them to become fatigued since people cannot afford to live close to work. It also provides problems because people who are interested may see this as something where they cannot afford to live once they start working. Although they can make it work once they move up, it takes time to do that and they may not have that amount of time to be able to support themselves. I think that both of these issues play a factor especially because of the 1,500-hour rule. Pilots now require more training and more flight experience that it takes them longer and costs them more money to even become qualified for a job. This can be quite discouraging to people and they may pick a different career to go into.

     The new regulations of the 1,500-hour rule make regional airlines concerned with their hiring pool because it really limits the options of possible candidates they can choose from. “The fact is, I could hire a guy tomorrow with 1,501 hours but he might not be the best candidate because he’d built that time towing banners over Miami Beach and has no experience flying in the north. At the same time, I can’t hire an F-18 pilot with 700 hours. The result is that we are short of pilots and there is a bunch of qualified people out there who became suddenly unemployable because of this rule” (CAPA, 2015). The problem isn’t always the amount of hours or experience. Sometimes people are just not meant to be pilots or are not exactly qualified even with the certain amount of hours. I think regional pilots are concerned because they feel they do not have enough pilots. “There simply aren’t enough pilots in the regionals to satisfy the expected demand” (CAPA, 2015). They have a lot of demand to keep up with, but because of the 1,500-hour rule and the rules on how many hours a pilot can work, they do not have the right amount of people, so each company needs to hire new employees, but there are few who reach the 1,500-hour requirement. I think some possible solutions are that students get more funding to be able to afford college and training. This can help with people being able to afford to pay for the amount of training and experience they need. Another solution may be to decrease the price of flight training to make it a little more affordable. This can help in the future for those that may have loans to pay back since they won’t have as must to pay off.

     One organization that represents the manufacturers of the regional airline industry is the Regional Airline Association. “RAA represents North American regional airlines, and the manufacturers of products and services supporting the regional airline industry, before the Congress, DOT, FAA and other federal agencies” (Aviation Association , 2010). This is a big organization in helping out the regional airlines besides ALPA. “The RAA serves as an important support network connecting regional airlines, industry business partners, and government regulators in bolstering the industry; as well as promoting regional airline interests in a changing business and policy environment” (Regional Airline Association, 2015). 

     Professionalism is how someone presents themselves at work. This involves how a person dresses; how a person talks to their managers, their colleagues, and their customers; how a person treats other people; how a person responds to different situations; or even how a person admits their mistakes when they happen. It is important to be trustworthy and honest and to always show the most respect. It is also really important to be positive.

     Two ways in which lack of professionalism was demonstrated in the Colgan accident was when the two pilots were not keeping a sterile cockpit. The first officer was complaining about work and talking about how she didn’t feel too well. Her ears and head were hurting and she just wanted to get on the ground and into a hotel since she wouldn’t have to pay for it. She was barely making any money and couldn’t afford to live close to her home base in Newark, NJ or to pay for a crash pad. Another way that there was a lack of professionalism was with management. Management was not checking the backgrounds on their employees. The pilot and the copilot both had disapprovals for some of their training. This is a big issue especially because the pilot had a lot of issues with not being able to pass his check rides and having to retake them and never mentioned this to Colgan. Management should have done a background check and noticed that he never reported these disapprovals. They should make sure their pilots are properly trained and are being honest about things especially if they were receiving unsatisfactory grades on their check rides.

     I think that for the copilot who got sick and was tired from traveling was affected by the pay of the regional airlines. She moved back home to Seattle, Washington to live with her parents because she couldn’t afford to live in the area or to pay for a crash pad. The night before the Colgan accident, she was traveling all night in order to make her start time for her first flight in the morning. When the flight got canceled, she was napping in the crew room. I think that the traveling and commuting to work can get to people and start to make them sick and fatigue their body. I think this led to some lack of professionalism because this made her violate the sterile cockpit rule when she was complaining about work and how she didn’t feel well. I think that first year pilot pay can affect professionalism in the workplace because people may not put in the extra effort when they are barely making enough money to live.

     Two specific ways that I plan on maintaining and expanding my level of professionalism once I am employed in a job is to be sure that I treat everyone fairly and show respect to everyone. This includes my bosses, my managers, supervisors, colleagues, customers, and even those who may clean the office or drop packages or mail off. I know that everyone tends to work with people they do not like, but it is very important to be respectful and set that aside in the workplace. Especially if one is a manager, it is really important to treat everyone fairly and give everyone the opportunities they deserve. It is also important to give everyone help when they need it, even if you do not want to. In the end, if you help other people, they may want to help you out too. If a manager never does anything for their employees, they may have the mindset of never wanting to help their manager out. It is best to always provide a helping hand even if someone doesn’t return the favor. Another way I can expand my professionalism is to always be honest and admit any mistakes I may make. I know it is hard for people to admit their mistakes, especially when it may affect the company, but it is really important to be honest from the start. This can prevent things from getting worse if no one knows something wrong happened. Honesty is always the way to go about things even if it may affect you or others. Sometimes honesty can help you keep your job or provide other benefits because management respects your ability to be honest.

References

Aviation Association . (2010). Retrieved from Aviation Entrepreneurs : http://morethanflight.com/library/aviationassociations.html

CAPA. (2015, April 1). U.S. Regional Airline Restructuring Part I: Is Consolidation Inevitable – Or Essential? Retrieved from CAPA: Centre For Aviation : http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/us-regional-airline-restructuring-part-i-is-consolidation-inevitable--or-essential-217004

CAPA. (2015, April 8). US Regional Airline Restructuring Part 2. Towards an Independent Regional Force; & Regulatory Change. Retrieved from CAPA: Centre for Aviation: http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/us-regional-airline-restructuring-part-2-towards-an-independent-regional-force--regulatory-change-217922

Maxon, T. (2015, July 27). A Regional Airline’s Pilot Shortage is Going to Mean Problems for the Big Airlines. Retrieved from Dallas Morning News : http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2015/07/a-regional-airlines-pilot-shortage-is-going-to-mean-problems-for-the-big-airlines.html/

Regional Airline Association. (2015). Retrieved from RAA: Regional Airline Association: http://www.raa.org/

Zremski, J. (2014, April 30). Lawmakers Bristle as Airline Industry Blames Safety Rule for Pilot Shortage. Retrieved from The Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/washington-politics/lawmakers-bristle-as-airline-industry-blames-safety-rule-for-pilot-shortage-20140430