Skip to main content

Flying Cheap - Professionalism in the Aviation Industry

Current and future state of the regional airline:

There is no secret that there is a pilot shortage at not only the regional level, but almost at every level in the aviation industry starting with flight instructors all the way to the cargo side. This past November was the most current case of the pilot shortage that made its way to the news. American Airlines and American Eagle stated that they were faced with crewing issues during the holiday season and month of December. In a statement AA said, "We are working diligently to address the issue and expect to avoid cancellations this holiday season. We have reserve pilots to help cover flying in December, and we are paying pilots who pick up certain open trips 150 percent of their hourly rate. As much as we are allowed to pay them per the contract. We will work with Allied Pilots Association (the pilots union at American) to take care of our pilots and ensure we get our customers to where they need to go over the holidays." In a statement by Boeing obtained by Fox News, “The pilot outlook predicts a need for 117,000 pilots between 2017 and 2036 just in North America alone. Worldwide, we are looking at the demand to be around 637,000.” Per FAA regulations, pilots must retire at 65 which companies must comply with. On the other hand, there aren’t as many individuals entering the aviation field. Personally, I think the biggest issue why is due to funding. As we all know, flight training is very costly and can be hard to fund. Airlines have significantly increased pay to pilots in the past decade, along with hefty sign on bonuses are very appealing to people to get into the industry. Perhaps companies could create contracts with students to help fund their flight training, they could have a deal where they would fly with that airline for a period of time. As the 1500 hour rule, I feel like that is a good number and should not be lowered, unless the individual is coming from a 141 school where they are allowed the Restricted Airline Transport Pilot (R-ATP) certificate with 1000 hours. Even though both may seem low, at that point students should have enough knowledge and are ready for real world experience where they can continue learning in real scenarios. Airline companies could pair a fairly new pilot with a more experienced pilot to ensure safety.

     1)  In my own words, professionalism means someone who has the knowledge and skill to perform their tasks in a qualified and efficient way.

     2)  The crew on Colgan Air Flight 3407 lacked professionalism in various ways. First off, the captain and first officer failed to follow sterile cockpit procedures throughout the flight. The captain failed to properly react to the stick shaker, eventually leading the aircraft to stall. For the first officer, she retracted the flaps without briefing the captain, and it was also not the correct action at the time. On the management side, Colgan Air lacked professionalism as to crew standards and operating procedures. They overlooked the captains multiple check ride fails, and didn’t have adequate approach to stall training for their crews.

     3) Personally, I feel like first year pilot pay plays a huge role in the lack of professionalism in pilots that was displayed in the documentary. If I remember correctly, one of the individuals stated they only made $16,000 their first year, which can take a huge toll on how a pilot performs his or her duties. It could cause various amounts of stress on an individual's if faced with financial issues and lack motivation.

     4) I plan to maintain and expand my level of professionalism once I am employed in a job that I am listed in by:
Always pushing myself to continue to learn in the field. This can be by going to seminars and listening to speakers, reading aviation writings and research, and even talking to experienced individuals and co-workers among me.
Another way is following basic safety procedures. This can be obtained by the correct use of checklists all the way to basic safety steps listed in a company's SMS.

Reference:

Airlines battle growing pilot shortage that could reach crisis levels in a few years. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2017/12/20/airlines-battle-growing-pilot-shortage-that-could-reach-crisis-levels-in-few-years.html

(n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2017/11/29/american-airlines-facing-possible-pilot-shortage.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final Blog

For my final blog in this Aviation Senior Seminar course, I want to expand on my past blog that was all for the push of commercial space travel, and really give out how beneficial it could be to mankind. According to Forbes, the main objective of privatizing commercial space travel isn’t to just hand over space travel to the private sector, but expand upon the utilization of travel by space by finding different companies and opportunities where a private sector or sectors could benefit from ( www.forbes.com , Who’s Winning In the Commercial Space Race?). The first main con that comes from this is that it allows smaller private companies to provide a business for the government in a way both can benefit from. For example, NASA really hasn’t launched its own rocket in years, along with shutting down its shuttle program back in 2011 due to government funding.  This was the first major break in United States history allowing a privatized company to get the opportunity to compete in th
Post a Comment
Read more

The New FAA Administrator

John Dunkin has had a professional and personal relationship with President Donald Trump since 1989 when Trump started his own airline that eventually folded in 1992. Dunkin currently fly’s President Trumps Boeing 757. New York Post stated that Dunkin has managed airline and corporate flight departments, certified airlines from start-up under FAA regulations, and oversaw Trumps Presidential fleet, traveling to 203 cities in 43 states over the course of 21 months during the campaign. According to The Washington Post, Dunkin does everything in the aviation side for the President from charting international flight plans and guiding the plane from stop to stop, oversees the delivery of new engine and various aircraft parts, all the way to overseeing interior livery replacements as well as cleaning the inside of the aircraft (The Washington Post, 2018). Trump believes Dunkin will turn the FAA around for the better, claiming that they need a pilot who is a real ‘expert’. Some other FAA
Post a Comment
Read more

ATC Privatization

Over the years, the airspace above has been getting more sophisticated, yet safer. Currently, our system is divided into 21 sections covering 5,282,000 square miles of Domestic U.S. Airspace and 24,101,568 square miles of U.S. Oceanic Airspace. Major components of this include the traffic flow management system; Time based flow management, and en route automation modernization (FAA, 2018). The system implemented now is radar based and uses a transponder between ATC and other aircrafts to display location and altitude with a short delay in the relay. NextGen is a FAA led modernization of our air transportation system to increase the safety, efficiency, capacity, and resiliency (FAA, 2018). NextGen is satellite based and will allow pilots, controllers, and operators to gain better information that help the aircraft get from point A to B faster, while consuming less fuel, and will be more efficient. NextGen is on target to have all components in place by 2025. The biggest reason why
1 comment
Read more