University of Dubuque aircraft sit on the tarmac outside the University of Dubuque Flight Operations building at the Dubuque Regional Airport. The university, which trains about 200 student pilots annually, has agreements with a number of regional airlines to consider its graduates for first officer positions if they meet certification and other hiring requirements.
Depending on whom you ask, there’s either a looming shortage of qualified airline pilots or a pilot pay-and-benefit shortage on the part of regional carriers.
As many as 20,000 cockpit seats are expected to open up at the nation’s airlines over the next seven years due to Federal Aviation Administration-mandated retirements at 65 years of age.
But Capt. Paul Ryder, a regional airline pilot and spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the airline pilot union in Washington, D.C., contends there is no shortage of pilots qualified to fill impending vacancies.
“Regional airlines are encountering difficulty in recruiting pilots, but that’s not because pilots are unavailable for work,” Ryder said. “It’s because the regionals are not offering a compensation package, a work-life balance or career path that is attractive to pilots in the industry who are available to do that work.
“There’s a disparity between what the airlines are offering and what the market is currently expecting, so student pilots are pursuing other opportunities that are more rewarding than working at regional airlines.”
Regional airlines contract with mainline carriers — American, Delta and United — to provide service to non-hub airports such as The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids or the Quad City International Airport in Moline, Ill. The average annual starting pay for first officers or co-pilots at regional airlines has been about $24,000, with some carriers offering signing bonuses.
But the academic education and flight training for a four-year aviation degree program to obtain an Air Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with additional ratings necessary to be hired as a pilot for commercial flying can cost well in excess of $100,000.
A student at the University of Dubuque will invest roughly $140,000 for a four-year degree and an additional $10,000 to $13,000 annually for flight time. Steve Accinelli, director of aviation programs, said that figure can be reduced with scholarships and consideration for students with disadvantaged backgrounds.
Ryder said airlines — mainline and regional — need to change the status quo or see more potential pilots look elsewhere for a career in aviation.
“Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty and volatility within the regional airline sector,” Ryder said. “That causes potential employees to look at other options (such as corporate aviation) that offer more stability.
“The mainline carriers are starting to make profits. If they can continue to make those profits and invest in their regional networks, they can provide the kind of stability and career path that will attract the next generation of airline pilots.”
Flying time
The cost of pilot training increased significantly in July 2013 when the Federal Aviation Administration began requiring 1,500 hours of flight time to qualify as a first officer, up from the previous 250 hours. Congress mandated the additional flight time in the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010.
The law — which also limits the hours of pilot flight and duty time to combat problems related to pilot fatigue — was passed in response to the 2009 crash of a Colgan Air flight in Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 49 people onboard the aircraft and a resident of a house on the ground.
Pilot error was cited as the cause of the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot had 3,000 flying hours, including 100 hours in the DHC-8-400 (Q400) turboprop aircraft, and the first officer had 2,200 hours with almost 800 of them in the Q400.
William Swelbar, executive vice president of InterVISTAS Consulting, an aviation consulting company in Washington, D.C., contended that there is a “very strong correlation” between the requirement of 1,500 hours of flight time and the shortage of incoming first officers or co-pilots at regional airlines.
“We have this requirement that you spend upwards of $125,000 for a university degree, and go out and find another 500 hours of flight time before you can even consider it as a career,” Swelbar said. “There is no correlation in safety between the 1,500-hour rule and the safety of the system.
“The aviation industry in the United States had an incredible record of safety long before the 1,500-hour rule was put into place.”
Swelbar said the flight-time legislation does not take into account the amount of time spent commuting to work, which also can lead to fatigue.
“The Colgan Air pilots were not rested. They were not ready for work,” he said. “The first officer had commuted from Seattle to Newark to fly the flight.”
Small airports
Swelbar said an unintended consequence of the 1,500-hour rule will be loss of airline service at small airports.
“Regional airlines are parking planes and canceling flights because they do not have enough pilots to staff them,” he said.
Accinelli at the University of Dubuque said about 200 student pilots are trained annually.
“I manage my student flow based on my equipment and facilities,” he said. “We’re kind of restricted in terms of growth.
“I can’t very quickly train more people. I don’t have the infrastructure to handle more than I have. We’re also competing with other universities to retain certified flight instructors.”
Compounding the situation is a decision by the manufacturers of 50-seat regional jets to stop producing them as airlines switch to more fuel efficient 70- or 76-seat aircraft. If a small airport cannot attract enough travelers for the larger regional jets, they will lose commercial air service, according to Swelbar.
“Only 138 of 357 small and non-hub airports are supporting 70-seat service today,” he said.
“The regional airlines have 302 70-seat aircraft on order. For every 70-seat aircraft on order, the industry needs to park roughly two 50-seat regional jets in order to train pilots to fly the new equipment.
”Two crews of five will be needed for each of the larger jets.”
Travel frequency also is an economic issue for smaller airports and the communities that support them.
Marty Lenss, director of The Eastern Iowa Airport, said airports need 10,000 enplanements (passengers boarding aircraft) annually or they stand to lose a minimum of $1 million in federal Airport Improvement Program funding that comes from passenger user fees.
“If an airport cannot get its AIP entitlement funding, it’s going to put stress on the local cities, counties and tax levies to fund that infrastructure,” he said. “In my opinion, there is not a single greater issue facing the industry today.”
Story and photo gallery: http://www.thegazette.com
University of Dubuque Director of Aviation Programs Steven Accinelli stands in the CRJ-200 simulator at the University of Dubuque Flight Operations building at the Dubuque Regional Airport. Accinelli said university aviation programs are competing for pilot applicants as well as flight instructors.
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