Wages - the limiting factor of hiring

Pilots have their own HOS as well.

 

Yes, all that stuff plus a Viagra. Those international pilots that do the Australian flight use "Kangaroo Essence" because it has more sildenafil in it. I'll find out soon; just ordered a case off Ebay, "for a friend."

 

THOSE HOS provide for like freaking 24 hours to australia. Some of the really big airliners today pretty much can stay aloft almost if not more than 24 hours now.

 

Those airliners are carrying 2 full crews, 4 pilots. They have crew rest areas. They rotate pilots during the trip. The senior crew will likely do the takeoff and the landing. You have certain junior relief crew pilots that do few if any landings, except in a simulator. FAA HOS allow for 8 hours of flying a day, about 100 hours of flying a month and 1,000 hours of flying per year. Union contracts set limits a little below the FAA maximums.

 

The pilots flying international are senior pilots. You can't compare "single-A pitchers" with "All-Star relief pitchers" for the Yankees.

When I tell people why I left aviation, starving to death, they always remember their uncle who flies for FedEx or UPS and makes $250k. They don't have the perspective to notice their uncle is at the highest paying company, during his highest paying years, and then they assume flying boxes pays less than flying drunk vacationers, it doesn't. My last roommate in aviation got hired to fly LearJets. He spent about a year doing errands for the aircraft owner and never once flew before he quit. That industry runs on desperation and low-pay Check out this video

 

Most people that aspire to become jet jockeys go through a school that quickly take them through getting a private pilot, instrument rating, twin rating, commercial rating to becoming a CFI/CFII. This can be done in short order. Then these young CFI/CFII'S either go fly for small private employeers or go hit a FBO and build those pilot in command hours toward the ATP. I know several young CFI/CFII's right now that are building this time. In fact the CFII that signed off for my instrument rating in 1992 was doing this. Eric is now flying for a large airline in Europe. There is a real pilot shortage today. The so called trucker shortage is caused by other factors and honestly with all due respect to the OP I see few if any parallels.

 

When I did my little bit of schooling I discovered in my day a ever increasing requirement to have money to add on instrumentation (IFR etc) and multi engine etc. I questioned my further participation in aviation at that time. I love it but when I was handed a 152 for a few minutes and told to hold this altitude I found that airplane very light, unbelievably light under my 100 pound fingers. No matter what I did I could not literally lighten up on that column. So she varied 150 plus feet both ways. It was humbling.

It's one thing to use a fingertip to hold 40 ton on ice just so against a wind leaning on me, but try it with a light plane? It's not going to happen with me. Ive tried. I think what happens is that the nerves in my arms and wrists are very... heavy so to speak and I have to trim her all day just to hold it.

When I fly with friends I focus on navigation, to contribute actively to the flight's overall success, but always marvel at how light my friends are true on the column when we come out of base and settle onto final.

 

The 150/152 is my favorite airplane to fly, but you are right. It's like trying to navigate a cork in the ocean. It's terrible for instrument training. The 172 is fantastic for instrument training because it's so much more stable. If you can keep the airplane within 150 feet of where you want it you are doing a good job.

The truth is the larger the airplane the easier it is to fly precisely. Now, larger aircraft usually fly faster so you have to think faster and anticipate much more than smaller aircraft

 

Low pay and desperation...so true. In the early 90s a lot of the freight-dog outfits were still running Beech 18s.
No autopilot, all night work, and a tight schedule.
After flying six or seven approaches to minimums every night you felt like your eyeballs were on stalks.
If you were lucky you might clear six or seven hundred bucks a month. You had to remind yourself that it was great training 'cause it sure wasn't good for anything else.