Flying Cheap

     The 'Flying Cheap' PBS documentary on the Colgan Air Flight 3407 (marketed as a Continental Connections flight from Newark, NJ to Buffalo, New York.) really shone light on how much of a gap exists in regulatory control between the larger air carriers like Delta, Continental, United, and the smaller regional carriers that handle contracted smaller legs for the big boys. As well, the video brought up points about the massive difference in pay grade between the two different operational platforms for seemingly identical jobs.

     It is worth noting that regional carriers start off paying first-year First Officers much less than a large scale air carrier would pay their First Officers. The extreme low end of the scale, reported by ALPA as of 2014, shows that Great Lakes Airways started their first-year First Officers an average of $14,616 per year (Maxon, 2014). In comparison, the average starting salary for a first-year First Officer at any of the major airlines was right around $36,283 (McCartney, 2009). Quite literally well more than double what is made when flying for a regional outfit. This stark difference in paygrade is understandable, to an extent. On one side, you have to understand where the Regional Airline is coming from with the lower paygrade - you wouldn't pay a first year anybody near what you would pay someone that has been working for 5 years, even if they are doing the same job. As is with Regional FO's vs. Major Airline FO's. Usually the FO's at larger airlines have been flying for many years more than an FO at a Regional Carrier, who may be just stepping out of his job flight instructing, and just now getting into a career transporting new people in a totally new airframe. On the other side of the argument, if you cut the pay scale too much (as many would argue is becoming a trend), you end up with pilots who may be overworked, underpaid, and willing to cut corners just to get home a few minutes earlier. This may pose some serious issues, as was the case (very likely one of the causes in the Colgan 3407 crash), in which case the First Officer (Shaw) was only being paid around $16,000 per year (James 2010).

     It can also be argued that one of the many causes of the wreck of Colgan 3407 was a lack of professionalism. Though, lack of professionalism in the cockpit cannot be blamed, in my opinion. Lack of training and lack of significant hours in the aircraft, sure. But not lack of professionalism in the cockpit.  The lack of professionalism on the part of management is what really doomed this plane. Several regulations were looked past on a regular basis, with the company focus placing revenue well above safety. Pilots were thrust into the cockpit with nowhere near enough training, worked well over what a human being should be able to take and expected to still perform, and paid pennies for their work. It was clear based on business practices and current regulation that companies like Colgan strive to put coin in their pocket, even if it means cutting corners when it comes to safety. One of the big results of the Colgan accident was the implementation of the 1,500 hour rule (Elwell, 2015), which mandated that pilots have a minimum of 1,500 hours of training before being trusted as a First Officer. This bumped up from the previous 250 hour minimum that was in place.

     For the past 5 years or so, we've all been hearing the word that we are coming up on a huge pilot shortage bubble. A lot of the pilots of the baby boomer generations are nearing or are at the mandatory retirement age, and this will create a lot of gaps all up and down the ladder that will need to be filled by the younger pilots still working their way up the ladder. This bodes well for us students, as all the growth will no doubt trickle down. However, the looming shortage could pose detrimental for air carriers and other outfits in need of pilots. The numbers of both airline pilots and student pilots is down from just 1980. In a little over 30 years, the numbers of both certified (private, commercial, and ATP) pilots and student pilots has fallen to roughly half of what it used to be. This means endless job opportunities for those of us that have chosen the pilot career, but may also mean long hours, extra flights, and tireless work picking up the slack that should be covered by our nonexistent pilot counterparts. This sword is double edged.

References:

Elwell, D. (2015, July 21). A Looming Pilot Shortage Means a Bumpy Ride for Airlines. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-looming-pilot-shortage-means-a-bumpy-ride-for-airlines-1437522047

James, F. (2010, February 2). Colgan-Buffalo Plane Crash: Errors Began Pre-Flight. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/02/colganbuffalo_plane_crash_erro.html

Maxon, T. (2014, July 31). ALPA lists 10 airlines with lowest starting pay for pilots. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/07/alpa-lists-10-airlines-with-lowest-starting-pay.html/

McCartney, S. (2009, June 16). Pilot Pay: Want To Know How Much Your Captain Earns? Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/16/pilot-pay-want-to-know-how-much-your-captain-earns/

"This is Your Captain-bot Speaking"

     Whether you choose to believe it or not, unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and, more largely grouped, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) are the wave of the future in the aviation industry. I don't say this to mean all Airline Captains will be forced out of a job within our lifetimes, but many aspects of aviation will be phased out of direct human control and towards automation. Some entirely new applications of aviation may even be created that weren't ever thought of before. In the next 15-20 years, I would expect to see everything from drone surveillance, to moving traffic cameras, package delivery (Amazon has already announced plans for this, will be discussed in a bit...), and even movies and cinematography benefit from the introduction and evolution of unmanned aerial systems, if those industries aren't already benefited immeasurably from the use of drones/UAS's.

     UAV's are defined as a powered aerial vehicle which does not carry a human operator, and can fly based off a pre-programmed flight path, or controlled via human operator from a remote location. They can also be vehicles that are either re-usable or expendable for one time missions (think military applications). Unmanned Aerial Systems differ slightly in that it is a more broad term to describe anything from high altitude remote control airplanes to quadricopters used for steady aerial filming, or pretty much anything in the grey areas of the term "UAV".

     Amazon has already launched plans for an entire network of delivery drones, and has even pitched a "drone highway" regarding rules and regulations for how to govern commercial drone traffic and usage starting with a proposal to allow lanes of drone traffic under 500 feet AGL. Whether or not this proposal will be implemented has yet to be seen, but it is nonetheless a good step forward in the UAS world. The Amazon proposal has many rules and regulations already built in, especially regarding how high/how fast and where drones can fly. Airports are a definite and obvious no fly zone, but the Amazon proposal to allow high speed drone traffic from 200-500 feet AGL while allowing for local traffic (RC planes, helicopters, personal filming drones, etc.) to have all the low speed fun they want below 200 feet AGL seems very modest and reasonable. 

     We already see UAS's in use in many areas of life. Sports broadcasting stations are starting to film newer angles of sporting events, multi-million dollar companies are looking towards them as a replacement to shipping costs, and they are being (and have been for some time) marketed to the public as a personal form of entertainment and hobby. Although I think we are a long way off from having unmanned passenger flights from New York to Barcelona, or unmanned FedEx 767s flying precious freight from Denver to Miami, I think the age of the drone is upon us, and I think it simply foolish to think otherwise or try to avoid it.

Sources:

Mac, R. (2015, July 28). Amazon Proposes Drone Highway As It Readies For Flying Package Delivery. Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2015/07/28/amazon-proposes-drone-highway-as-it-readies-for-flying-package-delivery/

Ross, P. (2011, November 29). When Will We Have Unmanned Commercial Airliners? Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/when-will-we-have-unmanned-commercial-airliners/0

Online Dictionary. (2005). Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/unmanned aerial vehicle

Six Flags over Mars?

Space Tourism - A Viable Industry?

     “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our contemplations of the Cosmos stir us. There is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.” - Carl Sagan

     Since the dawn of time, man has gazed upwards to the stars in awe of their beauty and their mystery. He has striven for knowledge of his surroundings and the world around him. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the first to dream of escaping the bounds of gravity and to fly among the birds. He even went so far as to design machinery to help him attain his goals. Although nothing came from the designs at the time, they were a revolutionary step of forward progress for aviation. A few centuries later, in the 18th century, the Montgolfier brothers made the next great step for aviation when they ran manned flights using large balloons filled with the lighter-than-air hydrogen gas that had been recently discovered. For the first time in history, flight was possible, and real life applications were being created every year for the new technology. The most recent large revolution in the aviation world was made by the Wright brothers, when they successfully completed the first manned, powered, and sustained flight in a heavier-than-air craft of their own design.

     Now we are on the verge of the next revolution in aviation. We have already sent research missions to our Moon, and we have sent pressurized vessels up to travel around the Earth in low level orbit. We have sent probes to Mars, and satellites beyond the reaches of our own solar system.

     The next step is here. Flying to Orlando is so 2000. We now have the technology to efficiently and affordably (the term is used very loosely here) monetize space travel. We can take a vacation to space. Companies like Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace have begun popping up as leaders in the forefront of sub-orbital space travel. For the low price of $95,000, you can get a seat in the Lynx, a suborbital vehicle that will take you up to the very edge of space to stroke the beard of Zeus for a few hours before returning to the Earths surface. Other platforms have been designed to allow for longer flights and more passengers.

     For a measly $20 Million, you can even buy yourself a stay aboard the International Space Station for a few days. Although only 8 private citizens have paid this amount since 2001 when Dennis Tito made the first trip to the ISS, parent company Space Adventures is confident that this number could increase over fifteen-fold by 2020. If this trend holds true, how long will it be until space travel is affordable to your average family of 4?

     So far, not much Federal regulation governs private space travel, but what little there is can be found in the Federal Register 14 CFR Parts 400 - 460.53. For the most part right now, there is little physical demand that must be met for a private space traveler, as well as little to no organized training and familiarization with the effects of zero G environments and other issues that may arise during space travel. Several different companies and organizations have their own personalized training courses, but the lack of a federally established standard of training may cause real problems down the road. However, with the growth of the industry, I fully believe we will see more of a federal based regulation as the popularity of transport grows and as the technology becomes more affordable to the average family.

     All revolutionary forms of travel started off as exclusive to the super elite (think railroad, cruise ships, and aviation). If we maintain this course of space travel already being affordable to the super rich, how far down the line are we from an affordable weekend in space? 20 years? 40 years? 80 years? No one can say for sure, but what can be said for sure is that space is the travel destination of the future. Soon enough, we will have space cruise ships, space hotels, and space tourist traps.


Sources:

Office of Commercial Space Transportation. (2015, September 18). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/

Carminati, G. (2014, March 27). "Doctor, Doctor, Can I Go?" Medical Rules, Standards, and Guidelines for Suborbital Space. Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/spaceflight/commercial-spaceflight/doctor-doctor-medical-rules-standards-guidelines-suborbital-space/

ECFR — Code of Federal Regulations. (2015, September 25). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=1770e95721d79b34e67dbdf70ab6cb40&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14chapterIII.tpl

Introduction

     My name is Jeffrey Phillion, and I am in my Senior year here at Eastern Michigan University. My pathway to the aviation world is an unlikely one and an interesting one. I grew up bouncing between Michigan and North Carolina, and have always wanted to be an automotive Mechanical Engineer. From a very early age, I have been fascinated with cars, racing, and all things grease monkey. I had always viewed flying and planes as a cool occupation and a nice dream, but only ever just that; a dream. It wasn't until 2 years into my college career that I uncovered an aviation career as an attainable and desirable goal.

     I graduated high school in 2010 from Northern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the time, all I wanted to do was become an automotive mechanical engineer and join a race team. However, I also wanted to get out of North Carolina really badly. Thankfully, a grant was available to me through Michigan Technological University that allowed me in-state tuition, despite coming from out of state. I elected the ME route through Michigan Tech.

     Plans changed after 2 years at Michigan Tech, however, mainly due to the supplemental 2 summers I spent in an automotive engineering internship. Learning what the real world application of mechanical engineering was proved to me very quickly that I did not want to become an automotive engineer at all, especially given the low chances of actually getting on a race team that would pay me anything sufficient. After swallowing this tough pill, I found Eastern's Aviation program on a Google sidebar ad (believe it or not) while searching for new potential schools, and finally began to realize just how attainable an aviation career could be.

     Now in the final year of my Aviation Flight Technology degree here at Eastern Michigan, I have high hopes for these last two semesters of my college career, as well as my progress in the cockpit. I look towards the future excited to earn a living and realizing a dream of mine all at the same time. Although I haven't given an actual career a ton of thought beyond wanting to start out as a Flight Instructor, I would love to end up flying a 'fun' job that doesn't necessarily require plug and play IFR, plane-flies-itself routes. Doing something like Bush piloting supplies into rural Alaskan villages would be an amazing job that I would love to do, as I already love the outdoors, and I love the thrill of not ever being fully in control.

     As far as guest speakers go in this class, I'm excited to see all of them and experience just how diverse the aviation industry is. If I had to pick though, I would love to hear from someone who does something like agriculture, bush piloting, aerobatics, or other flying jobs along those lines. Someone in specific that I feel would be a blast to hear talk would be guys like Sean D. Tucker, Kirby Chambliss, Paul McLeod, etc. Hearing from someone who makes a paycheck doing something that people don't always think of when they think of aviation could be eye opening for even our class, as it seems like the most common end goal is "Delta Captain". I don't disagree that this is a wonderful goal to have, but I feel like there is so much more to aviation, and we, as the next wave of students to graduate, are in the prime position to explore it all.