New Pilot Regulations in Will Fly For Food

It's been a well known in the aviation circles that the FAA has pushed through legislation that effectively makes it more difficult for airlines to hire pilots. The new regulations, which in a round-about way come from several recent regional airline crashes that the FAA attributed to pilot error, fatigue, insufficient training and experience in the right seat.

As a pilot in general, I actually support the new rules. The idea that a 250 hour pilot could get a job flying a turbo prop or jet full of passengers scares me. At 250 hours I was just barely beginning my job as a flight instructor - and I was freaking terrified. I learned so much between 250-500 hours while instructing. I can't imagine NOT having that experience myself.

I also support the rule because I hope that in a round-about way it will affect pilot wages. One of the huge reasons I never pursued a career in airline flying is because of the wages. Pilots are notoriously underpaid – however hardly anyone outside of Aviation knows this because of all the high-roller stereotypes from the Golden Age of aviation 40 years ago. Here is a job posting on the SD Dept of Labor website for a first-officer pilot job in my area. You Need to See This

Personally, I found that I could have a normal, "on the ground" type of job, even one that didn't pay particularly well, that would allow me to be in a better place financially, than I would have been if I had chased a airline job. Keep in mind airline jobs assign you a home base, which at most regionals is a city like Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Dallas, ect, where the cost of living isn't exactly affordable. To me, sacrificing my friends, family, and financial well-being has never been worth it just to fly airplanes. Don’t get me wrong, flying is great, I can’t imagine a better way to spend my time. But I have other priorities and the lifestyle just didn’t appeal to me by the time I got out of college.

Everyone who has been following my story for a while already knows all of this. So I’ll quit ranting about pilot wages and move on.

The new rules require a first officer for an airline to have more complicated qualifications to get put in the right seat. My husband and I both have the required time, the 1500 hours. The ATP certification is pretty straightforward. You study for a test, pay to take the written test, then do a checkride. Test is about $200 for the test and study guides. It would take about 5 solid hours of flight time to get me up to scratch on maneuvers and procedures. At about $125 an hour, given that Nate gives instruction free of charge, ~ $625. Then the checkride. If I scheduled it when the FAA was around, they don’t charge a fee, it would just be about 1.5 hours of flight time, so $700. If I had to pay an examiner it would probably be closer to $1000 for flight time and examiner fee.

I’m a little surprised that my husband and I are both letting this pass us entirely. Neither of us have the $1000 to dedicate towards it right now. Regardless, neither of us can reasonably see pursuing a career in airlines any time in the next 5+ years. Or 10 years. Or ever. <3 Sarah