How to get the young excited about aviation?

[WacoFan]

Haven’t read everything but if you come across opportunities where I can help @derg, count me in.
I got absolutely no guidance growing up and i figured most of this out on my own. It hasn’t all been puppy dogs and roses but if someone has even a glimmer of interest, you’re damn right I’ll try to help.

GEEEZUS! Look at you being all grown up and responsible and looking out for the youths, Mr. DC-10 Captain!

Thank God @Boris Badenov is still swine and @SlumTodd_Millionaire still a dweeb. Once those guys change then I know the end is near.

 

[WacoFan]

The "I not filming about what it's like to fly an airplane, I'm filming to let you SEE ME flying an airplane" types?

I can't tell you how many profile videos there on IG that people made of themselves flying.

Point of order - these GoPro cameras largely irritate the feces out of me. Someone will hook it up to something cool - say a Pitts or something - and either shoot toward the cockpit from the wing, or shoot from out of the cockpit like a pilots POV video. I don't care about what a Stinson Reliant looks like from the front seat - I've done that. I want to see the actual airplane fly. I don't want to watch you in the cockpit doing aerobatics, I want to see the aerobatics. These things are irritating to me.

 

[Hiboglossi]

Why try to force people to be interested in something they aren’t naturally interested in?

I think it's an ego thing, people want the next generation to have the same interests as them to feel validated about their own interests and career choices.

I've noticed a lot of pilots get oddly offended about people not wanting to join the profession or leaving it after becoming pilots. Like the guff you're getting for participating in this thread after leaving the industry, or this thread where a number of people took it as a personal insult that someone quit the airlines to go back to instructing. It's ironic that so many pilots complain so much about the unpleasant aspects of the profession and the miseries in entry-level and low-tier pilots jobs, but also get mad about pilots voting with their feet and leaving the profession, thereby reducing the competition for pilot jobs and relieving downward pressure on pilot compensation.

 

[derg]

Point of order - these GoPro cameras largely irritate the feces out of me. Someone will hook it up to something cool - say a Pitts or something - and either shoot toward the cockpit from the wing, or shoot from out of the cockpit like a pilots POV video. I don't care about what a Stinson Reliant looks like from the front seat - I've done that. I want to see the actual airplane fly. I don't want to watch you in the cockpit doing aerobatics, I want to see the aerobatics. These things are irritating to me.

You are my long-lost brother.

I literally have no interest in how cool you (think you) look doing something I can't see, show me what you're doing. Kind of like, you know, "special movies".

"See me in my cool shades doing an approach in an Airbus like I'm really doing anything spectacular when the damned thing is in flight mode." LOL

 

[mrivc211]

I can tell you how we survived… we suffered. 14.9K was my gross during my first year at the regionals. I worked part time at Walmart during my first two years and made 23K and 27K respectively… for part time work. During my first year I had 6 days off that year where I didn’t work at either job… second year I believe I had about 45 days off in total and thought I was in heaven. I lived with 6 other guys during the first year and then shared an apartment during my second year.
I hear people complain about first year pay at the regionals now and I don’t get upset… but every time it happens I feel sick to my stomach with the memory of the struggle.

Their starting pay at mesa is now $110/hr. SkyWest is $90/hr

 

[roundout]

They might. He doesn’t.

This is incredibly obtuse and closed-minded. Especially given @SlumTodd_Millionaire has insight in to the inner workings of the machine.

 

[bLizZuE]

Had.

 

[BEEF SUPREME]

Accepted by some very selective colleges, I was expecting my daughter to pursue a four year degree. For years, she spoke of being a pilot. She was in CAP and AF JROTC. I thought there would be another pilot in the family.

A month ago, she sat down with her mother and me and told us that she didn’t want to go to college.

My heart dropped as I prepared to hide my disappointment that was sure to follow as she revealed her plans.

She revealed she wanted to be an electrician. I immediately saw this as the result of coercion by her crack-head alcoholic bio dad that is an electrician.

She said she liked the work and saw financial stability and independence in the trades. A heartbreaking insight followed.

She said that she saw her mom struggle to make ends-meet in crappy service jobs. Then, she saw her mom get a four year degree and continue to struggle.

She contrasted this with the ability of her father to continue to obtain high-paying jobs despite his addictions, criminal history, and erratic work history.

She made a compelling case to a very biased jury. She has my full support.

She will start at a much higher wage than most of us did in the lost decade and do very well. If she can run a business she could make more than a lot of major airline pilots and it wouldn't take nearly as long to get to that kind of earning. No holidays, M-F, no missed family life events. No hotels unless you're making a killing etc.

 

[SeanD]

Their starting pay at mesa is now $110/hr. SkyWest is $90/hr

GoJet is $110 now also. I remember they were among the bottom of the barrel in pay. Hell, I remember when GoJet pilots would turn their badge around when getting a ride on an XJT airplane.

 

[JordanD]

It's also, forgive me for saying this, mostly clean-cut white boys who get offered wings or whose parents ask if they can get a cockpit tour. If you think this is anywhere close to evenly applied, you're not even pretending to look.

I haven’t really found this to be the case, to be honest. I’ve seen a lot of diversity in the types of kids that come up and stare at all the lights and switches in amazement.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

She will start at a much higher wage than most of us did in the lost decade and do very well. If she can run a business she could make more than a lot of major airline pilots and it wouldn't take nearly as long to get to that kind of earning. No holidays, M-F, no missed family life events. No hotels unless you're making a killing etc.

She is wired for running a business and I would be happy to help her after she is credentialed and experienced.

Right now, she’s making $25 to $50 an hour part-time doing basic commercial work.

 

[jhugz]

@jhugz can attest to the quality of the $200/mo room I was renting in FSD.

The real chef’s kiss of the that place was the sign on the door that said don’t let any pigs in without a warrant. I still have that picture somewhere.

 

[ppragman]

The real chef’s kiss of the that place was the sign on the door that said don’t let any pigs in without a warrant. I still have that picture somewhere.

Before you ever saw that place there was a very fat man in the basement who literally outgrew the house, also the landlord who fancied himself a guitarist playing sweeping arpeggios to 3am lol

 

[scooter2525]

The "I not filming about what it's like to fly an airplane, I'm filming to let you SEE ME flying an airplane" types?

I can't tell you how many profile videos there on IG that people made of themselves flying.

Their starting pay at mesa is now $110/hr. SkyWest is $90/hr

Jeeze I feel old. When I started in this industry, top pay for skywest was like 110.. TOP! And they are starting now??

 

[🦈💜]

I haven’t really found this to be the case, to be honest. I’ve seen a lot of diversity in the types of kids that come up and stare at all the lights and switches in amazement.

My experience has been different—especially when I stand in the forward galley and said goodbye to folks, and I got a front row seat.

But I'm glad to hear that you're seeing something different.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

This is incredibly obtuse and closed-minded. Especially given @SlumTodd_Millionaire has insight in to the inner workings of the machine.

Pay them no mind. Just sad little men with inferiority complexes.

 

[JordanD]

My experience has been different—especially when I stand in the forward galley and said goodbye to folks, and I got a front row seat.

But I'm glad to hear that you're seeing something different.

I don’t know, I don’t find your original statement true at all. There’s so many aviation influencers that are people of color and women now, and there seems to be a big push to “market” aviation to demographics other than people who look like me. Maybe it takes time, but I’d say there’s definitely a push in that direction.
Also, if you’re standing in the door, offer them wings! I was always bummed out we didn’t really get them anywhere in the OO system that I know of. Seems like something that was super common when I was a kid that’s been kind of a lost tradition

 

[JDean3204]

I don’t know, I don’t find your original statement true at all. There’s so many aviation influencers that are people of color and women now, and there seems to be a big push to “market” aviation to demographics other than people who look like me. Maybe it takes time, but I’d say there’s definitely a push in that direction.
Also, if you’re standing in the door, offer them wings! I was always bummed out we didn’t really get them anywhere in the OO system that I know of. Seems like something that was super common when I was a kid that’s been kind of a lost tradition

My son scored a set of wings last year on Alaska, he was pumped. Brought back memories of my days as a kiddo flying, not sure if I got wings but I kept some tulip schemed coloring book and pencils from a United 747. Also got a little bag out of it IIRC.

 

[JustinS]

Jeeze I feel old. When I started in this industry, top pay for skywest was like 110.. TOP! And they are starting now??

Overnight Mesa dropped $100 FO rates and $200 CA rates... In a desperate attempt to attract pilots all the other regionals quickly followed suit. So overnight regional FOs are making more year one than I was year 5 as a regional captain only 3 years ago...

 

[scooter2525]

Overnight Mesa dropped $100 FO rates and $200 CA rates... In a desperate attempt to attract pilots all the other regionals quickly followed suit. So overnight regional FOs are making more year one than I was year 5 as a regional captain only 3 years ago...

That pay is within a percent of my ULCC post new contract pay at my previous life.