The so-called shortage of pilots...

[CokeZero]

This link could also apply to HK and its main carrier. Cathay would never of course admit to being short of pilots... just that they can't find suitable candidates to hire.

As Jerry Mcquire said "Show me the money". Anyway I'll let you read the article.

How miserly airlines created their own pilot shortage - The Business Journals (http://m.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/blog/seat2B/2014/02/commuter-airlines-face-pilot-shortage.html?ana=fbk&r=full)

[broadband circuit]

Cathay aren't short of pilots you moron!!! ;)

We've just got too many aircraft....... :ugh:

[stevieboy330]

Add your story to a recent quote in the WSJ.

"Asian-Pacific airlines will need 10,940 new planes in the next 20 years, Europe-based Airbus said, 4,100 of which will be widebody jets that typically carry 300-500 passengers. Boeing expects the region to take 12,820 jets."

= A very interesting pay / management problem...

Also a lot more than CPI..

[Lowkoon]

The USA mandate 1500hrs minimum for FO's, our spineless CAD sign off on 80 hours total time for guys and gals in the right hand seat. That's how "WE" get around the problem... :hmm: What pilot shortage? Problem now, a shortage of captains. We already have the blue print for how to fix that, lower the requirements. Oh wait we just did. CAD's response? Nothing. Who would have guessed? :=


'Pilot shortage" is just a convenient excuse to shed unprofitable routes, pure and simple. Market forces gents, the only problem for those of us in the cockpit is, we find the lowest possible level of experience/pay combination when the investigators are standing around a smoking hole wondering "how the hell did this happen?" There will be plenty of STC's and TC's that will be able to stand tall and say "We told you so!" CAD will need a deep hole to bury its head in at that point.

CAD - You have a chance to step up and stop folding to commercial pressure before its too late for an aircraft full of people. Companies have the luxury of calculating how many people they can kill and still open the doors the next day and survive until the next reporting quarter, CAD doesn't have to assess risk in that way, nor should they. Do your job and regulate in the interest of the traveling public, not in the interest of bull in the china shop.

[cxorcist]

No worries. When those new A350s are doing TPE turns instead of flying long haul while middle aged A330s are retired early, it'll just be another case of "missed opportunities". Not to worry, NR and all his wannabes will still get their bonuses from last year plus 15%.

[crwkunt roll]

Yet some clowns are actually voting for, or "undecided" about a 4% offer..... :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

[broadband circuit]

Interesting point Lowkoon about 1500 hr minimum for US airline FOs.

I wonder if the US regulator is concerned that foreign carriers are operating into the US with FOs who don't meet the same experience requirements.

[Lowkoon]

BC, i cant imagine they can in anyway specify foreign carrier minimum requirements, but I am sure it would be bought up if said operators were to bend some tin on US soil!

[Citation2]

There was a time where pilots had to work they way up to the right hand seat of an airliner by flying as an instructor , flying turbo prop , etc.. Increasing their amount of flying hours and coming to the right hand seat of an airliner with some experience and aviation background.

Sadly , nowadays everything is about money , as long as you can afford to pay a type rating + hours on type , you will be able to bypass theses pilots queuing up with thousands of hours and a considerable aviation experience.

All this pay to fly scale is an attempt to de regulate the pilot job market , and is very harmful to the aviation industry in terms of safety and job perenity.

1500 hours FAA rule will refrain these wannabees of spending dad's cash , clueless ,only willing to wear a uniform , and post pics on facebook.And I really hope this rule will be implemented in Europe.

[bringbackthe80s]

In the military you get on a supersonic jet with about 250 hrs TT.

Absolutely correct, sadly today everything is about money. But if the selection is right and you have the skills all it takes is good training, not 1500 hours of flying around in a seneca having been initially instructed by a 300 hrs guy.

There is no shortage, and frankly if there ever is a lack of captains there are unfortunately plenty of bankrupt airlines which can solve the problem, just pay the cash.

The only times I have seen aircraft on the ground due to so called pilot shortages, is because either they didn' t hire enough in the first place to save money, or because in some countries it takes more than 1 year to releasea 10000 hrs capt on the line. Change the local Civil Aviation Authority and problem solved.

[Lowkoon]

BringBack, 250 hours to a fast jet, yes true, but lets compare interview and selection processes of the military and CX/KA. Lets compare the failure rates, lets compare the intensity quality and cost of training, and the washout rate of the training, lets compare the ongoing training once checked to line, and the washout rate there, lets compare apples with apples otherwise 250 hours to a fast jet is useless comparison. The fact is there is no comparison. Yes, we sack the odd new hire, but does that in anyway compare to the selection from "the street" to sitting in a fast jet? Would 1000:1 be a safe guess? What company could afford that?

Bankrupt airlines are of no help when we have seniority, and adhere to it, it does however give us experienced guys in the RHS, and gives the company the ability to expand rapidly if required. Even from an accounting perspective, everyone who joins an airline now gets the same pay and conditions, how do we justify spending a million dollars per cadet, extra line training, extra sim training, a few bent airframes here and there, how do they justify it to the bean counters? The result is a massively more expensive to end up with an expensive zero experienced employee.

None of us want to see parked jets, quite the opposite, we want to see expansion, growth, secure career paths, and above all see it managed so that it is safe. Not too much to ask for if the regulator is doing their job is it.

[cxorcist]

"None of us want to see parked jets"

I do because that is the only way we will ever get a decent pay raise.

[Will fly for Cash]

BringBackThe80's:
Yes, 250 hours (or less) to solo a fast jet. You're also on a tight leash at that point, and have no one else onboard to kill but yourself (and possibly an unfortunate soul or two on the ground at the crash site). The government isn't worried about lawsuits from 3-400 grieving families, can easily write off a 30+ year old airplane, and isn't worried about a spike in insurance premiums. These are the items private companies should be willing to pay pilots to "insure" against.

[positionalpor]

And yet some of those fast jet new FO we trained in a recent past
were the "hardest to train " for the airline concept.

[broadband circuit]

i cant imagine they can in anyway specify foreign carrier minimum requirements, but I am sure it would be bought up if said operators were to bend some tin on US soil!

Totally agree on the bending tin point Lowkoon, but they have placed experience limitations on specific carriers in the past.

In theory, a newly trained ex-cadet 777 JFO, with probably less than 500hrs, can be in the right seat on any flight to the US. That's a 3rd of the requirements placed on their own operators, meaning potential political pressure from those operators on their government.

[Lowkoon]

BBC, i wish they would grow a pair and enforce it, companies arent going to do it, regulators are our only hope in this case. Doesn't look likely that any of them will grow a spine any time soon.

CX would probably just fly them regionally until they hit the magic 1500hrs, or worse, force them on KA making KA even more of a child minding facility than it is already.

[boxerpilot]

Rumour has it that iCadets will be coming back again as immigration has been satisfied with stats provided that the HKG population has not been able to adequately support local airline growth.