Posts Tagged ‘airline pilot careers’

Apple iPad: Making Its Way to a Cockpit Near You

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Photo courtesy of Brandon Farris, copyright 2011, http://www.flickr.com/photos/seahawks7757/

The next time you fly, Apple’s innovative tablet device could play a significant role in your trip. Since receiving approval from the FAA, the Apple iPad has become very popular with US airlines. According to recent reports, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines are eying the device for replacing paper charts, maps, and flight manuals.

Alaska Airlines has begun phasing out their paper flight manuals in favor of the PDF copies on the iPad. The devices will only initially replace the paper flight manuals, some 40 or more documents weighing almost 25 pounds, but the airline is considering also replacing charts and maps. The iPad is considered a Class 1 electronic device under FAA regulations and must be stowed during takeoff and landing, but otherwise it is a big hit with the airline.

The airline says adopting the iPad will save 2.4 million pieces of paper. According to their estimates, the cost of outfitting every pilot with an iPad will be offset by lower paper and printing costs as well as fuel savings from the weight reduction.

Following on the heels of Alaska Airlines, American Airlines has begun a six-month test of the iPad as an electronic flight bag. The testing currently consists of flights along two international routes out of Los Angeles.

While Alaska Airlines’ adoption of the iPad is more widespread, the American Airlines tests will replace both flight manuals and navigational charts and maps. If the tests work well, the airline intends to phase out the 35 pounds or more of paper manuals and charts that pilots must lug to and from the cockpit every day.

The test is a result of an initiative spearheaded by the Allied Pilots Association. The association called for electronic flight bags to replace pilots’ big black cases and it happens that the iPad might do the trick.

With weight savings, reduction in document production expenses, and near instantaneous updates, it is clear that the iPad’s use as a cost-effective electronic flight bag in commercial cockpits will only increase. In fact, it would come as no surprise to find that other carriers are looking over the shoulders of Alaska Airlines and American Airlines taking notes as those carriers begin to adopt the device.

What’s your take? Do you think the iPad makes a great, cost-effective electronic flight bag or are we setting ourselves up for Angry Birds and dead batteries at 30,000 feet?

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or find flight training near you.

Sources:
American Airlines pilots to try out iPads as flight bags
Alaska Airlines Pilots Go Lean And Green With iPads
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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New Flight Training Rules Could Create Pilot Shortage

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

A proposed rule that would require airline pilots to take a nine hour break between shifts, and 30 consecutive hours away from flight duty each week, is evoking widespread concern within the airline industry.

Representatives from several major airlines contend that the rule would create a severe pilot shortage and force them to recruit several hundreds more pilots at an enormous cost to their operations and to the industry in general.

The proposed rule stems from a bill called the ‘Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Act’ (H.R. 5900) that was passed by Congress last July and signed into law by President Barack Obama in August 2010. The bill is designed to enhance aviation safety by requiring airlines to ensure that pilots and other cockpit crew members are adequately rested before they start a shift.

In addition, the bill also requires airlines to only hire pilots who have a minimum of 1500 hours of flight time. The statute also mandates more comprehensive background checks and stricter flight training regimens for pilots and other cockpit crew members. Under H.R. 5900, airlines have until August 2013 to ensure that their pilots and co-pilots have an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with at least 1500 hours of total flight time.

Airlines such as Southwest and American Airlines have complained that the rules sets standards that most airlines would be hard pressed to meet. They have argued that the requirements would cause pilot shortages because there wouldn’t be enough pilots that are qualified under the new standards.

Several have argued that the rule would force them to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on salaries, flight training and other expenses. American Airlines for instance, has suggested that the rules would significantly decrease the amount of hours its pilots could fly, thereby forcing it to hire an additional 2300 pilots. Such an undertaking would cost the company an additional $500 million in expenses annually, American Airlines has claimed. Southwest too has publicly proclaimed similar concerns with regard to the proposed regulations and has argued that the rules would result in a massive pilot shortage across the industry.

The bill was passed in the wake of the February 2009 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Buffalo, New York. The crash killed 50 people, including two pilots, two flight attendants and one off-duty pilot. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later attributed the cause of the crash to pilot error most likely stemming from fatigue. The NTSB determined that neither the pilot nor the co-pilot had adequate rest before starting their shift.

H.R 5900 requires the Federal Aviation Administration to develop rules to meet the intent behind the law. The FAA began work on developing the rules last August. It released an initial set of proposed rules last year and received public comments on it through November 30, 2010. The FAA is expected to complete review of the comments and issue its final rules sometime in the first quarter of 2011.

Sources:

http://www.atpflightschool.com/airline_training_programs/1500-hour-rule/1500-hour-rule-explained.html

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1840-full.html#204144

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/07/congress_oks_bill_to_make_comm.html

http://travelsentry.blogspot.com/2010/08/airline-safety-bill-sails-through.html

http://www.wben.com/BREAKING-NEWS–Senate-Passes-Airline-Safety-Bill/7808620

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Posted in Airline News, Aviation Careers, Flight Training Info | 1 Comment »

Wisconsin College Adds Aviation Minor

Friday, January 14th, 2011
Pilatus PC-12

Photo courtesy of Brandon Farris, copyright 2011, http://www.flickr.com/photos/seahawks7757/

A small, liberal arts college in Wisconsin, Lakeland College, recently announced plans to launch a four-year undergraduate minor in aviation.

The program will begin in the fall semester and consists of 31 credit hours of work. The required course work includes ground school classroom instruction and flight instruction at Sheboygan County Memorial Airport or Austin Straubel International Airport.

Lakeland and Frontline Aviation, based in Green Bay, partnered to create the program, which is the first of its kind in Wisconsin. While the partnership does come at a down time, experts are predicting an upswing in aviation jobs for which graduates of such programs will be perfectly positioned. The program at Lakeland is designed to provide students with the education and flying skills required for those jobs. The program is also designed to allow area students to obtain their pilot ratings and a four-year degree without having to endure transferring from a smaller two-year school.

The commercial aviation sector has seen more than its share of job loss and pay cuts recently with pilots losing out in major airline mergers and flight schools closing because of rising insurance and training costs in the face of a reduction in applicants who can afford flight training. Fortunately, industry experts see light on the horizon. They are calling for a shortage of pilots in the next few years as the federally-mandated retirement catches up with many airline pilots.

Additionally, niche pilot careers like corporate charters or law enforcement aviation are starting to get more attention from schools. By combining a four-year degree in criminal justice and flight training, a student would be well positioned to pilot aircraft for a law enforcement agency like U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Unfortunately, cost is going to play a huge role in deciding the viability of the new program. Lakeland officials estimate that students will have to pay $27,000 for the program, which takes them up to their flight instructor certificate. Most of the program costs go to pay for aircraft rental which is about $125 per hour at Frontline Aviation.

The bottom line is that Lakeland students now have one of the most affordable flight training programs at their disposal. They will graduate with a four-year degree ready to move into a flight instructing or entry-level commercial flying job. Within a short amount of time they could be well on their way to an ATP rating and the right seat of a commercial airliner as hiring increases at the airlines.

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or compare flight training in Wisconsin.

Source:Undergrads earn degrees and wings
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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Posted in Flight Training Info, School Updates | 1 Comment »

Flight Training: New Law Should Focus on Quality not Quantity

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

A new aviation safety bill seeks to correct issues with current practices at regional airlines.

Most would argue that aviation safety should be a priority for everyone involved. As far as airline travel is concerned this generally rings true from the cockpit to the boardroom, but after a tragic crash, some questions were raised about the airline industry sparking the first comprehensive aviation safety bill to pass Congress in the last 20 years. The bill, now in the rule-making phase, has seemingly come under fire from all sides. The bill, known as the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 includes provisions requiring airlines to hire more experienced pilots by requiring all pilots to have ATP ratings and requiring the FAA to establish regulations on pilot fatigue and a system by which airlines can more easily verify applicants training records.

Most of these provisions can be traced directly to the crash of Colgan Airlines Flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York in February 2009. The tragedy of Flight 3407 exposed some of the darkest corners of the airline business and launched regional partners of major carriers, like Colgan a regional partner of Continental Airlines, into the spotlight. The NTSB report cited pilot error and fatigue as the causes of the fifty fatality crash. In direct contrast to success of US Airways Pilots in the “Miracle on the Hudson,” as it is often called, the Colgan pilots, having little experience with bad weather and fatigued after long commutes, flew into icing and lost control of the aircraft on approach.

In the resulting investigation a number of questions arose about the practices of regional airlines and the qualifications of the people behind the cockpit door. Major airlines, such as US Airways and Continental Airlines, typically hire pilots that have an ATP rating and more than 1500 hours of flight time and training. Regional carriers like Colgan, often seen as a step toward a major carrier, typically hire pilots with little more than a Commercial Pilot Certificate and 250 hours. That’s a huge difference when you consider that regionals handle more than 50 percent of all airline traffic.

This increase of more than 80 percent in required flight time has recently been called into question by and advisory panel. The panel, which is composed of individuals from the aviation industry at large, indicated that the requirement could be lowered by as much as two-thirds without compromising aviation safety. Unfortunately, while the proposal has merit, the families of those lost in the Buffalo crash have been sold a magic bullet by their representatives who are pushing hard to keep the 1500 hour requirement intact.

It is important to point out that both sides of this argument can see their goals met by a compromise, but this is unlikely given the state of negotiations. The goal of the Flight 3407 families to provide “one level of safety” really has very little to do with the amount of training versus quality. After all, the Colgan pilots would likely have performed similarly with 1500 hours of plain vanilla straight and level flight instead of specific training on flight in icing conditions. The fact is, the bill does not appropriately address the quality of training, because more specific training, such as in depth training on flight in icing, will increase pilot skill more than a generic 1500 flight hour requirement.

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or find flight training near you.

Source: Panel Recommends Cutting Training Hours from 1500 to 500
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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International Students Flock to U.S. Flight Schools

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Thanks to the well developed infrastructure and largely unregulated airspace over 5,000 Lufthansa pilots have learned to fly in the United States.

The U.S. is blessed with a well-developed aviation infrastructure of more than 1,700 airports and largely unregulated airspace. This fact goes largely unnoticed by a majority of Americans, but to foreign nationals from places like Bahrain, where there is only one airport and airspace is highly restricted, the U.S. is like a dream come true.

U.S. Flight schools like Oxford Aviation Academy in Phoenix cater to student pilots like Mahmood Ali Al Sheikh from Bahrain, who has dreamed of being a pilot since he was 14 and soloed this past October. With more than 1,700 airports and more flight instructors than some countries have pilots, the U.S. is very attractive to foreign students.

Some of the schools, like the Oxford Aviation Academy, are operated by foreign corporations; while others are U.S. schools taking advantage of the huge market of international students. While many of the foreign operators have schools in many European countries as well, the expense of training in Europe drives many students to U.S. schools. In fact, the high cost of training in Europe even has some European airlines like Lufthansa sending pilots to the U.S. for training. Regardless of reason, whether cost or a lack of infrastructure, the U.S. is often the most attractive option for foreign pilots.

While the U.S. aviation sector has come on some difficult times, other countries, particularly in East Asia (such as China, which recently announced the opening of airspace to general aviation) and the Middle East, are seeing a booming commercial air travel sector. These countries are struggling to meet a very real need for qualified pilots, while flight schools in the U.S. are being forced to shut down. This is made all the more difficult by the lack of infrastructure and highly restricted airspace in some nations.

Like most foreign students, Sheikh will likely have no trouble finding a job and stands a good chance of being hired by Gulf Air immediately after completing his ATP rating. Some foreign students, like those at Lufthansa’s flight school in Phoenix are already employed by the airline before they begin flight training. This Lufthansa’s way of engendering their corporate culture and enhancing the safety records of their pilots. Their training center, which started 40 years ago in California before relocating to Arizona, offers students dormitories, a cafeteria, and a fleet of Beechcraft Bonanzas. With an annual budget of nearly $35 million, the school has trained more than 5,000 Lufthansa pilots.

Many of the U.S. flight schools that have welcomed foreign students with open arms, such as Florida Institute of Technology, which is training currently Irish and Turkish pilots, see it as a way to bridge the gap until domestic enrollment increases. According to an official at a flight school in Vero Beach, Florida, a decade ago most of the students at the school were from the U.S., but now most of the students are foreign nationals.

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or find flight training near you.

Source: At U.S. Flight Schools, a Shift in Students (Free NYT registration required)
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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New Pilot Fatigue Regulations Meet Criticism

Monday, November 29th, 2010

New pilot fatigue regulations have been criticized on both sides.

In the aftermath of the crash of Colgan Air flight 3407, the FAA was tasked with developing new regulations to prevent pilot fatigue. After embarking on a lengthy process including a thorough review of scientific studies, the FAA has released their proposed new regulations. Unfortunately, the new regulations are meeting criticism from all sides as both airlines and pilots disagree with certain elements.

Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, who landed their severely crippled Airbus in the Hudson River, spoke out against the new rules at a news conference last week. They said that the new rules were fundamentally flawed and that they should be changed “to protect the safety of the flying public.” Both were especially critical of the change in regulations that allows maximum daily flight time to increase from eight hours to 10 hours. “We’re here to tell you that you cannot reduce pilot fatigue by increasing the amount of time a pilot is at the controls,” Skiles said.

On the other side of the argument, the Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, has protested the new regulations proposed by the FAA on the grounds that they would “create onerous and duplicative regulations.” Additionally, the ATA indicated that implementing the regulations would put airlines on the hook for more than $20 billion dollars in the next decade, more than 15 times the cost estimates provided by the FAA.

There are some supporters of the new regulations such as the Air Line Pilots Association, who were supportive of the FAA’s proposal, which they say is “sorely needed” and based on the best available research. The ALPA expressed a concern that airlines would argue against the change on the grounds that costs would be prohibitive and indicated they felt actual costs incurred would be manageable.

The regulations, while indeed sorely needed and based on the latest research, do contain a few concerning changes. Their are several areas where the new regulations seem to contradict their intention are in the sections concerning duty time. Namely, the FAA has allowed maximum flight time to increase and they mandate only nine hours between shifts, which does not allow enough time for a full eight hours of sleep in addition to routine morning tasks like eating and commuting to work. While the public comment period is closed, we can still hope the FAA considers the concerns voiced and reconsiders some of the new regulations.

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or find flight training near you.

Sources: FAA’s Fatigue Rules Critiqued
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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Posted in Airline News | 1 Comment »

Reader’s Digest Offers Inside Look at Airline Pilot Jobs

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

In recent articles, Readers Digest is offering an inside look at airline jobs.

Reader’s Digest is running a couple of articles that should be of great interest to future airline pilots. The magazine interviewed 20 pilots and flight attendants and condensed their responses into 3 articles: 50 Secrets Your Pilot Won’t Tell You, 13 Things Your Flight Attendant Won’t Tell You, and 10 More Things Your Flight Attendant Won’t Tell You.

The articles are excellent reading for any air traveller, but should really interest those seeking jobs with the airlines. They offer a real inside look at pilot and flight attendant jobs from the people that know them best: pilots and flight attendants.

Several of the “secrets” told by the pilots aren’t particularly surprising, like scheduling and pay troubles, given the amount of press those issues have gotten lately. One pilot in particular indicated that he didn’t appreciate passengers complaining to him about other aspects of the airline experience, because his “retirement was taken to help subsidize your $39 airfare.” Take that as you will, but it says something about the current state of many airlines-no area is safe when it comes to cost-cutting. Some of the cost-cutting that goes on at some airlines, as indicated by the pilots in the article, is mildly concerning. Namely the thought that airlines are cutting fuel margins close enough that deviations are sometimes required due to fuel.

While the rest of the content in the articles is informative, the final tip offered by a pilot in North Carolina completely sums up the airline pilot experience. The pilot states, “Here’s the truth about airline jobs: You don’t have as much time off as your neighbors think you have, you don’t make as much money as your relatives think you make, and you don’t have as many girlfriends as your wife thinks you have. Still, I can’t believe they pay me to do this.”

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or find flight training near you.

Sources: Pilots, FAs Vent To Reader’s Digest and 50 Secrets Your Pilot Won’t Tell You
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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New 1500 Hour Requirement Challenged

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

An FAA advisory report questions a law requiring first officers to have 1500 flight hours.

Requirements set out in a new law passed in July have been questioned by an FAA advisory committee. According to a recent report, certain training courses may count for a large portion of the 1500 hours of flight time required by the law. The report also outlines concerns regarding the law that amount to a veritable laundry list of flight safety and economic concerns.

According to the FAA Administrator, Randy Babbitt, effective academic training can be more valuable than just spending 1500 hours in a plane. Even still, there seems to be an even split on the issue. For example, according to lawmakers, airline first officers with more experience are better and safer pilots.

Another concern outlined in the report relates to economics. According to the committee, requiring first officers to have as much experience as captains will cause an increase in competition for salaries and benefits. The concern being that the law may artificially create a shortage of pilots. Additionally, there are flight training concerns put forth by college and university flight schools who worry that students will elect to train a smaller, less-expensive schools in order to minimize costs thereby putting them out of business.

The underlying issue for the entire argument is whether quantity of flight time outweighs the quality of training. According to people like Administrator Babbitt, quality training can overshadow quantity, while lawmakers maintain that quantity is most important. What is best? Who is right? It bears mentioning that the law was born out of the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 and there was an ATP rated captain with more than 1500 hours acting as pilot in command of that aircraft.

An obvious conclusion to be drawn is that the proper balance of quantity and quality is the key to safe flying. Whether that balance is 500 hours of flight training and academic instruction or 1500 hours of straight-and-level flight seems to be in the eye of the beholder. This issue will likely continue to be a hot-button topic for quite some time. Either way, future pilots are going to need training, the question is in how much.

For more information on flight training and choosing the right school, check out our Flight Training Resource Center or find flight schools near you.

Sources: Committee Challenges New 1500 Hr Requirement For FO’s and FAA panel opposes new law that requires more flying experience for pilots
This article was written by Matthew Everett, a private pilot, aviation writer, and frequent contributor to AviationSchoolsOnline.com. You can follow him on twitter @leaving_tf or find his blog at http://leavingterrafirma.com.

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Continental Recalls, Reactivates Pilots

Thursday, May 20th, 2010
By Kyle Garrett – AviationSchoolsOnline.com

Continental Airlines is beginning to recall some of the pilots it furloughed in 2008, and is reactivating some pilots who took a voluntary leave of absence. According to a May 19th article on CNNMoney.com, a spokesperson for Continental confirmed that 15 furloughed pilots and over 100 pilots on voluntary leaves have been recalled / reactivated respectively.

The pilots are being brought back on as Continental increases its international flight schedule and replaces retiring pilots.

According to the CNNMoney.com article, “Hunter Keay, senior airline analyst for Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said the recall is a small but positive sign for the airline industry.”

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American Eagle Hires Fourteen ATP Graduates

Thursday, April 8th, 2010
By Airline Transport Pilots Staff

Screen shot 2010-04-08 at 4.52.38 PMARLINGTON, Texas – April 6, 2010 – Fourteen ATP flight instructors and graduates from ATP’s Airline Career Pilot Program receive First Officer position class dates with American Eagle. ATP extends congratulations and thanks to the 14 CFIs who recently interviewed and received job offers with American Eagle, one of the nation’s largest regional airlines.
“ATP graduates have a proven track record with American Eagle, and we’re glad ATP is in a position to assist with their pilot recruitment needs as hiring increases,” said Jim Koziarski, ATP’s Vice President of Flight Operations. “With Regional Jet Standards Certification, over a thousand hours total time, and hundreds of hours multi-engine experience, these are highly qualified pilot candidates.”
American Eagle anticipates steady demand for pilot hiring through 2010 and beyond. In an open letter to ATP, American Eagle
explains the driving forces behind their pilot recruiting goals:
improved fleet utilization, delivery of additional aircraft, attrition, end of “Age 65” rule effectiveness, and potential flight crew duty time regulation changes. Read the positive industry outlook in the letter on ATP’s website at ATPFlightSchool.com/eagle.
Regional airlines appreciate the structured experience that pilots receive in the ATP system, starting with their primary flight training and extending through the critical phase of building experience as flight instructors. With the recent increase in regional airline pilot hiring, ATP is also hiring more flight instructors from the Airline Career Pilot Program. ATP has already hired nearly 40 CFIs in 2010.
In 1984 ATP pioneered cost-efficient, accelerated, multi-engine flight training with an emphasis on pilot
career development. Today, ATP’s Airline Training Programs prepare graduates for airline pilot and corporate pilot careers with nationwide flight experience in the largest, multi-engine training fleet. Advanced jet training
transitions these pilots from light twins to modern regional jets in CRJ-200 flight training devices. With thousands of graduates who have completed airline training on time and on budget, airlines come to ATP first to meet their demand for pilots. ATP flies over 6,000 hours to provide more than 300 FAA pilot certifications each month at 24 locations nationwide.

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