Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
Ah, yes. The magical 1000 hours of Turbine engine Pilot-In-Command
experience.
The resume bullet of choice for so many aspiring airline pilots and often the requirement of choice of so many Legacy/Major hiring departments.
Yet another nail in the coffin the airline pilot's career expectations.
But why? Simple. It's created a new hurdle to the "big time".
You may have read some of the things I've written in the past regarding airline management's collective agenda of using so-called "Regional" airlines to cut costs and erode the advances pilots have made in their careers.
Here's a big one. I've talked in the past about the "Get Up and Get Out" mentality of Regional pilots. Here's another reason why that's just another stumbling block.
As turbine engine aircraft costs are prohibitive to the average renter or student, there is more or less only two ways to get turbine engine experience as a pilot. Either join the military (with all the extensive obligations that this implies) or fly for a small freight or regional operator.
Since many pilots are staying with the civilian route these days, freight or regional jet operations are the method most use to get their invaluable turbine engine experience. As small aircraft freight is a very small community, most pilots wind up applying to Regional airlines.
Now, they've got us. As nobody really wants to work for the meager pay scales of Regional airlines, everybody looks for that elevator to the "big time"- 1000 hours Turbine Pilot In Command time. Since "seniority is everything", the road to the big show has pilots looking for the fastest way to the Captain's seat of anything with a turbine engine. Once you've locked in to that line of thinking, you'd be surprised what the airline managers will sell you.
"We don't need this perk, or that work rule, or that much more pay monthly here... we upgrade fast- so you can "Get up and Get Out!"
How many times have you heard that? How many times have you heard airline recruiters spouting off at how competitive their upgrade times expectations are?
How many times have you seen upgrade times shift suddenly for the better or worse, either way for reasons that would give any applicant pause?
By requiring 1000 hrs Turbine PIC at Legacy/Major carriers, the managers at that level have ensured that the majority of pilots entering the industry will be HAVE NO CHOICE but to fly for "Regional" carriers.
Consider how most "Regional" carriers operate. I've seen statistics recently that show as much as FIFTY PERCENT of all revenue operations under a specific Legacy carrier brand being operated by Regional carriers. When you can put that much of your operation under a smaller airline with much lower costs, it costs you less. Yet- ticket prices stay about the same.
I've previously suggested that Legacy/Major carriers collective agenda is not to grow at their own level, but to grow at the "Regional feed" level to undermine labor costs. How?
By requiring all pilots to come through the Regional level, they are effectively ensuring staffing at inferior pay rates regardless of the demands of the market.
By employing the discriminatory requirement of prior turbine PIC experience, they have ensured that their agenda of lowering pilot pay and quality of life will continue unabated while they shrink the ranks of pilots at the top of the industry.
Barring a few exceptions, they've created a new gateway to the careers so many have worked so hard for. The walls between the Regionals and Majors may be little more than paper, but in practical reality they may as well be four-foot thick concrete.
Furthermore, when you take the first "mainline" job you can get and leave your "Regional", management wins TWICE. You've provided years of work doing the same things a pilot in any airliner does anywhere, and by leaving you make room for a replacement to do what you did at a lower point of longevity on the pay scale. At the Regional level pilots have been conditioned to expect less, so training costs are absorbed by extremely low initial wages. It is CHEAPER for Regionals to keep training replacement FOs and newly upgraded Captains than it is to allow their Captains to stay on longer at higher levels of the pay scale. They know it- so they perpetuate the desire for you to "Get Up and Get Out!"
Don't be fooled by the Turbine PIC trap.
The work rules and pay levels you give up today may take years to get back. Work for the best carrier you can no matter what your level.
Demand better work rules and better pay.
The fastest route to upgrade might upgrade you faster, but there's no guarantee it will take you any farther than that. With Legacy/Major carriers shrinking, there's no guarantee you'll go any farther than the left seat of whatever Regional aircraft you're flying now.
Remember, you could spend the rest of your career at the so-called "Regional" carrier you work for now. The things you cause or allow to happen with your pay and work rules will echo out into the future of your career for the rest of your life.
experience.
The resume bullet of choice for so many aspiring airline pilots and often the requirement of choice of so many Legacy/Major hiring departments.
Yet another nail in the coffin the airline pilot's career expectations.
But why? Simple. It's created a new hurdle to the "big time".
You may have read some of the things I've written in the past regarding airline management's collective agenda of using so-called "Regional" airlines to cut costs and erode the advances pilots have made in their careers.
Here's a big one. I've talked in the past about the "Get Up and Get Out" mentality of Regional pilots. Here's another reason why that's just another stumbling block.
As turbine engine aircraft costs are prohibitive to the average renter or student, there is more or less only two ways to get turbine engine experience as a pilot. Either join the military (with all the extensive obligations that this implies) or fly for a small freight or regional operator.
Since many pilots are staying with the civilian route these days, freight or regional jet operations are the method most use to get their invaluable turbine engine experience. As small aircraft freight is a very small community, most pilots wind up applying to Regional airlines.
Now, they've got us. As nobody really wants to work for the meager pay scales of Regional airlines, everybody looks for that elevator to the "big time"- 1000 hours Turbine Pilot In Command time. Since "seniority is everything", the road to the big show has pilots looking for the fastest way to the Captain's seat of anything with a turbine engine. Once you've locked in to that line of thinking, you'd be surprised what the airline managers will sell you.
"We don't need this perk, or that work rule, or that much more pay monthly here... we upgrade fast- so you can "Get up and Get Out!"
How many times have you heard that? How many times have you heard airline recruiters spouting off at how competitive their upgrade times expectations are?
How many times have you seen upgrade times shift suddenly for the better or worse, either way for reasons that would give any applicant pause?
By requiring 1000 hrs Turbine PIC at Legacy/Major carriers, the managers at that level have ensured that the majority of pilots entering the industry will be HAVE NO CHOICE but to fly for "Regional" carriers.
Consider how most "Regional" carriers operate. I've seen statistics recently that show as much as FIFTY PERCENT of all revenue operations under a specific Legacy carrier brand being operated by Regional carriers. When you can put that much of your operation under a smaller airline with much lower costs, it costs you less. Yet- ticket prices stay about the same.
I've previously suggested that Legacy/Major carriers collective agenda is not to grow at their own level, but to grow at the "Regional feed" level to undermine labor costs. How?
By requiring all pilots to come through the Regional level, they are effectively ensuring staffing at inferior pay rates regardless of the demands of the market.
By employing the discriminatory requirement of prior turbine PIC experience, they have ensured that their agenda of lowering pilot pay and quality of life will continue unabated while they shrink the ranks of pilots at the top of the industry.
Barring a few exceptions, they've created a new gateway to the careers so many have worked so hard for. The walls between the Regionals and Majors may be little more than paper, but in practical reality they may as well be four-foot thick concrete.
Furthermore, when you take the first "mainline" job you can get and leave your "Regional", management wins TWICE. You've provided years of work doing the same things a pilot in any airliner does anywhere, and by leaving you make room for a replacement to do what you did at a lower point of longevity on the pay scale. At the Regional level pilots have been conditioned to expect less, so training costs are absorbed by extremely low initial wages. It is CHEAPER for Regionals to keep training replacement FOs and newly upgraded Captains than it is to allow their Captains to stay on longer at higher levels of the pay scale. They know it- so they perpetuate the desire for you to "Get Up and Get Out!"
Don't be fooled by the Turbine PIC trap.
The work rules and pay levels you give up today may take years to get back. Work for the best carrier you can no matter what your level.
Demand better work rules and better pay.
The fastest route to upgrade might upgrade you faster, but there's no guarantee it will take you any farther than that. With Legacy/Major carriers shrinking, there's no guarantee you'll go any farther than the left seat of whatever Regional aircraft you're flying now.
Remember, you could spend the rest of your career at the so-called "Regional" carrier you work for now. The things you cause or allow to happen with your pay and work rules will echo out into the future of your career for the rest of your life.