Aviation Pulse in U.S

Benji86

Benji86

New Member
I can think of no better place to pose this question than JC.

As an individual it can be difficult to see an overall picture of aviaition's current health in the U.S. Right now my view of it is not that great! (I am currently unemployed) But I want to get other views from people employed, as well as unemployed.

I would like to ask everyone on this site what their view is on the current health of the industry right now.
Is anyone seeing a hiring trend?
Do things seem to be getting better in aviation from their viewpoint?
Are companies still laying off people?

Are people finding it difficult to find money for flight training.

Anything you wish to contribute for an answer will be greatly appreciated!
 
From what I've seen a lot of people post, people are still getting furloughed, people are in debt because they took out loans for flight training, and hiring is poor at best.

I'm not too sure, but that's the general idea I've seen posted around here.
 
While I'm not completely down on aviation..I know many people are reconsidering if its still worth the sacrifices. Many of us came into this business knowing it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns but have watched the rewards, whatever they may be, continually erode.

Many pilots have found ways to make it work for them and thats a good thing..but no one is immune to a bad roll of the dice and its a bit like that game Shoots and Ladders where you might be near the top and suddenly find yourself back at square one almost.

This is strictly a gut feeling but I don't think we are anywhere near the bottom yet but I believe we are headed in that direction. I'm an optimistic person by nature but aviation will give you the reality smack down of your life.
 
Lay offs still possible; posted just today by Doug Taylor: http://forums.jetcareers.com/general-topics/103366-ups-furlough-pilots-300-may-want.html


I'm pretty much far from optimistic about anything good happening in the near future. A lot of people need to get picked back up in order for any one else to even begin. This aviation stuff is a dark and windy road right now, just no guarantees anywhere. I'm not even sure about being able to get an instructors gig my self; everything is so slow. I just gotta keep on working and keep my fingers crossed when the time comes (4-5 months for me to get finished up).
 
If you want to fly, certainly fly. You can do it as a professional pilot or even a private pilot.

No industry really has a lot of career stability.

Meanwhile, there's a degreed Environmental Engineer with Civil and Traffic Engineering experience coupled with Transportation Planning expertise that's upstairs cleaning the catbox, monday at 3:40pm! :) Three engineering fields that were thought to be recession-proof, rock solid and write-your-own-ticket.

It's going to be up and down, ebb and flow for the duration of your career, in ANY industry! :)

Unless, of course, overpoliticized talk radio. Multi-million dollar contracts to bitterly scowl in front of a microphone, extolling how they know, or feel the common proletariat's pain! :)
 
Also unemployed. Sent 16 resumes in the last week and a half, plus a number of online 'auto-res' applications. Thusfar, 0 calls. I am not terribly optimistic about either aviation or the larger economy. In my estimation, things are likely to get much worse before they get better.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Also unemployed. Sent 16 resumes in the last week and a half, plus a number of online 'auto-res' applications. Thusfar, 0 calls. I am not terribly optimistic about either aviation or the larger economy. In my estimation, things are likely to get much worse before they get better.
Click to expand...

Boris, I thought you were with ameriflight?

Sorry to hear!
 
Benji86 said:
I can think of no better place to pose this question than JC.

As an individual it can be difficult to see an overall picture of aviaition's current health in the U.S. Right now my view of it is not that great! (I am currently unemployed) But I want to get other views from people employed, as well as unemployed.

I would like to ask everyone on this site what their view is on the current health of the industry right now.
Is anyone seeing a hiring trend?
Do things seem to be getting better in aviation from their viewpoint?
Are companies still laying off people?

Are people finding it difficult to find money for flight training.

Anything you wish to contribute for an answer will be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...


Its going to depend a lot on who you ask. For the most part, aviation is still hurting, bad. But, there are blips of good news here and there starting to crop up. A few companies are hiring, if in limited numbers compared to years past. If things aren't getting better, imo they seem to at least be starting to think about maybe turning around sometime in the near future. At least, it would seem that the downturn is slowing and hopefully beginning to reverse its trend. Unfortunately there are still layoffs happening. NetJets just furloughed a large # of their pilots and it looks like UPS is set to do the same soon.

At the school I was teaching for, business was picking up from where it was at this point over the last 2yrs. Not to where it once was, but an increase none the less. That leads me to believe that if people want to, they'll find a way to fund their training. If this is what you want to do then stick with it. There is a lot of bad news and nay sayers right now but things are bound to turn around. It is a very cyclical industry and right now we're at or near the bottom of the cycle.

Just my $0.02. Not worth much these days.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Also unemployed. Sent 16 resumes in the last week and a half, plus a number of online 'auto-res' applications. Thusfar, 0 calls. I am not terribly optimistic about either aviation or the larger economy. In my estimation, things are likely to get much worse before they get better.
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat as Boris...except I think I have sent out quite a few more than 16.... I have been unemployed since October. Probably 20% of the jobs I replied to are out of aviation.

Of course that brings its own can of worms......HR departments see a pilot looking for non pilot position....
 
etflies said:
It is a very cyclical industry and right now we're at or near the bottom of the cycle.
Click to expand...

Not an attack on your opinion..just curious what makes you think this? Surely if any of us had a crystal ball we'd be in Vegas or on our own private island and not on JC. I'm always game to see the silver linings and maybe there are some from your veiwpoint.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Also unemployed. Sent 16 resumes in the last week and a half, plus a number of online 'auto-res' applications. Thusfar, 0 calls. I am not terribly optimistic about either aviation or the larger economy. In my estimation, things are likely to get much worse before they get better.
Click to expand...

I hope you at applied to AMF!
 
Benji86 said:
I would like to ask everyone on this site what their view is on the current health of the industry right now.
Is anyone seeing a hiring trend?
Do things seem to be getting better in aviation from their viewpoint?
Are companies still laying off people?
Click to expand...
eKG+Flatline.jpg
 
Boris Badenov said:
Also unemployed. Sent 16 resumes in the last week and a half, plus a number of online 'auto-res' applications. Thusfar, 0 calls. I am not terribly optimistic about either aviation or the larger economy. In my estimation, things are likely to get much worse before they get better.
Click to expand...
Wah' happened to the 99 gig? Sorry to hear the bad news man. When one door closes.....well, you know.

-mini
 
vikingair said:
Not an attack on your opinion..just curious what makes you think this? Surely if any of us had a crystal ball we'd be in Vegas or on our own private island and not on JC. I'm always game to see the silver linings and maybe there are some from your veiwpoint.
Click to expand...

Not at all. I should preface my post by saying I'm somewhat of an hopeless optimist (oxymoron?), even when things are at their worst and I'm tired of the bad so while I'll still listen to it and take it into consideration, I try to look for the good and focus on that. I've seen more companies (not just airlines) hiring, or looking to hire, business at the school I was teaching for, and at a couple of different places my friend's teach for has been steadily increasing, and there are seemingly more and more good stories coming from the aviation industry if you look around.

Now, I know we're a long, long way from being back to where we were a few years ago and that we're still very near the bottom, but there is good out there.
 
Lets explore different areas of aviation:

Majors: Furloughing/Not Hiring
121 Freight: Furloughing/Not Hiring
Fractionals: Furloughing/Not Hiring
Regionals: A handful of companies hiring.
Freight: A couple of places are hiring
Flight Instruction: Hard to find a job

In my estimation, it will get worse before it gets better. If you go to a regional, you will be in the right seat for quite a long while. Once you upgrade to the left seat, you are probably a regional lifer, since the majors haven't hired in 15 years.

Fractionals used to look like a good job, but Net Jets just furloughed 500 pilots less than a year ago.

Freight: I think checks are going away, so they are basically flying insects and body parts, from what I have read.

Not looking great, even though I have a job I like.
 
Hmmm. I have noticed that during the time I have been here on JC that there are a lot of people that look only at the here and now and the past few months to determine the rest of the year and near future. I remember when things were good, many people were saying oh, it's going to continue to be this way for a long time, regionals will be hiring for quite a while and slow upgrade times will be a thing of the past, blah blah. And now that were in the opposite side of the spectrum I keep hearing that it's going to continue to get worse and worse and prepare for it to be this way for a while. I'm a big advoacte of historical data showing us what we can expect to occur in the future. Although it may not come as quickly as many of us expect, I believe it will turn around sooner than many of us believe. I'm being optimistic but I beleive that we will begin to see adequate hiring by the 4th quarter of 2010 and 1st quarter of 2011.

I was able to find my first 135 job in November. It was tough and I even had to be a charter flight broker for 6 months until I was able to squeeze my way into my current company. I hated every minute of brokering but I had to make myself more competitive in this market by networking and increasing my skills in the aviation environment. I know my company for one has plans to expand by aquiring new airplanes. Now this won't be probably for another year but at least we are seeing signs in the market to expand.

Now I solely talk about the 135 and 91 markets. 121 is so much different I wouldn't dare try to predict what will happen tomorrow.

All I'm saying is don't give up hope and hang in there. Anything that's worth waiting for it often times worth it.
 
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