Do pilots get enough training?

soundoff (4 Responses)

1. Steve
   

   I saw this on a website boasting of pilot's salaries. Who is lying? CNN or the Website???

   http://www.pea.com/imd/airline-pilot-salary.asp

   Check out these commercial and airline pilot salaries *

   American Airlines: 1st yr F/O: $31,080 and 10th yr Captain $123,420

   Delta Airlines: 1st yr F/O: $50,400 and 10th yr Captain $204,636

   UPS: 1st yr F/O: $26,004 and 10th yr Captain $200,508

   Southwest: 1st yr F/O: $42,960 and 10th yr Captain $159,000

   ATA: 1st yr F/O: $36,000 and 10th yr Captain $136,632

   Airborne Express: 1st yr F/O $28,536 and 10th yr Captain $146,184

   May 15, 2009 at 8:50 am |
2. GS
   

   The FAA and the Airlines want it that way, they don’t want Pilots anymore, and they just need bodies to fill the Cockpit seats especially in the Commuter Business. Yes, wages are low, very low, but higher pay cannot replace experience as F/O or Pilot in Command! The younger generation is going to take every seat made available to them for as little as nothing. (see Colgan and many others ) As a Pilot myself with more as 25000+ hrs PIC in heavy Jets and Business Jets, 55 years old with Family, I can’t afford to take a $ 16000.00 a year flying JOB and pay my expenses. They better of working part time at M’Ds. Flying Airplanes Commercially is a high sensitive Profession, and Profession in any field is not coming cheap. (Except for Airlines) I feel deeply sorry for the Passengers flying US Airliners.
   G.S.

   May 14, 2009 at 4:06 pm |
3. Anonymous
   

   My boyfriend is a pilot and he does talk about how the regulations are set that don't give pilots an adequate amount of sleep they need before they take off the next morning for their trip.

   At times, he's given reduced rest which is considered anything less than 9 hours. Taken into context, that 9 hours starts the minute they land. So they have to taxi in, do last checks, get through the terminal, wait for a hotel shuttle bus (which sometimes takes 40 minutes to get to them), load up transport to the hotel, check in and get to their rooms. Then it's a rush to get to bed.

   Now seriously, for me, if I have been up all day I'd want to go straight to bed, but the pilots tend to be on a "high alert mode" and it takes time for to come down. I look at it as if you were to work out around 8/9pm it's harder to get your body to come down off the workout high its on and head straight to bed.

   However, on the other hand the in appropriate conversations I know that there is a rule that below 10,000 feet there is not to be any other conversation occuring unless it's in regards to landing. As my boyfriend says, take off and landing are the most dangerous times during the flight.

   The airline industry has become so engrossed with making money that they neglect the most important piece next to their customers, their airline team (pilots, flight attendents, baggage handlers, etc...).

   I think this country needs to open its eyes up to the fact that much has changed in the aviation industry since 911 and that what was, is no longer.

   Just an FYI: Did you know a large number of pilots take home a salary below the national poverty line.

   My thoughts and prayers go out to all the family's involved.

   May 14, 2009 at 12:05 pm |
4. Howard
   

   The other thing that needs to be looked in to is monthly flight hours. Airlines & the unions limit the hours a pilot flies each month for the airline, but hundreds of pilots are in the AF and Navy reserves or National Guard and continue to fly military aircraft as a 2nd job but these flight hours are never counted towards the monthly limits. Many of the National Guard pilots are on 24 hour alerts as part of their NG jobs.

   May 14, 2009 at 11:42 am |