I'm not a pilot but am A&P IA who is 32. I've been active in the GA industry for over 10 years and really been considering leaving it. My reasons are an ageing fleet that are all over 40 years old that require extremely scrutenous inspections, overpriced new aircraft that require too much specialized tech, pilots who no longer see the risks in their industry and will sue any chance they get, cost of labor and parts vs any other maintenance industry, and the growing grasp of the FAA constricting our ability to do anything without getting in trouble. Every project I complete I worry that I made some stupid mistake or a pilot will wreck their plane and sue me for it. Makes me feel like a useless idiot.
Your spot on Max. "Paying your dues" was something that was created by the shear number of boomer pilots competing for a limited supply of jobs in an economically regulated industry. Thankfully, times have changed for new pilots. You dont have to be on welfare while working as an FO and you do have other real options.
My sad tales of airline failure isn't told to complain or to change anything--it won't. But I am over it now in my twilight years, and I tell the tales in hopes it may be of some value to those who are coming up in the industry and who--like me--don't come from an aviation family background and have no one to advise them of the inside tips that are key to survival. I grew up wanting to fly from a trades family without any clues or inside info. All I knew is that we couldn't afford it. So I looked to the military. An Air Force screening process gave me the brush-off on a technicality which I didn't know enough to see was a brush-off, i.e., could have probably been overcome, but which I took at face value. Army was more than happy to get me and I wanted to fly at any cost so it was lumbering Hueys instead of sleek silver Fighters. I excelled in Army Aviation but hated the Army, so got out. Next stop was the Coast Guard, flew helicopters again, loved the mission, but wanted as I always had wanted to fly airplanes, big airplanes, fast airplanes. By a stroke of luck I got a break and flew C-130's latter part of my career, racked up over 3000 hours in them. Thought I was a cinch to get airline hired, so got out with twenty years and hit the streets. What I found was I had been getting ready to play baseball for twenty years and the game was football. Had all kinds of habits and work ethics designed for military that just weren't those the airlines wanted. This above all (read carefully): I didn't have a bunch of buddies and friends who were "inside" and who would grease the skids for me. This is really what gets you jobs in aviation: Who You Know, not What You Know, or What You've Done--and don't let anybody tell you different. Had an interview with Alaska, this was my dream job, the airplane (737) fit my general experience, the locations were perfect, I thought I did well in the interview, many people were hired with my profile--I wasn't. Only option was, move on; so I did. Interviewed with United, knew in the first 15 minutes that a) I wasn't going to get hired and b) that if I did I would hate it. Moved on. Ended up with a third-tier jet job (nice folks, so I won't mention the name) but was living and working out of a big city. The wife and Kids had been used to the PNW/Alaska and hated the location. I was a zombie from the schedule and commuting. The family fell apart, all the kids were screwed up as a result of the hardships. I realized I wasn't cut out for the airline thing. Quit it forever, moved on. Have completed a full career in aviation with military, sim instructor, jet airline flying, business and fractional fixed-wing operations and helicopter charter of various types. The airlines weren't for me and I wasn't for the airlines. I wish the young people coming up could read this story and I hope it helps someone, somewhere, somehow.
Genuine question as someone who wants to fly as a career, and currently works in the trades. If I could get in through the military, would it be worth it? It's a minimum 10 or 12 year commitment nowadays if I changed my mind and, well, I honestly haven't heard enough opinions on it. I'm only 22 so I've got tons of time and options but I prefer not to waste either while I'm young. I'm about a year away from being a journeyman electrician, a career which I'm not really convinced is worth staying in.
@@AlexDenton0451 You'll get lots of urging to "follow your dreams!"--but I think going into the field now is foolishness. And I would not recommend the US military under any circumstances. As a skilled tradesman you will provide society a needed service and will prosper financially much more than in aviation, on average. People will be quick to point out the high pay of airline pilots now, but they don't tell you only a few of the many get to those positions--for a variety of reasons. In sum: Don't join the military, work hard at your trade, save your money, and learn to fly privately. 65 year old you will look back on this advice and say it was damned good.
I was a Army helicopter pilot, for 10 years, I did have a fixed wing rating, but only about 400 hours, most of my turbine time was in a Huey helicopter, 2900 hours. I applied to AAL, messed up my first application by writing it with a pencil. Once I mailed it I realized that was not very professional. I called AA’s recruiter and told them what I had done an would they send me another application. Judy Tarver was the head of recruitment, she sad she had just read my application and had sat it aside, she sent me another, I had it typed by our secretary sent it in and a month later I got the invitation to DFW for a 3 part interview, I eventually got hired and spent 17 years as a AAL pilot, and retired as a 6 year Captain on the 727 and the 737-800.
As to the A&P mechanics, part has to do with cars. Back when I was a teen, we all were mechanics of some sort. We worked and did maintenance on our own vehicles. Sometimes, we did major work on our own cars (i.e., welding, suspension, electrical hardness) if we had access to the machines needed. Cars today are not as forgiving on amateurs working on them, so fewer people even try. Without experience rebuilding a car, you have less chance to find out if that's what you want to do. I have met more people in their 20s recently that can't change their own oil, much less replace a tie rod. If they won't work on a car, then an aircraft is out of question.
The cars also don't need as much attention either. I owned a 60's car a few years back, they just needed regular fiddling with that modern cars just don't. It's not a necessity to know how to get your car to stop being grumpy. They just either work or don't now. No in between.
People are overworked and don't have the time or patience to DIY so they just send it to someone to do it. There's always "a guy" that will do some sort of repair, be it for their vehicle or house appliance. Not to mention the idea of planned-obsolescence throw-away items instead of durable, fixable things that hurt the environment more than anything for greater sales and profits. Consolidation and mergers, monopolizing and corporatization. Late-stage capitalism babaayyyy!!!!
@@Blakezilla594 Mostly it's not having the time or the money. I wasn't able to afford to work on my own cars until I was in my 30's. Before that I was living in an apartment with no tools to speak of. That took time and money to get together. Time I didn't have because I was too busy working for that not enough money. Hobbies are VITAL to a healthy economy, not just in disposable income spending, but in interest and skills development. Passively watching TV or Playing a game ISN'T a hobby. But it's the only affordable thing to do.
*Some* regionals operate and pay almost as well as mainline now. Regionals aren't totally the abusive, low pay, "get out quick" step they used to be. Life can be pretty great at some regionals right now.
I separated from the Air Force in 1981 after flying heavy jets for 7 years, hoping for the airlines but was not able to even get a response to my applications. I went the corporate route and really only got that job because of political connections (they received over 1,000 resumes a year). I built lots of jet time and earned LOTS of type ratings, had no accidents or violations, but was never able to get the attention of the airlines. After while I lost interest in them, and with the delays where passengers spend 10 hours locked up in the aircraft on the ramp, the security hassle and and unbelievable behavior of some passengers, I don't even want to ride on them.
I flew corporate for 37 years and totally agree. Our airline counterparts got paid more but we had much more interesting experiences , flew better and more sophisticated equipment, and usually knew who was in the back - and it wasn’t the riffraff that you see on airline flights today.
Great video once again and thanks for bringing to light the cultural shift amongst the younger generations that no longer have the “technical “ interests that older ones had . This I believe will affect the aviation industry at many levels .
Thanks for touching on the mechanic shortage during the video (as well as ATC). As an A&P for 24, and someone who at one point was aspired to reach airline pilot ranks, the corporate culture and it ever evolving views has done wonders to suck the enthusiasm out of many of us. I'm not sure if you touched on the in Part 1 or not, but I know in part 2 I didn't really hear anything about training, proficiency, and competency ( other than that bit about background checks). It takes years to properly train all of these different trades to work properly and operate safely in their respective environments. The last couple of years on the maintenance end of my company has been a mess because you have that combination of younger workers that can't/won't do their jobs and older works who are unable/unwilling to show the new workers how to do their jobs. If this is a shortage, it's not a shortage of number, but a shortage of actual ability and whether or not the replacements are willing to learn.
As a Machinist who works at an MRO alongside A&P mechanics, I can wholeheartedly agree with you. Corporate culture has made its way into the maintenance side as well. I’ve had more than a few A&P’s tell me it’s not worth it anymore. I’ve even been hauled into a meeting to get chewed out on finding corrosion on an RII component I was working on. And your right in regard to the old timers not wanting to help teach anything at all to new guys, yet will sit around and complain how the “fresh meat” ain’t worth a damn. So yeah, MRO’s being cheap and cutting corner’s, crappy people who refuse to help train, and getting yelled at for doing your job. It’s no wonder they can’t find anyone to take up the slack.
Institutional knowledge loss is a huge issue in almost all sectors now thanks to over corporatization of every aspect of industry. The Corporate mindset is a short term mindset by its very definition. It's poison to actual industry.
I’m sitting at 855hrs as a CFII with my multi and still zero call back from all the applications I have thrown. 0 failures on any checkrides idk what it is.
I feel you. 900 total, 30 multi CAMEL, CE-500 type rating and I can't get anyone to even call me back. I'm giving it until the end of the year and then I'm giving up
I have been an A&P mechanic for 20 years and can tell you exactly why there is a shortage. The pay. Adjusted for inflation our pay goes down every year while the demand increases. You can make more money working on cars with less responsibility. I am getting out of maintenance and am in flight school earning my pilot ratings. If pay doesn't go up for mechanics many others will follow in my foot steps
There may not be a pilot shortage but there is unprecedented movement in the industry. In 2005 AA had approximately 10,000 pilots and we upgraded 5 to 10 Captains a month. Now they’re only upgrading 70+ a month. Yup, no career opportunities here. Lemme see … 100K to start, top out at 600K maybe more with green slips, times a 30 + year career. Yeah I can’t do the math on that one either. I dunno, maybe there’s more in the benefits package. I doubt it tho 🤣
Another great video Max. Every job has politics and one must try to avoid them. I believe the deregulation has hurt the airlines, the airline employees and the passengers.
I gave a much longer response revolving arround the cost, timeline, and essentially shirking of opportunities to fix the training pipeline and it's cost in the first video comments. One thing I would touch on about this video as to ATC shortage is the age restrictions. They openly say no one hired over the age of 30, even though they settled a few lawsuits regarding age descrimination stemming from mid to late 2000s incidents, that I believe were settled in 2013. Obviously a high stress job, but perhaps upping the age restriction for training and matching ATC mandatory retirement to that of ATP pilots might help alleviate that shortage to some degree. Imagine how many fewer career focused pilot candidates we would have if we said only people under 30 could start flight training. Instructors already complain about younger candidates quitting because they get bored and haven't got the commitment an older candidate with other experience has.
It is a high stress job but the thing is, once those people get like 10 years of seniority, the job is only as stressful as they want it to be. There are ATC that work behind the scenes not on the radio. Some work in training or supervise. There are some that work in sleepy towers. Some of the most chill people and stress free people I know are ATC. There is no reason why someone who flies a jet into LGA at age 64 is perfectly safe while simultaneously an aged 56 year old ATC in an air conditioned office is too old to give that pilot his clearance. Not hiring over 30 is also going to really screw them as millennials and gen z are certainly more late bloomers and career hoppers than previous generations. That ATC age rule really needs to be changed.
That is craziness. I had no idea atc had such strict age limits. We don’t even have age limits for President which is an order of magnitude higher on the stress meter as well as physically more demanding than any atc position.
@@clarkharms Yes. Government employees and DOT regulated jobs are subject to medicals and mandatory retirements. Politicians are exempt from this of course. They are better than you after all. So when Biden wanders off a stage lost or Mitch McConnell short circuits or Diane Feinstein disappears for months from congress. Just remember that is OKAY for them but god forbid someone work as an air traffic controller after age 56.
I was a USAF controller from 64-68 (5 sqdns of 25 a/c each based where we worked the C-130's & later F-105's replaced by 125 F-4's overseas) then for 33 years as an FAA ATC from 1970-2003 as a controller, Sup, tng officer, Data Systems for ATC and finally ATC facility mgr. I was also a USN(Reserves) Aircontrolman (TACRON21, SATCS E-8) from 82-91 until I was commissioned as an Intel Officer. Another great duty but not the intensity traffic load of the FAA or the USAF experience I had but still rewarding and challenging. My middel daughter is an FAA ATC (hired 1997) with 26 years in now and she spent 19 years in N90 (NY TRACON) and is now an ATC sup since 2017 at ORF. She still loves going to work and working air traffic. Virtually every controller in the military and FAA I have ever worked with and who was/is very highly capable never considers for a moment 'stress' in working aircraft. Instead, working heavy traffic is like a 'Rocky Mountain High' and these controllers 'seek' to work the busiest positions on the busiest days. For us, working at a 7/11 on a midnight shift in the inner city making peanuts is 'real stress', not having a ball working busy traffic. Just my nickel. @@daytonasixty-eight1354
Overall, we have a general shortage of talent outside of a few industries. Lets keep to aviation here. Shortage of mechanics, pilots, ATC, and ground crew 1) Drugs Upfront cost is one reason and applies most directly to pilots. Mechanics can get more affordable training or even get on the job training. ATC is entirely paid for training. Ground crew is paid for and low barrier to entry. What is one thing all these jobs have in common? Drug testing. Marijuana is legal in some way in 38 states or so? I know pilots personally who have basically changed careers and never progressed beyond private because they would rather be able to smoke a joint. Many in Gen Z have smoked weed. There are many high paying careers today that will allow you to smoke weed. So this is one factor that will affect anything DOT or trade skill related. 2) Fear or failure I am not an old boomer. I am a millennial. I can tell you that some in my generation but certainly in Gen Z are afraid of failure. I know many in Gen Z that will be hesitant to attempt something new and assuming they even try, they will give up at the first bit of hard failure. On top of this, they have trouble with criticism and certainly have trouble with banter. Aviation is often regarded as an industry for those with "thick skin." One CFI ripping into a 20 year old for something is enough to make them quit forever to find an office job where people speak softly. Unfortunately, this is something that really cannot be changed in aviation because sometimes you do need to be blunt and harsh to get a point across for safety. CFIs will know what I am talking about. The tough love approach is very hard on this generation. Often you will find you are the first person in their life that has expected any sort of standard or discipline. 3) Standards and Discipline My generation struggled with this but I feel that overall millennials have had to meet standards and discipline themselves. If anything because we keep getting the shit end of the stick (9/11, 2008, covid, OBAMA, etc). Gen Z has not really had to deal with this in a workforce so they have not had that external pressure. Their teachers and parents are soft. Often a CFI and flight school or A&P coworker will be the first person in their life to expect real standards (not watered down academics) and some form of discipline. 4) Lack of initiative and independence. I don't want to sound like some crusty boomer saying the kids these days don't have drive. But I will say they lack initiative and independence. This manifests itself in incredibly simple forms. Example. I know a Gen Z kid that had a broke $8 toilet valve. Instead of fixing it himself and having a working toilet, he would just shut off and on the water manually every time. He was afraid to attempt the job. I know others that are intimidated picking up a power drill to screw some 2x4 together. These are men over the age of 21 and some live outside their parents home. As a consequence, they almost always outsource labor (call a plumber, call parents, etc). Now I understand asking for help, but the difference is they never attempt even the simplest of projects because they quite literally do not understand tools. If you cannot get a 21+ year old man to confidently use a power drill or spend less than $10 to fix their toilet. You aren't going to get them to swing the gear on a jet let alone start their Cessna. 5) Anxiety I firmly believe we all have anxiety. That is a normal emotion. However most of us work our way through it and deal with it as normal. Gen Z has been taught it makes them special or something. The amount of times I have heard anxiety used as an excuse then seen it actually manifest as an issue is beyond counting. I have had to coach young MEN how to talk to authority, deal with bureaucrats, make phone calls, etc. All because they are used to dealing with online portals etc. They are deathly afraid of these situations and more often than not are willing to "take it." even if it brings discomfort. Anyway there is more but I am done writing for now. This is very broad, but to your point. This generation is different and I think the difficulty will be finding ones that will fit the pilot mold and can have the confidence to operate safely. Same will apply to all safety critical aspects of this industry and not just pilots. Otherwise, these people will go work at a tech company or some office doing computer touching for widgets. Country is going down the drain for sure.
Great video, I do wish you could address the lack of basic needle ball and airspeed skills the younger pilots seem to lack. Like you and other retired guys I have friends still flying at the majors and many are wondering what’s going to happen after they retire and these younger crews are paired together. Guys are saying it’s like a single pilot operation sometimes in high density airports, especially when there’s WX. When you watch videos of any fly-by-wire A/C landing in a strong wind, the last 50 ft. when it becomes direct control can be pretty telling.
They lack it because their instructor is usually only 250 hours ahead of them. You can't learn from someone who's still barely figured any of this out. But that's how a majority of the Pilot making machine works now.
I Flew in the 1990s for 13 years. 7500 hours of SAFE Flying! I tried to get back into the business since 2012. After going back to Flight Instruction (To get current) I soon found I didn't want to deal with the BS again and finally said the Hell with that shitty abusive business. To many bad memories. PLUS to Live in a Crash pad w/8 other A holes is NOT Appealing!
It blows my mind how an industry that's so heavily unionized does not have apprenticeships for pilots and the unions will fight tooth and nail to protect and maintain the 1500 hour rule. It seems like they just couldn't care less about the pipeline of new pilots and union members.
In my short career as a pilot got to see n do many things,fly overseas etc.but being a line pilot,like a truckdriver,is not compatible with family life at all! I got out to raise my crew n glad I did.like many military folks; you can go home but not know your family at all! And wife left,took the house,savings and ran off with another! Choices...
In the past, young people that could afford flying belonged to the upper middle class. Since most of the middle class has been destroyed by Trickle Down Economics and the upper sector of the middle class now became rich whose kids have Trust Funds, not many of them want to work or become pilots...why would they? They don't have to work... The remaining ones interested in flying have to take loans. Many of them already had loans from college to pay. Add to that flying and their debt was too much... This could change now that college is not required for the airlines
Hey i left a comment on the first video, first of love your vids very informative! Now as a student pilot do you think the shortage would lead to SPO (single pilot operations) or furthur automation? That is the biggest worry i have.
You'll rarely see or hear existing airline pilots question the 1500 hour rule and most will defend it vociferously. Blanco lirio questioned it and I've seen lots of comments on various youtube videos from retired airline pilots that basically call it a crock. It's a union protected gravy train and pay back for all the abuse and low pay that commuter pilots had to put up. The ironic part is both Colgan 3407 pilots had ATPs. The NTSB didn't recommend the 1500 hour rule but they did recommend the pilot records database but of course that was left out of the 2010 bill that congress passed with the 1500 hour rule included. No prizes for guessing which major special interest group lobbied for that 2010 bill.
Case in point Flight sims have never been mainstream but in the past 5 years they very much are. Why? A large portion of young people have a need for speed and respecblity in a way Call of duty and Fort night just don't have... So I'd argue their is no shotage of people who want to be pilots but their is a shortage of ways to be one.
One of the issues is also the Pilots that aren't of the Corporate mold, they also are still out there being Instructors and such. Meaning an Airline candidate has less time building job opportunities since the much smaller job pool is already full with people happy in those jobs who aren't going to "move up" out of them. Which does a school or FSDO want more, a wet Certificate Airline chaser or a dedicated Instructor with years and a gold seal? They're going to pick the pilot who will still stick around in a year and who's focused on the job of teaching, not time building. Then where do the Airline candidates get their time to get that airline interview? The whole system is a bit of a log jamb due to poor/no actual planning in the pipeline. Airlines have to fundamentally change how they do things.
A pilot's job is little different than an executive job in a large corporation, your personality have to fit in too, and getting there is much more difficult than the job. The job will have qualifications the length of your arm, then they hire some kid whose best qualification is a couple of lines of his DNA matches the big boss. Modern airplanes is much easier to fly than the older ones. It is not really necessary to go through the ritual of being an instructor and flying for burger flipping wages to fly an airline, or to have any turbine experience. These are all artificial barriers thrown up to reduce the number of pilots making the grade to fit the demand. Just as basic training is not really necessary for most to be a great soldier. The industry will get away with all the BS as long as there are more applicants than jobs. You cannot trust those in the industry to tell you when there are real shortages. The Trucking industry been crying shortages for several decades, but the real indicators such as pay had actually gone down. After covid, I would not get into any single pilot airplane , unless I get the co-pilot's seat. The jabs can make the pilot suddenly keel over and someone else have to land the plane. I rather fly with a drunk pilot. Part of fitting in also mean you have to be a good actor. Just like in trucks. we put on a show for safety, in trucks and airplanes. I see the co-pilot were being so careful they look in the front cowling of the engines of the 737 after maintenance in case a wrench been left there. But I have never seen a pilot asking for a zoom boom to look into the number 2 engine of a DC10 or L1011 after maintenance, so I am forced to come to the conclusion , it is OK for that engine to swallow a wrench. There are many more stuff pilots cannot talk about, if they value their job.
An astute observation that many totally miss. You wrote "... After covid, I would not get into any single pilot airplane , unless I get the co-pilot's seat. The jabs can make the pilot suddenly keel over and someone else have to land the plane.
I am perfectly aware some kids get into the front office with just 250 hours, the 1500 hours is only for FAA and that was raised from 1000 hours after the BUF ? crash to make it look like the FAA did something. The co-pilot seat have me at the right place if the pilot suddenly go on strike. I cannot make it up front from 3 rows back. I can land anything up to a turbo prop twin and still walk away, airplane may not be airworthy next day. Glass cockpit are actually not that hard to use, especially for someone already trained in a couple of brands.
Don't forget, not only are big aviation college graduates getting hired from CFI into a ULCC, but also regular CFIs off the streets. The commuters are gone, and the regionals will be going by the wayside soon as well. Soon your career path will be 1500 in a C172 straight into a A320 or B737.
Good information. It is hard to understand clearly the “shortage”. Personally I think the 1500 hours to get an atp is excessive. If you can get all of your ratings and show proficiency I don’t see why so many hours should be required. Europe allows commercial pilots to fly at 250 hours and their planes are not dropping out of the sky. What do you gain in meaningful experience by flying around students on fair weather days for 1,000 + hours? Having to eat shit for years before you get to taste some honey is the biggest hurdle to getting anyone from wanting to enter and stay with aviation as a career.
The 1500 hour rule I think has actually made the shortage not as bad. You aren't paying for most of those hours ideally. In addition, the cost to get to the 250 hours for CFI in the US is about the same as the cost European pilots have to pay to get to 250 hours. Yes, Europeans have to pay for flight training. This is all so they can be a SECOND OFFICER and make almost no money or fuck even pay their employer for the privilege to go to work in the jet. Europe is probably great from an airline perspective, but it's absolute ass for pilots and why so many of them try to come to the US.
@@daytonasixty-eight1354 I know of quite a few pilots in Europe that got their training free through the govt, same as a lot of opportunities and training are offered. As to making it "not as bad", I would have to disagree. It makes it not as bad at the CFI level, but it certainly makes it worse at regional and majors. That said, they were arbitrarily requiring the higher hours on their own in the first place. The mandate just gives them less flexibility when it is needed the most.
@@eleflux6609 European pilots pay far more. US pilots are still having to build time for ATP like European pilots. The difference is that US pilots usually get paid to do it as a CFI where that European is maybe being paid. That less "flexibility" you are talking about is the same flexibility regional airlines had pre-Colgan to tell their new hire classes not to apply to food stamps in Uniform. The hour requirement is fine. The airlines just need to do better putting the word out for people to get hired and subsidize part of training.
I think the point about not having a 1500 hour rule is so pilots can get into aircraft that they want to fly, not stuck in a 152 for years doing very mundane maneuvers over and over again. That really isn’t relevant training for flying a jet all over the world in all kinds of weather. Europe does have some companies that offer to pay for training with a contract that allows for a certain term of employment after the flight training is completed. The pay is low but the training was free and the pilot is employed and flying a commercial aircraft, I.e. they have a career pathway that is much more clear than someone in the USA that gets all their certificates and the debt that goes along with them but then has to figure how to make those certificates worth the debt they have accumulated.
@@clarkharms You are not stuck in a 152 for "years" doing mundane maneuvers. It is 2 years max if you have any sort of drive. Even then at post 500 hours you can find all sorts of jobs that are not a CFI. CFI just happens to be the most common job because it builds the fastest and most consistent hours. You are clearly speaking from lack of experience. The EU system is a far worse deal for the pilot group than USA. Right now with wages in the USA you will pay off debt quickly. Or you could you know, just avoid debt in the first place. It's a very clear progression too. Hence why far more people convert EASA license to FAA and not FAA to EASA. Why do you think more EU pilots want to work in USA than USA pilots in EU?
FAA put in that 1500 minimum limit so of course theirs a pilot shortage - Air Lines did it to themselves Now with the heart side effects of the mandatory jab by the airlines and the FAA relaxing the medical exam [EKG limits] Now we have pilots and new ATC guys with underlying medical issues from government mandate B.S. Fly fix design Helicopter 45+ years
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I'm not a pilot but am A&P IA who is 32. I've been active in the GA industry for over 10 years and really been considering leaving it. My reasons are an ageing fleet that are all over 40 years old that require extremely scrutenous inspections, overpriced new aircraft that require too much specialized tech, pilots who no longer see the risks in their industry and will sue any chance they get, cost of labor and parts vs any other maintenance industry, and the growing grasp of the FAA constricting our ability to do anything without getting in trouble. Every project I complete I worry that I made some stupid mistake or a pilot will wreck their plane and sue me for it. Makes me feel like a useless idiot.
Also as the amount of A&Ps go down, the ones left are over worked by their companies.
Your spot on Max. "Paying your dues" was something that was created by the shear number of boomer pilots competing for a limited supply of jobs in an economically regulated industry. Thankfully, times have changed for new pilots. You dont have to be on welfare while working as an FO and you do have other real options.
My sad tales of airline failure isn't told to complain or to change anything--it won't. But I am over it now in my twilight years, and I tell the tales in hopes it may be of some value to those who are coming up in the industry and who--like me--don't come from an aviation family background and have no one to advise them of the inside tips that are key to survival.
I grew up wanting to fly from a trades family without any clues or inside info. All I knew is that we couldn't afford it. So I looked to the military. An Air Force screening process gave me the brush-off on a technicality which I didn't know enough to see was a brush-off, i.e., could have probably been overcome, but which I took at face value. Army was more than happy to get me and I wanted to fly at any cost so it was lumbering Hueys instead of sleek silver Fighters. I excelled in Army Aviation but hated the Army, so got out.
Next stop was the Coast Guard, flew helicopters again, loved the mission, but wanted as I always had wanted to fly airplanes, big airplanes, fast airplanes.
By a stroke of luck I got a break and flew C-130's latter part of my career, racked up over 3000 hours in them. Thought I was a cinch to get airline hired, so got out with twenty years and hit the streets.
What I found was I had been getting ready to play baseball for twenty years and the game was football. Had all kinds of habits and work ethics designed for military that just weren't those the airlines wanted. This above all (read carefully): I didn't have a bunch of buddies and friends who were "inside" and who would grease the skids for me. This is really what gets you jobs in aviation: Who You Know, not What You Know, or What You've Done--and don't let anybody tell you different.
Had an interview with Alaska, this was my dream job, the airplane (737) fit my general experience, the locations were perfect, I thought I did well in the interview, many people were hired with my profile--I wasn't. Only option was, move on; so I did.
Interviewed with United, knew in the first 15 minutes that a) I wasn't going to get hired and b) that if I did I would hate it. Moved on.
Ended up with a third-tier jet job (nice folks, so I won't mention the name) but was living and working out of a big city. The wife and Kids had been used to the PNW/Alaska and hated the location. I was a zombie from the schedule and commuting. The family fell apart, all the kids were screwed up as a result of the hardships. I realized I wasn't cut out for the airline thing. Quit it forever, moved on.
Have completed a full career in aviation with military, sim instructor, jet airline flying, business and fractional fixed-wing operations and helicopter charter of various types. The airlines weren't for me and I wasn't for the airlines. I wish the young people coming up could read this story and I hope it helps someone, somewhere, somehow.
I'm sure it does my friend!
Genuine question as someone who wants to fly as a career, and currently works in the trades. If I could get in through the military, would it be worth it? It's a minimum 10 or 12 year commitment nowadays if I changed my mind and, well, I honestly haven't heard enough opinions on it.
I'm only 22 so I've got tons of time and options but I prefer not to waste either while I'm young. I'm about a year away from being a journeyman electrician, a career which I'm not really convinced is worth staying in.
@@AlexDenton0451 You'll get lots of urging to "follow your dreams!"--but I think going into the field now is foolishness. And I would not recommend the US military under any circumstances. As a skilled tradesman you will provide society a needed service and will prosper financially much more than in aviation, on average. People will be quick to point out the high pay of airline pilots now, but they don't tell you only a few of the many get to those positions--for a variety of reasons. In sum: Don't join the military, work hard at your trade, save your money, and learn to fly privately. 65 year old you will look back on this advice and say it was damned good.
I was a Army helicopter pilot, for 10 years, I did have a fixed wing rating, but only about 400 hours, most of my turbine time was in a Huey helicopter, 2900 hours. I applied to AAL, messed up my first application by writing it with a pencil. Once I mailed it I realized that was not very professional. I called AA’s recruiter and told them what I had done an would they send me another application. Judy Tarver was the head of recruitment, she sad she had just read my application and had sat it aside, she sent me another, I had it typed by our secretary sent it in and a month later I got the invitation to DFW for a 3 part interview, I eventually got hired and spent 17 years as a AAL pilot, and retired as a 6 year Captain on the 727 and the 737-800.
As to the A&P mechanics, part has to do with cars. Back when I was a teen, we all were mechanics of some sort. We worked and did maintenance on our own vehicles. Sometimes, we did major work on our own cars (i.e., welding, suspension, electrical hardness) if we had access to the machines needed. Cars today are not as forgiving on amateurs working on them, so fewer people even try. Without experience rebuilding a car, you have less chance to find out if that's what you want to do.
I have met more people in their 20s recently that can't change their own oil, much less replace a tie rod. If they won't work on a car, then an aircraft is out of question.
The cars also don't need as much attention either. I owned a 60's car a few years back, they just needed regular fiddling with that modern cars just don't. It's not a necessity to know how to get your car to stop being grumpy. They just either work or don't now. No in between.
People are overworked and don't have the time or patience to DIY so they just send it to someone to do it. There's always "a guy" that will do some sort of repair, be it for their vehicle or house appliance. Not to mention the idea of planned-obsolescence throw-away items instead of durable, fixable things that hurt the environment more than anything for greater sales and profits. Consolidation and mergers, monopolizing and corporatization. Late-stage capitalism babaayyyy!!!!
@@Blakezilla594 Mostly it's not having the time or the money. I wasn't able to afford to work on my own cars until I was in my 30's. Before that I was living in an apartment with no tools to speak of. That took time and money to get together. Time I didn't have because I was too busy working for that not enough money.
Hobbies are VITAL to a healthy economy, not just in disposable income spending, but in interest and skills development. Passively watching TV or Playing a game ISN'T a hobby. But it's the only affordable thing to do.
*Some* regionals operate and pay almost as well as mainline now. Regionals aren't totally the abusive, low pay, "get out quick" step they used to be. Life can be pretty great at some regionals right now.
I separated from the Air Force in 1981 after flying heavy jets for 7 years, hoping for the airlines but was not able to even get a response to my applications. I went the corporate route and really only got that job because of political connections (they received over 1,000 resumes a year). I built lots of jet time and earned LOTS of type ratings, had no accidents or violations, but was never able to get the attention of the airlines. After while I lost interest in them, and with the delays where passengers spend 10 hours locked up in the aircraft on the ramp, the security hassle and and unbelievable behavior of some passengers, I don't even want to ride on them.
The post deregulation days were amongst the worst times in the industry's history.
I flew corporate for 37 years and totally agree. Our airline counterparts got paid more but we had much more interesting experiences , flew better and more sophisticated equipment, and usually knew who was in the back - and it wasn’t the riffraff that you see on airline flights today.
So basically is who u know n not what u know … all the rest is all theatre … words from Brazil
@@deltalou8987every hood is the same , but they throw all these hours n fantasy on top to keep the pyramid I mean the wheal going round n round
Great video once again and thanks for bringing to light the cultural shift amongst the younger generations that no longer have the “technical “ interests that older ones had . This I believe will affect the aviation industry at many levels .
Thanks for touching on the mechanic shortage during the video (as well as ATC). As an A&P for 24, and someone who at one point was aspired to reach airline pilot ranks, the corporate culture and it ever evolving views has done wonders to suck the enthusiasm out of many of us. I'm not sure if you touched on the in Part 1 or not, but I know in part 2 I didn't really hear anything about training, proficiency, and competency ( other than that bit about background checks). It takes years to properly train all of these different trades to work properly and operate safely in their respective environments. The last couple of years on the maintenance end of my company has been a mess because you have that combination of younger workers that can't/won't do their jobs and older works who are unable/unwilling to show the new workers how to do their jobs. If this is a shortage, it's not a shortage of number, but a shortage of actual ability and whether or not the replacements are willing to learn.
We still need them too
As a Machinist who works at an MRO alongside A&P mechanics, I can wholeheartedly agree with you. Corporate culture has made its way into the maintenance side as well. I’ve had more than a few A&P’s tell me it’s not worth it anymore. I’ve even been hauled into a meeting to get chewed out on finding corrosion on an RII component I was working on. And your right in regard to the old timers not wanting to help teach anything at all to new guys, yet will sit around and complain how the “fresh meat” ain’t worth a damn. So yeah, MRO’s being cheap and cutting corner’s, crappy people who refuse to help train, and getting yelled at for doing your job. It’s no wonder they can’t find anyone to take up the slack.
Institutional knowledge loss is a huge issue in almost all sectors now thanks to over corporatization of every aspect of industry. The Corporate mindset is a short term mindset by its very definition. It's poison to actual industry.
I’m sitting at 855hrs as a CFII with my multi and still zero call back from all the applications I have thrown. 0 failures on any checkrides idk what it is.
I feel you. 900 total, 30 multi CAMEL, CE-500 type rating and I can't get anyone to even call me back. I'm giving it until the end of the year and then I'm giving up
Yeah I’m a CFII with 940hrs and no one has responded to my applications.
you guys need to try JS firm, my company is looking for corporate pilots and has had an add there for years @@nickblake802
I have been an A&P mechanic for 20 years and can tell you exactly why there is a shortage. The pay. Adjusted for inflation our pay goes down every year while the demand increases. You can make more money working on cars with less responsibility. I am getting out of maintenance and am in flight school earning my pilot ratings. If pay doesn't go up for mechanics many others will follow in my foot steps
finally the truth, there is no pilot shortage, you just saved me 100,000 .
There may not be a pilot shortage but there is unprecedented movement in the industry. In 2005 AA had approximately 10,000 pilots and we upgraded 5 to 10 Captains a month. Now they’re only upgrading 70+ a month. Yup, no career opportunities here. Lemme see … 100K to start, top out at 600K maybe more with green slips, times a 30 + year career. Yeah I can’t do the math on that one either. I dunno, maybe there’s more in the benefits package. I doubt it tho 🤣
@@timothyjhaller8449you can start an aviation career at 100k??
Another great video Max. Every job has politics and one must try to avoid them. I believe the deregulation has hurt the airlines, the airline employees and the passengers.
Very interested in seeing a video about the "mold" airlines are looking for, and why some pilots don't get hired!
I work for a major railroad and I see the same shit. The younger generations want fast food responsibilities and demand skilled worker wages.
I gave a much longer response revolving arround the cost, timeline, and essentially shirking of opportunities to fix the training pipeline and it's cost in the first video comments.
One thing I would touch on about this video as to ATC shortage is the age restrictions. They openly say no one hired over the age of 30, even though they settled a few lawsuits regarding age descrimination stemming from mid to late 2000s incidents, that I believe were settled in 2013. Obviously a high stress job, but perhaps upping the age restriction for training and matching ATC mandatory retirement to that of ATP pilots might help alleviate that shortage to some degree. Imagine how many fewer career focused pilot candidates we would have if we said only people under 30 could start flight training. Instructors already complain about younger candidates quitting because they get bored and haven't got the commitment an older candidate with other experience has.
True
It is a high stress job but the thing is, once those people get like 10 years of seniority, the job is only as stressful as they want it to be. There are ATC that work behind the scenes not on the radio. Some work in training or supervise. There are some that work in sleepy towers. Some of the most chill people and stress free people I know are ATC.
There is no reason why someone who flies a jet into LGA at age 64 is perfectly safe while simultaneously an aged 56 year old ATC in an air conditioned office is too old to give that pilot his clearance.
Not hiring over 30 is also going to really screw them as millennials and gen z are certainly more late bloomers and career hoppers than previous generations. That ATC age rule really needs to be changed.
That is craziness. I had no idea atc had such strict age limits. We don’t even have age limits for President which is an order of magnitude higher on the stress meter as well as physically more demanding than any atc position.
@@clarkharms Yes. Government employees and DOT regulated jobs are subject to medicals and mandatory retirements. Politicians are exempt from this of course. They are better than you after all. So when Biden wanders off a stage lost or Mitch McConnell short circuits or Diane Feinstein disappears for months from congress. Just remember that is OKAY for them but god forbid someone work as an air traffic controller after age 56.
I was a USAF controller from 64-68 (5 sqdns of 25 a/c each based where we worked the C-130's & later F-105's replaced by 125 F-4's overseas) then for 33 years as an FAA ATC from 1970-2003 as a controller, Sup, tng officer, Data Systems for ATC and finally ATC facility mgr.
I was also a USN(Reserves) Aircontrolman (TACRON21, SATCS E-8) from 82-91 until I was commissioned as an Intel Officer. Another great duty but not the intensity traffic load of the FAA or the USAF experience I had but still rewarding and challenging.
My middel daughter is an FAA ATC (hired 1997) with 26 years in now and she spent 19 years in N90 (NY TRACON) and is now an ATC sup since 2017 at ORF. She still loves going to work and working air traffic.
Virtually every controller in the military and FAA I have ever worked with and who was/is very highly capable never considers for a moment 'stress' in working aircraft.
Instead, working heavy traffic is like a 'Rocky Mountain High' and these controllers 'seek' to work the busiest positions on the busiest days. For us, working at a 7/11 on a midnight shift in the inner city making peanuts is 'real stress', not having a ball working busy traffic. Just my nickel. @@daytonasixty-eight1354
Overall, we have a general shortage of talent outside of a few industries. Lets keep to aviation here.
Shortage of mechanics, pilots, ATC, and ground crew
1) Drugs
Upfront cost is one reason and applies most directly to pilots. Mechanics can get more affordable training or even get on the job training. ATC is entirely paid for training. Ground crew is paid for and low barrier to entry. What is one thing all these jobs have in common?
Drug testing.
Marijuana is legal in some way in 38 states or so? I know pilots personally who have basically changed careers and never progressed beyond private because they would rather be able to smoke a joint. Many in Gen Z have smoked weed. There are many high paying careers today that will allow you to smoke weed. So this is one factor that will affect anything DOT or trade skill related.
2) Fear or failure
I am not an old boomer. I am a millennial. I can tell you that some in my generation but certainly in Gen Z are afraid of failure. I know many in Gen Z that will be hesitant to attempt something new and assuming they even try, they will give up at the first bit of hard failure. On top of this, they have trouble with criticism and certainly have trouble with banter. Aviation is often regarded as an industry for those with "thick skin." One CFI ripping into a 20 year old for something is enough to make them quit forever to find an office job where people speak softly. Unfortunately, this is something that really cannot be changed in aviation because sometimes you do need to be blunt and harsh to get a point across for safety. CFIs will know what I am talking about. The tough love approach is very hard on this generation. Often you will find you are the first person in their life that has expected any sort of standard or discipline.
3) Standards and Discipline
My generation struggled with this but I feel that overall millennials have had to meet standards and discipline themselves. If anything because we keep getting the shit end of the stick (9/11, 2008, covid, OBAMA, etc). Gen Z has not really had to deal with this in a workforce so they have not had that external pressure. Their teachers and parents are soft. Often a CFI and flight school or A&P coworker will be the first person in their life to expect real standards (not watered down academics) and some form of discipline.
4) Lack of initiative and independence.
I don't want to sound like some crusty boomer saying the kids these days don't have drive. But I will say they lack initiative and independence. This manifests itself in incredibly simple forms. Example. I know a Gen Z kid that had a broke $8 toilet valve. Instead of fixing it himself and having a working toilet, he would just shut off and on the water manually every time. He was afraid to attempt the job. I know others that are intimidated picking up a power drill to screw some 2x4 together. These are men over the age of 21 and some live outside their parents home. As a consequence, they almost always outsource labor (call a plumber, call parents, etc). Now I understand asking for help, but the difference is they never attempt even the simplest of projects because they quite literally do not understand tools.
If you cannot get a 21+ year old man to confidently use a power drill or spend less than $10 to fix their toilet. You aren't going to get them to swing the gear on a jet let alone start their Cessna.
5) Anxiety
I firmly believe we all have anxiety. That is a normal emotion. However most of us work our way through it and deal with it as normal. Gen Z has been taught it makes them special or something. The amount of times I have heard anxiety used as an excuse then seen it actually manifest as an issue is beyond counting. I have had to coach young MEN how to talk to authority, deal with bureaucrats, make phone calls, etc. All because they are used to dealing with online portals etc. They are deathly afraid of these situations and more often than not are willing to "take it." even if it brings discomfort.
Anyway there is more but I am done writing for now. This is very broad, but to your point. This generation is different and I think the difficulty will be finding ones that will fit the pilot mold and can have the confidence to operate safely. Same will apply to all safety critical aspects of this industry and not just pilots. Otherwise, these people will go work at a tech company or some office doing computer touching for widgets. Country is going down the drain for sure.
Great video, I do wish you could address the lack of basic needle ball and airspeed skills the younger pilots seem to lack. Like you and other retired guys I have friends still flying at the majors and many are wondering what’s going to happen after they retire and these younger crews are paired together. Guys are saying it’s like a single pilot operation sometimes in high density airports, especially when there’s WX. When you watch videos of any fly-by-wire A/C landing in a strong wind, the last 50 ft. when it becomes direct control can be pretty telling.
They lack it because their instructor is usually only 250 hours ahead of them. You can't learn from someone who's still barely figured any of this out. But that's how a majority of the Pilot making machine works now.
I Flew in the 1990s for 13 years. 7500 hours of SAFE Flying! I tried to get back into the business since 2012. After going back to Flight Instruction (To get current) I soon found I didn't want to deal with the BS again and finally said the Hell with that shitty abusive business. To many bad memories. PLUS to Live in a Crash pad w/8 other A holes is NOT Appealing!
It blows my mind how an industry that's so heavily unionized does not have apprenticeships for pilots and the unions will fight tooth and nail to protect and maintain the 1500 hour rule. It seems like they just couldn't care less about the pipeline of new pilots and union members.
The airline unions are owned by the companies. Lock, Stock, and Barrel thanks to the National Railroad Labor Act that Airlines fall under.
In my short career as a pilot got to see n do many things,fly overseas etc.but being a line pilot,like a truckdriver,is not compatible with family life at all! I got out to raise my crew n glad I did.like many military folks; you can go home but not know your family at all! And wife left,took the house,savings and ran off with another! Choices...
In the past, young people that could afford flying belonged to the upper middle class.
Since most of the middle class has been destroyed by Trickle Down Economics and the upper sector of the middle class now became rich whose kids have Trust Funds, not many of them want to work or become pilots...why would they? They don't have to work...
The remaining ones interested in flying have to take loans. Many of them already had loans from college to pay. Add to that flying and their debt was too much...
This could change now that college is not required for the airlines
Hey i left a comment on the first video, first of love your vids very informative! Now as a student pilot do you think the shortage would lead to SPO (single pilot operations) or furthur automation? That is the biggest worry i have.
They will lower the standards until the crashes begin, and rest assured PC will make that inevitable, just like ATC.
How can you talk about this and not even mention the 1500 hour rule? ...
You'll rarely see or hear existing airline pilots question the 1500 hour rule and most will defend it vociferously. Blanco lirio questioned it and I've seen lots of comments on various youtube videos from retired airline pilots that basically call it a crock. It's a union protected gravy train and pay back for all the abuse and low pay that commuter pilots had to put up. The ironic part is both Colgan 3407 pilots had ATPs. The NTSB didn't recommend the 1500 hour rule but they did recommend the pilot records database but of course that was left out of the 2010 bill that congress passed with the 1500 hour rule included. No prizes for guessing which major special interest group lobbied for that 2010 bill.
Time have certainly changed …guys Getting to a major in 2000hours sometimes less ! It’s a good time depending on who you ask
Case in point Flight sims have never been mainstream but in the past 5 years they very much are. Why? A large portion of young people have a need for speed and respecblity in a way Call of duty and Fort night just don't have... So I'd argue their is no shotage of people who want to be pilots but their is a shortage of ways to be one.
Great stuff Max!
One of the issues is also the Pilots that aren't of the Corporate mold, they also are still out there being Instructors and such. Meaning an Airline candidate has less time building job opportunities since the much smaller job pool is already full with people happy in those jobs who aren't going to "move up" out of them. Which does a school or FSDO want more, a wet Certificate Airline chaser or a dedicated Instructor with years and a gold seal? They're going to pick the pilot who will still stick around in a year and who's focused on the job of teaching, not time building.
Then where do the Airline candidates get their time to get that airline interview? The whole system is a bit of a log jamb due to poor/no actual planning in the pipeline. Airlines have to fundamentally change how they do things.
A pilot's job is little different than an executive job in a large corporation, your personality have to fit in too, and getting there is much more difficult than the job. The job will have qualifications the length of your arm, then they hire some kid whose best qualification is a couple of lines of his DNA matches the big boss. Modern airplanes is much easier to fly than the older ones. It is not really necessary to go through the ritual of being an instructor and flying for burger flipping wages to fly an airline, or to have any turbine experience. These are all artificial barriers thrown up to reduce the number of pilots making the grade to fit the demand. Just as basic training is not really necessary for most to be a great soldier. The industry will get away with all the BS as long as there are more applicants than jobs. You cannot trust those in the industry to tell you when there are real shortages. The Trucking industry been crying shortages for several decades, but the real indicators such as pay had actually gone down. After covid, I would not get into any single pilot airplane , unless I get the co-pilot's seat. The jabs can make the pilot suddenly keel over and someone else have to land the plane. I rather fly with a drunk pilot. Part of fitting in also mean you have to be a good actor. Just like in trucks. we put on a show for safety, in trucks and airplanes. I see the co-pilot were being so careful they look in the front cowling of the engines of the 737 after maintenance in case a wrench been left there. But I have never seen a pilot asking for a zoom boom to look into the number 2 engine of a DC10 or L1011 after maintenance, so I am forced to come to the conclusion , it is OK for that engine to swallow a wrench. There are many more stuff pilots cannot talk about, if they value their job.
This is only partly true. In Europe, you can get a job as a cadet at 250 hours. That is all. You still need to get 1500 hours to get your ATPL.
An astute observation that many totally miss. You wrote "... After covid, I would not get into any single pilot airplane , unless I get the co-pilot's seat. The jabs can make the pilot suddenly keel over and someone else have to land the plane.
I am perfectly aware some kids get into the front office with just 250 hours, the 1500 hours is only for FAA and that was raised from 1000 hours after the BUF ? crash to make it look like the FAA did something. The co-pilot seat have me at the right place if the pilot suddenly go on strike. I cannot make it up front from 3 rows back. I can land anything up to a turbo prop twin and still walk away, airplane may not be airworthy next day. Glass cockpit are actually not that hard to use, especially for someone already trained in a couple of brands.
Don't forget, not only are big aviation college graduates getting hired from CFI into a ULCC, but also regular CFIs off the streets. The commuters are gone, and the regionals will be going by the wayside soon as well. Soon your career path will be 1500 in a C172 straight into a A320 or B737.
The romance is gone from aviation.
Good information. It is hard to understand clearly the “shortage”. Personally I think the 1500 hours to get an atp is excessive. If you can get all of your ratings and show proficiency I don’t see why so many hours should be required. Europe allows commercial pilots to fly at 250 hours and their planes are not dropping out of the sky. What do you gain in meaningful experience by flying around students on fair weather days for 1,000 + hours?
Having to eat shit for years before you get to taste some honey is the biggest hurdle to getting anyone from wanting to enter and stay with aviation as a career.
The 1500 hour rule I think has actually made the shortage not as bad. You aren't paying for most of those hours ideally. In addition, the cost to get to the 250 hours for CFI in the US is about the same as the cost European pilots have to pay to get to 250 hours. Yes, Europeans have to pay for flight training. This is all so they can be a SECOND OFFICER and make almost no money or fuck even pay their employer for the privilege to go to work in the jet. Europe is probably great from an airline perspective, but it's absolute ass for pilots and why so many of them try to come to the US.
@@daytonasixty-eight1354 I know of quite a few pilots in Europe that got their training free through the govt, same as a lot of opportunities and training are offered.
As to making it "not as bad", I would have to disagree. It makes it not as bad at the CFI level, but it certainly makes it worse at regional and majors. That said, they were arbitrarily requiring the higher hours on their own in the first place. The mandate just gives them less flexibility when it is needed the most.
@@eleflux6609 European pilots pay far more. US pilots are still having to build time for ATP like European pilots. The difference is that US pilots usually get paid to do it as a CFI where that European is maybe being paid. That less "flexibility" you are talking about is the same flexibility regional airlines had pre-Colgan to tell their new hire classes not to apply to food stamps in Uniform. The hour requirement is fine. The airlines just need to do better putting the word out for people to get hired and subsidize part of training.
I think the point about not having a 1500 hour rule is so pilots can get into aircraft that they want to fly, not stuck in a 152 for years doing very mundane maneuvers over and over again. That really isn’t relevant training for flying a jet all over the world in all kinds of weather.
Europe does have some companies that offer to pay for training with a contract that allows for a certain term of employment after the flight training is completed. The pay is low but the training was free and the pilot is employed and flying a commercial aircraft, I.e. they have a career pathway that is much more clear than someone in the USA that gets all their certificates and the debt that goes along with them but then has to figure how to make those certificates worth the debt they have accumulated.
@@clarkharms You are not stuck in a 152 for "years" doing mundane maneuvers. It is 2 years max if you have any sort of drive. Even then at post 500 hours you can find all sorts of jobs that are not a CFI. CFI just happens to be the most common job because it builds the fastest and most consistent hours.
You are clearly speaking from lack of experience. The EU system is a far worse deal for the pilot group than USA. Right now with wages in the USA you will pay off debt quickly. Or you could you know, just avoid debt in the first place. It's a very clear progression too. Hence why far more people convert EASA license to FAA and not FAA to EASA. Why do you think more EU pilots want to work in USA than USA pilots in EU?
the movie "Idiocracy" will explain everything. BTW no short supply, just pay and glamour
plants love gatoraid
I didn't hear much accurate information herr except for the atc and a&pshortage.
FAA put in that 1500 minimum limit so of course theirs a pilot shortage - Air Lines did it to themselves
Now with the heart side effects of the mandatory jab by the airlines and the FAA relaxing the medical exam [EKG limits]
Now we have pilots and new ATC guys with underlying medical issues from government mandate B.S.
Fly fix design Helicopter 45+ years