Downturn in Aviation

dhc2tacksby said:
Why is that if the plane doesn't have an FMS its not worth flying?

I've never met a pilot who is flying a Boeing or Airbus talk about what he (se) is flying is the best flying they ever did.

I'd bet a month salary that many Boeing drivers would rather fly a DC-3 than a 767 if the paycheck wasn't a factor.
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Because we all romanticize our past. It's true that some equipment is more fun to fly than others, but we all tend to look back fondly on our previous workspace, forgetting the bad and only remembering the good. The grass is ALWAYS greener.
 
Pinnacle's still hiring if ya got a 1200/200 or a jet transition course. Don't get me started on that one.

The DC-3 is on my list of planes I'd like to fly before I die, along with the other death trap....the B-17. :)
 
OldTownPilot said:
I do know that the Tanking Dollar is hurting Americans in buying power IMMENSELY. Hence the ridiculous price of oil. Oil has not increased relative to the Euro much at all, Global market place and all.
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Standing there saying "Ciao!" to the exiting Rome passengers yesterday and one of them said, "Goodbye, ya'll!".

The flight attendant looked at me and said, "Wow! An American!"

It's pretty simple to figure out. They drop the interest rate, the dollar goes down, the (relative) cost of oil goes up. Pretty easy to figure out.
 
OldTownPilot said:
I do know that the Tanking Dollar is hurting Americans in buying power IMMENSELY. Hence the ridiculous price of oil. Oil has not increased relative to the Euro much at all, Global market place and all.
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WHAT???! How dare you say the tanking dollar is hurting more than the increasing price of oil! We need to put the blame on the oil companies, not the economy. The economy's fine. There's no recession coming. Take your economic stimulus money and SPEND SPEND SPEND. Everything's fine....

comical_ali.jpg
 
That's really insightfully "Aerospacepilot." Tell us all again why the airplane won't take off from the treadmill.

I'm sorry, I'm a jerk. 'Just couldn't resist.
 
Dont worry. One of these days we'll all wake up in the morning and it will be another hiring boom. Just gotta weather what is looking to be a very mild storm, first.
 
Gumps said:
That's really insightfully "Aerospacepilot." Tell us all again why the airplane won't take off from the treadmill.

I'm sorry, I'm a jerk. 'Just couldn't resist.
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I had only heard of the plane on a treadmill by word of mouth. The way I understood it, there was actually suppose to be a purpose to it. Like using a treadmill would allow an airplane to take off on a really short runway. I argued there is no way that a treadmill will allow an airplane to take off from a much shorter runway (because the plane still needs air flowing over the wings to takeoff, and the treadmill does not cause the air to move).

As it turns out, there is actually no purpose to the treadmill. It is just there to spin the wheels faster. I realized it was just a dumb argument that had no practical application. See, I thought the problem statement meant can the airplane takeoff from a treadmill, while appearing stationary to a fixed reference point off the treadmill. I retracted my statement (I was arguing about a different problem) and agreed that once I understood the actual problem statement (can an airplane take off from a treadmill while moving forward relative to a fixed position on a non-moving surface, ie. the treadmill does not affect the motion of the airplanes body), I agreed it could. Duh, why would it be any different than a normal runway.

It's just a dumb thing to argue about. I just automatically the airplane/treadmill debate actually had a practical application, and based my argument how I understood the problem statement, not what the actual problem statement was.

</rant>

And no, the sky is not falling. I just thought it would be interesting to post all the downs that have happened over the past few months.
 
The tires would spin infinitely fast while the rest of the airplane accelerates normally, since the jets and wings would work the same, relative to the air. w00t
 
dhc2tacksby said:
Why is that if the plane doesn't have an FMS its not worth flying?

I've never met a pilot who is flying a Boeing or Airbus talk about what he (se) is flying is the best flying they ever did.

I'd bet a month salary that many Boeing drivers would rather fly a DC-3 than a 767 if the paycheck wasn't a factor.
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Hello everyone, this is my first post.
I've been flying the DC-8 since 1991. It's the first and only 121 aircraft that I've flown. I could have chosen to fly the "electric" jets in our fleet, but with our single pay rate, there is no monetary "need" to leave the mighty DC-8. I truly enjoy flying the DC-8 and I'm not looking forward to the day that UPS finally retires the fleet and I'm forced to train on another fleet type.
 
Anyone considering getting into the airlines now, I would say- "WAIT!!"

My advice is to go and get one of the $40,000/year CFI jobs out west because when the music stops, those jobs are going to become HOT commoditties.

Good luck guys, think before you act. Just trying to help.

Edited:

The SAAB doesn't have an FMS and it is a great first 121 airplane. I would venture to say the Beech guys aren't sweating without it either. Nice tool, though. Flight Aware ground tracks look awesome!
 
Ebb & Flow at $60/barrel. None of the airlines - major or regionals - have a business model for sustained $100/barrel. There will be - as the long list suggests, casualties due to the cost of oil. Personally, I don't think oil will ever get anywhere close to the $60 mark again. Throw in an anemic dollar - and it starts to get ugly. I also wonder what the impact of "open skies" will have on the industry. The strong will survive and the weak will not. Problem is - what airline is strong these days?


I suspect the present landscape is going to look very different 5 years from now.


Just my .02


Max
 
Casualties this far this week: Champion, Aloha and ATA. Looks like Freedom's getting the 50 seat boot from Delta, too.
 
kellwolf said:
The DC-3 is on my list of planes I'd like to fly before I die, along with the other death trap....the B-17. :)
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There's a drop zone in AZ that operates a DC-3. There was a time when I thought about putting in my application but I doubt they'd type somebody in that thing for one summer's worth of flying.

Would be a kick in the pants to fly one though!
 
Mr.Maximus said:
Ebb & Flow at $60/barrel. None of the airlines - major or regionals - have a business model for sustained $100/barrel.
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By all means, if you feel it's all 'ebb' and no 'flow' coming, I'd start looking at TruckMasters! ;)

On the broader note, I think we're doing ourselves a grand disservice by saying $XXX/barrel oil. It's more like "valueless dollar trying to buy oil on the world market"

There's no supply problem at all. Just that the Feds continually "dropping interest rates to jumpstart a stalled economy/lessen the blow for the house flippers with the subprimes" finally came home to roost, in a bad way.

Raise the interest rate, increase the value of the dollar, lower the price of oil and sink the credit markets because of defaults. Recession.

Lower the interest rate, decrease the value of the dollar, save the credit markets, but blame the buying power of oil on the USD on the oil companies and the Saudis. Recession.

Note: I'm not an economist, I'm an airline pilot so take EVERYTHING I say about economics, investing or money with a large grain of salt!!!
 
There is no weak dollar! America is awesome! Capitalism now! The sky isn't falling! Airlines will not furlough!
 
jtrain609 said:
There is no weak dollar! America is awesome! Capitalism now! The sky isn't falling! Airlines will not furlough!
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Generally, you could tip your bus drivers $1 USD for unloading your bags at the layover hotel, but I've seen twice in the past month where they either say "no thanks" or ask for a Euro.
 
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