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Aviation heavyweights flock to U.S. grassroots air jamboree to fill pilot shortage
The wings of a Boeing 737 MAX airliner swept over green fields populated by colorful small planes, lending a rare corporate touch to the world's largest grassroots air show this past week. EAA AirVenture brought together more than half a million aviation enthusiasts and thousands of vintage or homebuilt aircraft and aerobatic showstoppers to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for a celebration dubbed the Woodstock of aviation. For one week, the annual summer event becomes the world's busiest airspace… (www.yahoo.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Alas, I’m 67 now and nobody wants me.
Love how they pick a 737 MAX (of all planes) to show up, as if to remind everyone and how they're willing to cut corners and sacrifice quality and safety to maximize profits... It's like "wink wink we'll hire you if you're willing to sacrifice safety to maximize profit..."
yeup. not exactly the best image they could be putting forward...
Some lucky kids coming up, my son got hired back at the last hiring spree. I soloed in 1969 and kept looking for a way in. But nada, all WW2 and some national guard hires. Northwest didn't hire a single pilot in the 70's. I talked to a guy with 10,000 hours late 70's and he couldn't get on flying a Navajo for a commuter.
The present shortage will be nothing compared to the end of boomer pilots' careers.
By then the majors and passengers will have to pony up a lot more money. By then it'll be interesting to see if the majors and regionals will still be able to pay what is basically peanuts for someone to live out of a suitcase.
By then the majors and passengers will have to pony up a lot more money. By then it'll be interesting to see if the majors and regionals will still be able to pay what is basically peanuts for someone to live out of a suitcase.
Not just that, but the jobs that lead up to the jobs being paid peanuts for living out of a suitcase. I had to get out of aviation in 2009 because there just wasn't any money in it. I was making $12.50/hr as a flight instructor at a larger flight school in Florida at the time. With a wife who worked and a 2 year old, we were still going broke! I had the health insurance on us at the time, and some of my paychecks weren't enough to cover the insurance premium, so I'd have to write a check tot eh flight school to make up the missing amount.....meaning that I was having to pay to go to work! So I said screw this crap and got out of aviation altogether. I miss flying, don't get me wrong, but until there's some money in it in the feeder jobs, they're going to have a tough time trying to convince folks to sink $100k into licenses for a career that pays less than $20k a year for the first 5-7 years, if not longer.
Many pilots are in the top 10% wage earners in the country and there is still no requirement for a college education. I don’t know about you but I think that’s pretty darn good for a high school grad.