Once it was ubiquitous, displayed on bumper stickers on cars parked at flight schools, as well as found on tee shirts, backpacks, and notebooks.
“Will Fly For Food” was not just a tongue-in-cheek motto for those learning to fly. It underscored a career aspiration that put them in direct competition with the thousands of retiring military pilots entering the private sector.
But no more. The Boomer Generation of pilots is retiring, and competition between airlines and business aircraft owners is hot – and expensive!
In “Will Fly For Food No More,” Northstar Group’s Craig Picken and Chris Broyhill of Citadel Consulting discuss the growing professional pilot shortage, and what trends dominate flight operation recruiting efforts.
Publisher of Business Aviation Advisor, has nearly 50 years in business aviation including executive positions at aircraft management/charter and ground services companies. He is a past director of the NATA and Corporate Angel Network.
Wait, you want to pay me less money and teach me how to hate flying? I suggest that most of us professional pilots that aren’t flying for the airlines aren’t gonna start simply because the airlines have to (for the moment) squeeze out a few more bucks for pilots. We already looked at that job and refused it on grounds unrelated to the silly pay. Let’s say you DOUBLE the first year pay for an FO at a regional to $45k a year. You want me to take a $55k a year pay cut and have zero seniority for years to come. You want me to move to some crappy city or give up my unpaid personal time dead-heading to work as my seniority improves. Look at the boom/bust history of the airlines and lure me in with “But look it’s booming at the moment”. No thanks, Lucy. You can keep that football.