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/