Professionalism Flying Cheap

My Experience:

I have been in the aviation industry for eight year so nothing in the documentary “Flying Cheap” was a surprise to me, because most of it I have heard about or lived through. The commuting to work on multiple flights, been there done that.  Sleep in the crew lounge before you check in for work, been there too.  Sharing a “crash pad” with multiple people, I experienced that too.  Working while your sick or injured is nothing new either I have done both most of the time not by chose. 

In the airline there is no place for being sick and injured.  For example lets say you are scheduled to work today but you woke up this morning and you didn’t feel well.  You look at your watch and your check-in time is about 4 hours away.  To a normal person in a normal job that should be plenty of time but in the airlines it’s not.  So now you get a suddenly sick call noted on your schedule.  Fine nothing happens the company says nothing to you.  So now it February of 2016 and you call in sick 24 hours in advance okay your schedule get notated sick call.   Now the company may or may not call you to address your dependability.  Now lets say it is October 1, 2016 and you have to call in once again because you’re sick.  This time the company will definitely contact you to talk about dependability.  Now most people will see this as you have called in sick twice in the year of 2016 but the company see that you have called in sick three time in 12 months and that a problem.  So what will now happen is you will be put on a dependability level. This means that if your call in anymore for the next 12 to 18 months (whatever time frame the company says) you maybe fired for dependability issues.  Not to say the first officer’s action were right but understand why she did call in sick.  Barely making enough money to pay your regular bills and now having to pay for a hotel because you’re sick and depending on if you have called in before you could loss your job.

Regional Outlook:

The regional airline industry is in state of instability, as discounted pilot workforce is quickly becoming ancient history. Presently the regional airlines are forced to cancel flights due to a pilot shortage.  The pilot shortages as well as the service cuts have left a bold impression on the regional airline industry.  Republic Airways Holdings (RJET), one of the largest regionals, plans to stop flying 27 of its 41 Embraer (ERJ) 50-seat jets because of the pilot shortage (Bachman, 2014).  I think that the current state of the regional airline is due to the fact of the low salary as well as the more experienced pilot are reaching retirement age.

Compensation Pilot Shortage:

Regional airline pilot pay has become a big issue in recent years. The enactment of the new pilot rest rules and more stringent pilot training requirements have caused most regional airlines to fall short of their hiring quotas (Levine-Weinberg, 2014).

The starting salary for a first officer at a regional airline is a little more than $21,000 per year—about $40,000 lower than the same job at Delta (DAL) and United (UAL), according to the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest U.S. pilot union (Bachman, 2014).

Check out this website for pilot salary comparison

http://www.pilotsalaryhq.com/how-much-do-pilots-make/

In addition the miserable salary, in turn, worsens the shortage of pilot. Not only does it make pilot jobs less appealing, but the small salaries also combine with the more onerous federal training rules to put many new pilots deep in debt (Bachman, 2014). Paying for the necessary hours of training flights before getting a first job can cost more than $100,000 (Bachman, 2014).

Old Age Shortage:

The other factor contributing to the shortage of pilot is a large group of pilots in the their 50s and early 60s approach the mandatory retirement age of 65 (Maxon, 2013). Because of that mandatory retirement age, more than 800 American Airline pilots will be leaving by the end of 2018 (Maxon, 2013). They'll be walking out the door just as it gets harder for a new group of inexperienced pilots to walk in the door.  This is because of new rules that require the first officer to have as 1,500 flight hours before they can work in a cockpit. 

American Airlines mandatory age-related retirements over the next 20¼ years (Maxon, 2013):

Year	Retirements	Cumulative
9/30/2013 – 12/31/2013	23	23
2014	79	102
2015	107	209
2016	130	339
2017	185	524
2018	300	824
2019	415	1,239
2020	534	1,773
2021	579	2,352
2022	646	2,998
2023	699	3,697
2024	715	4,412
2025	709	5,121
2026	705	5,826
2027	593	6,419
2028	519	6,938
2029	478	7,416
2030	414	7,830
2031	432	8,262
2032	384	8,646
2033	363	9,009

New Regulations:

The new regulations in reaction to the Colgan Airline crash of flight 3407 requires an Airline Transport Pilot certificate (ATP) pilot must be at least 23 years of age (which is the minimum age for ATP), and have 1,500 hours (Maxon, 2013). In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration requires that a pilot have a minimum 1,000 as an airline first officer before flying as captain. The minimum age for an ATP license is 23 years (Maxon, 2013).  Regional airlines may be concerned with this because this new regulation is limiting the number of candidates they have to select from.  Aspiring pilots in light of the new regulation would have to spend more money to accumulate flight time and additional certifications. With the current cost of flight training and the current first years pay for a regional pilot, this new regulation is sure to make some reconsider their career path. A possible solution would be to increase beginning salary for first officers at the regional airline.  Another possible solution would be for the FAA to reduce hour requirement college graduates with a bachelor’s degree.  I know that there are exceptions in place for ATP certificate, such as 750 flight hours for pilots in the military, 1,250 flight hours for college graduates who obtain an associate’s degree in aviation and 1,500 flight hours for a pilot 21-year-old (Maxon, 2013). If the minimums were reduced some there would be a large selection of pilots entering the field from 4-year colleges.

Aviation Representation:

Organizations that represent the aviation industry are the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA), Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Association of professional Flight Attendants (AFFA), International Association of Machinists (IAM), Allied Pilots Association (APA), Air Transport Dispatchers Association (ATDA), Flight Engineers International Association (FEIA), International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Independent Federation of Flight Attendants (IFFA), Professional Airline Flight Controllers (PAFCA), Ramp Operation Provisioning Association (ROPA), Southwest airline employee Association (SAEA), Transport Workers Union (TWU), Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), and Union of Flight Attendants (UFA) (NewMyer Ph.D., D., Thiesse Ed.D., J., Johnson, C., & Kaps, R.,1992)

What is Professionalism?

The question was asked how do I define Professionalism.  The word professionalism encompasses a great deal things.  The first would be having the ability to be a great leader and upholding the highest moral values. It is the way in which a person carries himself or herself.  It is the way a person speaks and acts. Professionalism is finding in a person mannerisms and in their ability to handle difficult situations. In the aviation industry I think professionalism is also a person’s ability to understand and communicate safety concerns in addition to following training, and safety procedures set forth by the company. It is working efficiently; as well as going above the requirements to ensure a safe outcome.   Professionalism is exhibited when a person has mastered his or her craft (experience level, rational judgment in unfamiliar situations) and just doing the right thing when no one is observing you.

Lack Professionalism:

In the documentary “Flying Cheap”, there was a few times where both pilots and management demonstrated  “lack of professionalism”.  The first instance of “lack of professionalism on the part of the pilot was seen when a captain Jared Kyle Angstadt forging the load manifest of a flight after being told by his first officer Ben Coats that it was over weight. In this situation captain Angstadt never considered the safety of his crew nor his passengers.  Even though no major problems were reported about this flight the outcome could have been different because we all know what could happen when flying heavy.  For example of what could happened would be the fatal crash of pop star Aaliyah.  Who’s plane crashed due to being over its maximum take-off weight by 700 pounds as well as bad judgment on the part of the unlicensed pilot and the company for hiring him.   Another instance where poor judgment was made on the part of the was when first officer Rebecca Shaw decided to pilot Continental flight 3407 while sick and fatigue. 

In the case of management “lack of professionalism” was shown when the Vice President of Colgan Airlines offered to forge paperwork for duty time of an over worked fatigue pilot.  Another instance where poor judgment was sighted on the part of management was when Colgan Airlines deiced to place unqualified pilots in control of aircrafts they were not qualified to operate just to fill the void of their pilot shortage.  The next incident came at the hands of former Secretary of Transportation Federico F. Pena, inability to tell the truth even though the overcome may not have been favorable.  After the crash of ValuJet flight 592 Mr. Pena reported that ValuJet now AirTran Airways was a safe airline even though he knew they were not.  Mr. Pena lied to the nation in an offered to cover up FAA’s lack of oversight on an airline that was riddled with problems.    

Is Professionalism Lacking?

First year pilot pay is partially to blame for the lack of professionalism demonstrated by regional pilots.   I also think that many other factors also contribute such as age, a person emotional state, where or not a person takes their job serious or if they just feel it is a stepping stone to where they want to be. I think that lack of experience and inadequate training also plays a role in how professional someone is.  Professionalism is the way a person thinks about their work.  Professionals just don’t understand the tasks they are getting paid to do, they understand how and why everything works together.  Professionals care enough to learn about their careers and  not because they have to but because they want to be great at what they do.     In addition I believe that when the leadership in the company break the rules it sends a message to everyone else in the company that this kind of behavior is acceptable.  So when you have a company structured around a group of unprofessional leaders (management). You get a group of rule breaking followers (everyone else). 

Maintaining Professionalism:

Two ways that I plan to expand my level of professionalism would be by merely being aware, interested and informed on what is going on in the aviation industry. Being a real professional requires people to avoid contentment, which may lead to performing job duties in the quickest, most inefficient and unsafe way.    I plan to perform my job duties to the best of my abilities in the safest way possible. I plan to rely on my skill and judgment on a daily basis, rather than luck or reliance of a machine (system) or the ability and skill levels of others.  I will also maintain my professionalism by holding myself accountable for my high personal standards in safety as well as in my job performance. I will uphold my integrity, following the procedures and policies created by the company as well as other law making bodies.  I will also avoid unnecessary risks and reckless behaviors. Clear communication and proficiency as a pilot are the tools required to maintain professionalism as a future commercial pilot. I know that occasions will arise where deviation from the procedures and policies are more convenient, but because I aspire to be a real professional pilot that has integrity and high moral standard I will do things the correct way and the safest way.

Reference:

Bachman, J. (2014, February 11). Pilot Shortage: Regional Airlines Are Cutting Flights. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-02-11/yes-theres-a-pilot-shortage-salaries-start-at-21-000

Laing, K. (2013, November 5). FAA boosts training requirements for regional airline pilots. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/189301-faa-boosts-training-requirements-for-regional-airline

Levine-Weinberg, A. (2014, March 31). The Regional Airline Industry Suffers Yet Another Casualty -- The Motley Fool. Retrieved from http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/03/31/the-regional-airline-industry-suffers-yet-another.aspx

Maxon, T. (2013, July 10). FAA will require airline pilots to have at least 1,500 flight hours. Retrieved from http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/07/15604.html/

Maxon, T. (2013, September 30). Retirements will prompt about half the 1,500 American Airlines pilot hires over next five years. Retrieved from http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/retirements-will-prompt-about-half-the-1500-american-airlines-pilot-hires-over-next-five-years.html/

NewMyer Ph.D., D., Thiesse Ed.D., J., Johnson, C., & Kaps, R. (1992). Airline Unions Since Deregulation: The View s of Selected Airline Unions. Retrieved from http://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&context=jaaer

Schaal, D. (2013, August 29). Regional Airlines' Pilot Shortage is Heading Toward the Perfect Storm. Retrieved from http://skift.com/2013/08/29/regional-airlines-pilot-shortage-is-heading-toward-the-perfect-storm/