How to get the young excited about aviation?

[ZapBrannigan]

You haven't had a FO pull out an entire GoPro camera set up?

NO. My answer would be that we’ve spent 50 years working to keep cameras OUT of the flight deck. I’ll be damned if all that work is for nothing because we do it to ourselves. Snapping a photo of a pretty cloud or a cool airplane? Sure. GoPro setup? No.

 

[fholbert]

I am a second generation airline pilot and I was always enamored with airplanes.

When I learned to fly I didn't know anyone who flew. I had no mentors or even someone to talk airplanes with. That would have been really nice. A distance uncle I'd never met moved to town about the time I soloed, he was invited over for dinner at my parents house. That evening I learned he was a Tower Controller at my little airport. I would have been less impressed had he been The Pope.

I got a job selling woman's shoes at the mall after school. I was paid a commission on every pair of shoes I sold. Since I wasn't hourly I'd sign in late, out early so I could work as many hours as possible. My high school was unable to track how many hours I was working and I didn't tell them. I was making as much as the guys with a wife and kids. Most of the money I made went into my new car and flying lessons.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

I got a job selling woman's shoes at the mall

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

NO. My answer would be that we’ve spent 50 years working to keep cameras OUT of the flight deck. I’ll be damned if all that work is for nothing because we do it to ourselves. Snapping a photo of a pretty cloud or a cool airplane? Sure. GoPro setup? No.

“But other CAs let me do it”

 

[fholbert]

View attachment 70055

It was more like this.

I could write a book about what went on in that store. DON'T EVER let a shoe salesman help your wife try on a pair of shoes because she is showing her goods, both upstairs and downstairs. More than once I walked away holding with a shoe box in front of me hiding the bulge in my pants. I was 16/17 years old and these older women, 20/25 knew what the were doing.

 

[Doug Masters]

It was more like this.

View attachment 70056

I could write a book about what went on in that store. DON'T EVER let a shoe salesman help your wife try on a pair of shoes because she is showing her goods, both upstairs and downstairs. More than once I walked away holding with a shoe box in front of me hiding the bulge in my pants. I was 16/17 years old and these older women, 20/25 knew what the were doing.

It took 6 pages to go from "How do we get people interested in aviation?" to "How I got aroused as a teenage shoe salesman." I love the internet

 

[Avalon781ML]

Regionals opening and closing bases at the drop of a hat even now. starting salaries at 16k, working 20 days a month. I literally would not have survived the first 5 years of my career without my Lieutenant pay in the guard, I have no idea how pure civilian guys made it happen at the regionals previous to 2018, still blows my mind to this day.

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.

 

[ppragman]

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.

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

 

[arkflyr]

When I learned to fly I didn't know anyone who flew

That is an interesting thought, would I have caught the aviation bug had my dad not been a pilot. He grew up on a farm and my grandparents discouraged both him and his older brother from going into farming. Had that been different I don't know, as a kid the only thing that rivaled my love of airplanes was tractors and I was around them a lot as a child as both of my parents grew up on farms and my grandparents still lived on them when I was young.

And now I'm fortunate enough to whet my tractor appetite on my father-in-law's MT ranch with his old John Deere.

 

[bLizZuE]

This thread is a perfect demonstration of not understanding the laws of supply and demand and how they impact your career.

Do you see the AMA going out of their way to boost interest in medicine as a career path? Of course not. They do the exact opposite. They do everything they can to erect barriers to entry, because they understand that the fewer doctors there are, the better the compensation and quality of life for the people who get there.

Want to make 1960s era pilot wages again adjusted for inflation? Then let it be. Let this be the airlines' problem to solve, not yours.

The guy who quit telling us how to make the job more lucrative and attractive is sort of poetry.

 

[Kingairer]

Maaaan y’all really trying to make me rethink the apply 121 strategy I got going.

don’t misunderstand, I think the 121 career is good now. I just don’t think it will be in 30 years.

 

[Hiboglossi]

The guy who quit telling us how to make the job more lucrative and attractive is sort of poetry.

Someone who left the industry might have pretty good insights about how to make it more attractive, based on what made them decide to leave...

 

[Soku39]

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.

I vividly remember living in a house in "gunspoint" with 5 other dudes in the 2013 timeframe when I was sitting reserve for ExpressJet in Houston. That shoulda been my first clue.

 

[bLizZuE]

Someone who left the industry might have pretty good insights about how to make it more attractive, based on what made them decide to leave...

They might. He doesn’t.

 

[Roger Roger]

So, what’s gonna get him through the better part of a decade until he sees any of that…?

I dunno, between 117 and the massive pay raises at the regionals even the paying dues jobs are a lot better than most people are going to be able to get elsewhere in the work world.

 

[Hiboglossi]

I dunno, between 117 and the massive pay raises at the regionals even the paying dues jobs are a lot better than most people are going to be able to get elsewhere in the work world.

I would say that's true. It's pretty much how I feel even though I work at the lowest of the bottom feeder regionals. QOL and even pay is much better than anything I could realistically get in a different industry, especially since I have no useful skills outside of aviation- I haven't had a non-flying job in almost a decade and most of the ones I have had were low wage entry level jobs, most of them part time. That's why I haven't left the industry even though many people would probably say I should since I have an accident and multiple training failures on my record.

As miserable as commuting is, there is an advantage to having the option to do it. The base I lived in closed and I can't afford to live in any of my company's existing bases. In most industries I would have been stuck moving somewhere horrendously expensive in that situation. Granted I don't have any kids and have never been in a relationship and honestly have no desire to do either of those things so I suppose being away from home this much would be harder for most people.

Most occupations that pay well eventually have a slog of dues-paying jobs you have to get through, and most high paying occupations require long hours. Honestly, it seems like a lot of people on here overestimate both the pay and QOL in other professions; and I haven't seen this as much in the last few years but it used to be people always imagined they'd be highly paid doctors, lawyers or engineers if they weren't pilots; which seems statistically unlikely.

Granted, regional airline pay will plummet as soon as the next downturn hits and ushers in yet another round of airline bankruptcies, furloughs and "Compassages".

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

The guy who quit telling us how to make the job more lucrative and attractive is sort of poetry.

Yeah, that’s right, much better off listening to the people who would saw off their left nut to keep flying airplanes. That’s the ticket to better wages and working conditions!

 

[bLizZuE]

Yeah, that’s right, much better off listening to the people who would saw off their left nut to keep flying airplanes. That’s the ticket to better wages and working conditions!

I don’t think anyone ever listened to the SJS people.

 

[Hiboglossi]

When I was a kid you could walk into grocery stores, drug stores, and the like - not even hobby stores - and on the "toy aisle" you'd find model cars and most of the time some model airplanes to build. Haven't seen that in years. The fascination is now with computers. Why drive to see friends when you can text (because all they'd do if together is look at their phones, just in a group). Video games are exciting and you don't have to venture outside where it's not climate controlled. Why go on a date when Pornhub is available for free? I mean, the kids are sick. That's why AI is desperately needed and I welcome our ruling overlord technology.

That's arguably a good thing- driving is statistically the most dangerous activity the average person regularly engages in, so less teen drivers on the roads is probably good; plus car insurance for young drivers is expensive. And no one ever got pregnant or contracted a venereal disease from watching Pornhub.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

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.