Downturn in Aviation

aerospacepilot

aerospacepilot

New Member
I have a list that I posted on another forum of all the stuff that has happened to aviation over the past several months. I thought it would be interesting to post over here. If the price of oil stays this high, you can only imagine what is next.


United stopped hiring
Delta stopped hiring
Continental stopped hiring
Northwest stopped hiring
Expressjet stopped hiring
Skywest stopped hiring
ASA stopped hiring
FedEx stopped hiring
UPS has stopped hiring
Expressjet is offering pilots unpaid leave of absences
United is grounding 15-20 737 aircraft
Delta is grounding 10? mainline aircraft
Northwest is grounding 24 DC-9 aircraft
Regional flying has been cut substantially
Comair, Skywest, Expressjet, ASA, Mesa, and others have had their regional contracted flying hours cut
Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy (again)
Skybus cut back almost 50% of their routes
Froniter sold 4 aircraft
Jetblue sold 6 aircraft
Big Sky went out of business
Skyway went out of business
Aloha went out of business
Champion Air went out of business


Interesting times.
 
Ebb and flow man.

I know most of my users think that that's just some phrase us "old" guys parrot, but it's twoo.
 
Especially for me. Our company has more flying than it can handle right now. We are expanding as rapidly as we can!
 
I dont think it to be a downturn but more of an analysis of the current inventory against the current economy. Not all companies constantly hire. Its standard big business procedure.
 
Devil's Advocate:
ASA is still hiring...although greatly reduced
Mesa's hiring
American Eagle's hiring
Colgans hiring
Mesaba's hiring
Republic's hiring
Emirates is hiring
Just about every expat contractor is hiring
And much more but im too lazy to look up:)
 
777forever said:
Devil's Advocate:
ASA is still hiring...although greatly reduced
Mesa's hiring
American Eagle's hiring
Colgans hiring
Mesaba's hiring
Republic's hiring
Emirates is hiring
Just about every expat contractor is hiring
And much more but im too lazy to look up:)
Click to expand...

There is ALWAYS someone hiring. You just sometimes have to dig deeper at times when the overall indusrty slows. One group of companies downturn is anothers success.
 
TexasFlyer said:
There is ALWAYS someone hiring. You just sometimes have to dig deeper at times when the overall indusrty slows. One group of companies downturn is anothers success.
Click to expand...

True. No doubt it has slowed here in the US. But globally I don't think its the case. I heard a rumor that Emirates management is hoping a big downturn in the US industry will help their shortage. I bet they're already popping champagne after hearing the latest news from Italy about Alitalia.

I dunno, I know I look at things from the positive side but I truly believe the industry is extremely bright for pilots. Even if right now is a downturn I think it will be short term. With age 65 in effect in 5-7 years we see thousands of Major jobs open up. When you look at the jobs available globally the job opportunities go up exponentially. Due to the globalization of the aviation industry this generation of pilots has more options like never before in aviation history.
 
It's a slow down, but it ain't no Setpember-October 2001. You know, when airlines very abruptly stopped hiring, furloughed THOUSDANDS within the span of a few months, and that included many regionals (who for the most part are still hiring). And then of course, there was no hiring at many airlines (including regionals!) for years, and the few RJ and turboprop operators that were hiring required well in excess of 3000TT to even consider your application. Oh, and let's not forget the subsequent bankruptcies of every legacy carrier (with the notable exception of CO and AA who came to the brink).

That was my introduction as a pro. pilot to the industry as a newly hired CFI who got started in aviation during the boom years on the late 90's. I guess thats my yard stick from which I will always measure "bad times"...I can't see what's going on now as anything more then a "very slight downturn".

If I were a newbie, I'd just thank my lucky stars that some reputable regionals are still hiring with ridiculously low mins. To think, if the mins went back up to the sky high minimums of 1000TT or even 1500TT, some people would actually have to lower themselves to CFI'ing!
 
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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

I know one 767 driver that would rather fly a DC-3.

As Dough said, ebb and flow. Last year was great, All the legacies sans AA was hiring, All the regionals were desperate for folks. This year looks to be a bit worse, Who knows what next year may bring.

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.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
Well, if the DC-3 wasn't a deathtrap compared to a modern Boeing or Airbus, yeah...
Click to expand...

There has not been a fatal DC-3 accident in the US since Jan, 2001 (CFIT in Alaska) and the one before that was 1997 (mid air in formation). Not really a deathtrap.

Alex.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top