What can the 121 world expect to see in the near future...?

J

JFlighttt

Well-Known Member
Now that the ATP rule has been set in for a good amount of time, and some airlines...cough cough great lakes... are scrambling like crazy, what can we expect to see in the next year or two as far as pilot hiring goes at the regionals?

I've heard that the Regionals are now basically hiring anyone that walks in their door. Back before the rule, the interviews seemed to be much more strict and structured; has the interviewing process changed or will it change at all as the airlines try to get pilots?

Can we also expect to see a few go out of business?... or even cut back MORE on the pilot pay?

I'm just curious as I'll have the ATP reqs. knocked out in July 2015 and would really like to see what my options are as I am looking into the 121 world at that time.
 
I think you'll see mainline take back more of the flying and the less profitable regional routes dropped altogether. Just because a city had a minor league base-ball team doesn't mean that airline service is economically feasible.
 
I agree with the statement about mainline taking back flying. In OMA, I think we have 9 departures to MSP a day in the summer. With three of them being mainline, I figure it'll drop down to four or five a day total during peak times. (Just using this as an example). The on the hour RJ departures will vanish in my opinion
 
hook_dupin said:
I think you'll see mainline take back more of the flying and the less profitable regional routes dropped altogether. Just because a city had a minor league base-ball team doesn't mean that airline service is economically feasible.
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I think it could have been if they used a model that made sense from the get go, now they're like "omgodzz gas is 98 bucksss a barel and no ones a pilot cause we made the job so terrible, oh no!! They really dug their own graves with crap like JLN - DFW - LAX for all of 250 bucks.
 
JFlighttt said:
Now that the ATP rule has been set in for a good amount of time, and some airlines...cough cough great lakes... are scrambling like crazy, what can we expect to see in the next year or two as far as pilot hiring goes at the regionals?

I've heard that the Regionals are now basically hiring anyone that walks in their door. Back before the rule, the interviews seemed to be much more strict and structured; has the interviewing process changed or will it change at all as the airlines try to get pilots?

Can we also expect to see a few go out of business?... or even cut back MORE on the pilot pay?

I'm just curious as I'll have the ATP reqs. knocked out in July 2015 and would really like to see what my options are as I am looking into the 121 world at that time.
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if you want to fly airplanes for a living, fly airplanes.

If you want a quick "high", this profession will eat your lunch and leave you alone and spent on the desolate roadside.

Are you in it to fly airplanes or just in it because someone said you'll be a 747 captain?
 
It will be an interesting next couple of years that's for sure. Maybe they will drop a lot of routes to smaller communities?? Idk...to me it doesn't really make much since. The idea of business is to expand as much as possible...not shrink. You can't cancel service just because you don't want to hire more pilots. Now if they can't find pilots...that would make sense.

But lets remember what our high school economics teacher said all those years ago...."if there is a pure profit of just $1, it is worth doing business." As long as these routs net a profit then someone will fly them. If one airline stops then another will pick it up or a new airline will be born. The demand will still be there at these "less" profitable destinations. If mainline carriers pick up more routes and give less to regionals then that would require mainline hiring more pilots.

And don't start with the whole "mainline uses bigger planes so they will need less pilots" bs. Lets get real...delta is not going to fly a 737 into little 'ol Klamath falls oregon, or any other small skywest destination, just to pick up 33 people.

Not to mention, the flexibility that regionals offer. If skywest offers a 1100 flight and a 1500 flight then the times work better for different passengers. You cannot simply replace 2-3 crj200s with one 737. You then completely change the "demand" of the service.
 
From my limited gathering of information, it seems to me that the numbers are there that the regionals are going to have to hire anyone with a pilot certificate. Instead of *no more than two check ride failures* as a basic standard, I think it'll be something something more like *no more than 5 DUIs* . :)

That's just regular 121. Most pilots aren't looking at supplemental carriers, part 91, 91k, or 135 I imagine.

I think mainline will be just fine though. They can still be picky IMO
 
Derg said:
if you want to fly airplanes for a living, fly airplanes.

If you want a quick "high", this profession will eat your lunch and leave you alone and spent on the desolate roadside.

Are you in it to fly airplanes or just in it because someone said you'll be a 747 captain?
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Spot on comment IMHO. The entitlement generation of which I am a part wants to have everything now and fast, or they grow discouraged rather quickly. The journey is what counts.
 
It's a commodity based business where customers expect the same level of service and safety no matter how cheap they can get their ticket for. So there will continue to be downward pressure on costs and profits. The airlines that have better employees and have a better product for the same cost will succeed. There will be flying jobs at the regionals but moving on will remain competitive as there is a large qualified pool of talent.
 
If anyone says they know for certain what this industry will look like in 5 years, they are either selling you something or a total idiot.


Having said that, from everything I've been hearing, the bottom feeders are suffering. I will not be sad to see them go.
 
Derg said:
Ungh. That "Boomer Mentality"
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733EFDAA18A912D1FBA6B2EBE1022.jpg


The offense needs to put the ball in the endzone if they want to score.
 
BobDDuck said:
Because we have Twitter.

And because the "greatest generation" says we are.
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I want to slap people who think they are part of the "Greatest Generation". Kinda like giving yourself an award named after you. I know it has been beaten to death but saying we are an entitlement generation is offensive.
 
Ha! :)

He's got a pension, Medicare and a fat retirement, living in Sun City and claims to be a Tea Partier too? :)
 
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