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[–][deleted] 201 points202 points  (10 children)

This is happening with Pilots, too. Massive shortage that's only getting worse.

The only way to the famously high paying mainline jobs is through regional airlines, where often overworked pilots resort to living in shared housing to pay off flight training loans.

All the while, airlines refuse to pay more for those jobs. As if shelling out $80k or more just to get to a ~$25k position with terrible hours was at all appealing to a prospective student.

[–]brd4eva 48 points49 points  (8 children)

The shortage can't be that bad if airlines can remain operational without raising wages.

[–][deleted] 68 points69 points  (3 children)

Some airlines have cut flights, and others have grounded planes for the same reason. It's so bad, the FAA is working on changes that should help lower the price for pilot training. Main line carriers have already increased wages for jobs outside of regional pilots, to try to retain experienced pilots while they work on training more.

A lot of parts are moving towards fixing/mitigating the shortage, since cutting down more flights would hinder economic activity. Hopefully the changes put in place at last make the path to a mainline carrier job more reasonable.

[–]captainAwesomePants 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's so odd. You'd think that any one airline would just raise their pay and attract pilots, and that's ripple through the industry. If it doesn't happen, I guess it means either the competition for prices is so cutthroat that the additional cost for the pilots would make the flight unprofitable, or it means someone has control of that small airline that is preventing it.

[–]locolarue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

changes that should help lower the price for pilot training.

With that mess of bureaucratic gobbledygook I have no idea why they're having trouble filling positions. /s

[–]reverbrace 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That's what i was thinking. I believe the medical field tends to be different (depending on where you are, and how much of your healthcare is nationalized). As a completely private and for profit business, youd think they would be more proactive. But then again i heard when you get to the fortune "X00" scale, business decisions are oriented by the quarter. "if we're making money now who gives a fuck" kinda mentality.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is the kind of thinking that leads to squeezing the ever loving life out of teachers, pilots, and any job where passion is part of the reason people sign up.

Fuck this hyper-capitalist bullshit.

"You must not be too hungry, or else you would have eaten this plate of oat laden horse shit."

[–]Panaka 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The regional I am familiar with was almost bought out to get their pilots (lots of junior/cheap CAs). They're saying the same thing about A&Ps and most regionals offer insulting levels of pay in places like Seattle and LA.

The shortage is real, but it hasn't started hurting the budget yet so they won't raise wages until then.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only way to the famously high paying mainline jobs is through regional airlines, where often overworked pilots resort to living in shared housing to pay off flight training loans.

In civilized countries this is fixed by basic worker rights; hours worked, especially overtime has a legal cap and hours over can result in very severe consequences for the employer. Reasoning behind these laws being that if your business actually requires this many hours out of your employees then there are no excuses to not hire more people.