Exploited pilots

[captain high]

I've been reading forums here for a long time but I am still unsure as to why pilots looking for their first couple of jobs seem to be so exploited.
I have quite a few friends in first and second jobs that are working 12 - 16 hr days, being paid peanuts and being treated like sh*t. Surely this can't just be due to supply/demand - as why aren't there other jobs out there in the same situation? Is it due to lack of unionism or just because pilots lack the same rights as all other workers in Australia?
It would be great to know what the rest of you think

Thanks

[tlf]

I've been reading forums here for a long time but I am still unsure as to why pilots looking for their first couple of jobs seem to be so exploited.
I have quite a few friends in first and second jobs that are working 12 - 16 hr days, being paid peanuts and being treated like sh*t. Surely this can't just be due to supply/demand - as why aren't there other jobs out there in the same situation? Is it due to lack of unionism or just because pilots lack the same rights as all other workers in Australia?
It would be great to know what the rest of you think

Thanks

It's because there are so many new pilots who will prostitute themselves by working for nothing and paying for training and endorsements themselves instead of making the employers pay for it as part of the price of doing business. As long as these people are out there they will supress the wages that employers of young pilots will pay.

To look at it another way, the employers will exploit young inexperienced pilots because there are so many willing to be exploited.

It's a small scale version of what's going on in the United States at the moment with thousands of illegal immigrants (aka criminals) coming across the border from mexico everyday and working for peanuts. It drives down wages because there are people willing to accept the crap money employers offer.

TF

[AerocatS2A]

It is partly because, unlike most professions, flying is a hobby that a lot of people are happy to pay money to do. When it is new to someone, and they are used to paying a couple of hundred dollars an hour to fly, they are, understandably, happy to be doing it without having to pay for the privelage (and not getting paid much if anything.)

Once they get older and wiser, the novelty wears off and it becomes a job like any other. Then they get much more interested in being paid what they are worth.

[currawong]

I think there is more to it than supply vs demand.

LAME's are in short supply. Yet hear many stories of them being screwed as well.

Pilots are a dime a dozen here. Yet recruiters still look overseas. Same for cabin crew.

[bodex666]

I know how it feels, i'm looking for my first command job and everyone wants something for nothing. I've turned down two jobs simply because I wouldnt be able to live without getting paid...i.t like most of us. It just really annoys me when you get put aside by a recruiter because some one will work for nothing..or pay for the job !! Back stabbing for the hard workers I say !!

[tinpis]

I cant get anyone to fix my kitchen .
Ever thought of carpentry?
Christ you could buy a Bonanza after a cuppla years these guys charge like feckin lawyers.

[Centaurus]

Join the RAAF and learn to fly for free. Free endorsements on fast jets and four engine heavies. Time to command two years compared to 15 years with Qantas. Travel to exotic destinations like Tindall and Iraq. If the flies don't get you at Tindall, the RPG's will try in Iraq. The aircraft are well maintained and there is no fudging log books or maintenance release defects.

[gas-chamber]

Aeroscat has hit the nail right on the head. As long as it is seen as a fun thing to do and a bit of an ego trip as well, people will pay for it to get whatever licence and ratings it takes, then do it for free just to wear a uniform and pick up chicks, then eventually get a bit bored with the whole thing and hope to suddenly be properly rewarded for all the hard yards they reckon they put in. And the operators, bless 'em, know this and of course take advantage. When the demands get too much, flick off the whingers to the airlines where they rightly belong, and in come the next wave of wannabees. Charles Darwin should do a study of it.

[captain high]

Yes, all of the above points make sense, but (excuse my ignorance) at the risk of sounding very naieve- why can't pilots, after establishing themselves in a job, demand better work arrangements and pay with protection from unions? I just don't know any other industry where these things happen.

[AerocatS2A]

They do, once they have a better job in the top end of the GA industry or an airline. Even then there is still a general attitude of being willing to give up a lot to get the job they want (paying for jet endorsements for example.)