Found this posted elsewhere on the web....
Pilot Wanted: $100,000 a year
MAJOR CORPORATION SEEKS PILOT
· ATP with a minimum 15 years experience.
· 10,000 hours multi engine time.
· Extensive instrument experience.
If you saw this advertisement in an aviation magazine, you probably wouldn’t give it a second glance. But stick the word “helicopter” in front of pilot and all of a sudden it’s a joke. It can’t be real. Why is that? Why does the suggestion of a reasonable salary for a professional aviator seem unreal? Why aren’t we looking at ads like this in the real world? I think it all started about thirty years ago, when we got off on the wrong foot. You see, thirty years ago anyone needing the services of a “helicopter” pilot didn’t have far to look. In fact, there’s an old Gulf of Mexico tale about a company owner who, when asked why he never advertised for pilots replied, “Don’t have to, I can find all I need in the gutters of Bourbon Street”. It may be folklore and it may not. But you know what, it really doesn’t matter. Because for all practical purposes, it was true. There were about twenty thousand of us and while we may not have been in the “gutters of Bourbon Street”, we weren’t too many blocks away. And we all had something in common. We loved to fly helicopters, we were damn good at it, and we needed a job.
These are the conditions under which the U.S. helicopter industry was forged. It was a time when thousands of highly skilled pilots unwittingly undermined not only their future, but also their profession. By placing a minimal value on their expertise in exchange for one of the few flying jobs in the civilian marketplace, they set the bar low - where it has remained. But time, and the law of supply and demand, has changed the landscape. It changed in two very significant ways: (1) the opportunities available to qualified helicopter pilots have grown; and (2) the qualified helicopter pilots available to those opportunities have not.
The Viet Nam Vets who chose to remain in aviation have long since found jobs. In fact, the youngest is now in his mid to late 50’s and looking at retirement. These men need to be replaced. But the military is no longer producing sufficient replacements for these pilots, let alone to fill the needs of an ever-expanding industry. Enter the helicopter flight school. There are now several such schools in operation throughout the country and for the most part, they’re doing a good job. But teaching someone to fly a helicopter remains a very expensive proposition and even those who can afford such training will find themselves only marginally prepared for the demands of flying in the stress-filled environments of the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, or the Northeast Corridor - just to name three. But there aren’t just three, and that brings us to the second significant change in the industry - an expanding marketplace. Every major metropolitan area now has a flight department, there are opportunities in air medical, tourism, logging, firefighting, corporate aviation, and flight training facilities. And every operator in the Gulf of Mexico has posted HELP WANTED signs as well. And remember, this is all taking place at a time when the United States military is calling up thousands of National Guardsmen and paying top dollar retention bonuses to hold on to their experienced aviators.
The market is increasing, the pilot pool is decreasing, and the military is hanging on to its Pilots. What does all this mean? We’re smack dab in the middle of a seller’s market - that’s what it means. It means the very law of supply and demand that helped to create a disparity between pilot and helicopter pilot is now on our side. It means we’ve been given a second chance. And shame on us if we allow history to repeat.
The struggle to see that it doesn’t began in 1999 when the pilots of Air Logistics, LLC and Air Logistics of Alaska (Local 107-PHPA) ratified the first major labor contract in the U.S. helicopter industry. Since then over a thousand pilots from P.H.I., Ft. Rucker, and Air Methods (Locals 102, 108, & 109) have joined in the struggle to change the face of an industry. But don’t expect it to be easy. In the major helicopter operators, we face a formidable foe. For them: high profits and low salaries have worked quite well for the past thirty years and they don’t want change. Operators like Air Logistics and PHI have as much at stake in this struggle as we do; they’d probably argue more. And believe me - they don’t plan to roll over.
In the weeks ahead you may begin to see advertisements for Contract Pilots. “Contract”, that’s a nice word. Here’s one that isn’t so nice: SCAB. In this case they are one and the same. But the big guys are in this fight to win and scabs are the weapon of choice. In fact, because our membership support has never been stronger, it’s the only weapon available. The pilots of Air Logistics, LLC and Air Logistics of Alaska are determined to win this fight and their determination is redefining solidarity.
We’re doing all we can, but now we need your help. And we’re appealing to a fairly broad market for that help. How broad? We’re asking every helicopter pilot in America to lend a hand. Not by what they do, but by what they don’t do. You can support our efforts and create a brighter future for yourselves and your families. And here’s all you have to do: DON’T CROSS OUR LINES. When the smoke clears and the contracts are ratified, the same company now recruiting Contract Pilots will be recruiting Permanent Pilots. Together we can win this fight, and in the process -change the face of an industry. In the future, that advertisement you see at the top of this article won’t be pie in the sky or ridiculous - it will be commonplace.
Pete Catalano
Chairman
Local 107, Contract Negotiating Team
I hit the PHI union web site out of idle curiousity....and found some very interesting reading there....especially about a female pilot who was seriously injured in an aircraft accident while on duty. The summary of the insurance and other financial assistance she is receiving is troubling.
The PHI union site is : local108pilots.org
The Air Log union site is: local107.org
Last edited by SASless; 11th Jan 2005 at 14:56.