Flying Cheap: Professionalism

Professionalism is a very delicate term. Some people would argue that if you get paid to do something than you're a professional, while others would go above and beyond by having their personal expectations that they must achieve. In our current industry, I don't believe that increased pay translates into increased professionalism. Our industry is suffering from a pilot shortage. There are often many flights that are cancelled just because there aren't enough pilots to fill the positions. This shortage has lead to a major increase in hiring, which has also resulted in a decrease in prior experience. Yes, the minimums to fly for a regional airline are 1,500 hours and an ATP rating; however, the average experience of pilots being hired has significantly decreased. The decrease in average experience upon hire however has not had any affect on safety of the industry.

In fact, the aviation industry is actually the safest that it has ever been. To prove this, in 2015 there were less than 200 fatalities from aviation accidents. Previous to this, the lowest was 260 back in 2013 (ASN, 2016). But overall, the number of fatalities in the commercial aviation industry has continuously been on a downward trend since 1996. The fatalities counted toward the downward trend do not account for any deaths that were associated with hijacking or suicidal accidents. 

In order to deal with the pilot shortage, institutions are trying to get the 1,500 hour rule reduced. Yes, this rule is already reduced to 1,000 hours if you graduate from a Part 141 school with the necessary course requirements but many people want it even lower (Udris, 2013). I don't agree with this argument. I believe that even though it is a pain to get to 1,500 hours, that this rule is one of the best ones that aviation has received in a long time. This rule has significantly affected the industry and is a major reason behind the pilot shortage. Since almost every company is short pilots, they are not able to hire very young, low time pilots. In order for the larger companies to hire more qualified pilots, they are having to increase their wages and benefits. The pilot market is definitely in favor of the pilots. Pilots are able to shop the market and look for the wages, schedule, and benefits that they prefer. Just a few years ago it was the complete opposite situation. Pilots were happy with any position that they could be offered and had no room to argue their wages. In the end, this pilot shortage has created a much better environment financially for the pilot community. Unfortunately this shortage has not affected all aspects of aviation in a positive way. The FAA has had a very difficult time over the past several years. 

Overall, I don't believe there is a lack of professionalism in the aviation industry, including within the FAA. I believe that the biggest reason behind this assumption by others is because of their lack of staffing. The FAA has cut many positions in order to decrease their spendings. As a result of this, the employees are have more work on their plates and are not able to put enough focus into all of their projects. In 2013, the FAA planned to cut $600 million dollars. That is a substantial amount of money, and they plan to do that by decreasing the number of ATC facilities, furloughing a vast majority of their 47,000 employees, cutting the night shifts, etc. (FAA, 2013). With a decrease of $600 million dollars, you can only expect a decrease in the amount or quality of work. With this being said, I definitely do not blame the FAA employees. I am sure that they are doing whatever they can to try and accomplish their tasks to the best of their ability. So in my opinion there isn't a lack of professionalism within the FAA, rather there is just a lack of funding and resources allocated towards the FAA. 



References:


ASN. 2016. Statistics. Aviation Safety Network: Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved from https://aviation-safety.net/statistics/

FAA. 2013, February 22. FAA Planning for $600 Million in 2013 Spending Cuts. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=71078

Udris, A. 2013, October 1. The 1500 Hour Rule- Restricted ATP Requirements for First Officers. Bold Method. Retrieved fromhttps://www.boldmethod.com/blog/2013/08/1500-hour-rule-restricted-atp/