AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 81

them some great life lessons,
like going after your dreams."
SEEKING STABILITY

Although most people talk
about the airline pilot shortage,
there are indications that corporate operators are suffering just
as badly.
One former corporate pilot
we spoke to-let's call him Jim
because he asked to remain
anonymous-left the glamorous life of flying a Gulfstream
G-IV around the world to go
work for a small regional airline based in the Northeast. It
seems odd to consider an airline pilot job as having more
stability and offering more

Air after turning 50. After a
long career first as an engineer and then in management,
Schoephoerster said he was
tired of working nights and
weekends, so he quit and started
a flight school. Ten years of flying racetracks around the traffic
pattern finally got to him, so he
was looking for a new challenge. The airlines offered a
decent schedule, a stable environment, and challenging flying.
"It's interesting, it's challenging,
and it's something new for me,"
he said.
SEA CHANGE

Just a few short years ago,
dropping tens of thousands of

150 percent

Average increase in total
compensation among
regional airlines between
2014 and 2016
time at home, but to Jim these
draws proved more enticing
than flying charter. After three
years on the Gulfstream flying
trips that were generally about
three weeks long, and having
recently gotten married, he's
looking forward to a predictable schedule and living close to
his base. "Airlines are run more
efficiently," he said. "Career progression, pay scale, and benefits
are all transparent in the airline.
And I like that."
SOMETHING NEW

Randy Schoephoerster's story
is remarkable today because
it illustrates something that
has become so unremarkable. Schoephoerster started
at regional carrier Endeavour

dollars on flight training as an
investment for an airline career
seemed like a risky proposition. College aviation programs
were closing because they
couldn't place graduates, the
airlines were furloughing, and
the increase in the mandatory
retirement age to 65 in 2007
had effectively shut off hiring at
the major airlines for five years.
Now those pilots are starting
to age out again, the economy
is growing, and the 1,500-hour
rule requiring an airline transport pilot certificate for airline
first officers has slowed the
candidate pool. The result is
stories about airlines parking
airplanes for lack of crews, rising wages, and signs of a true
labor shortage.

111 Airports that

have lost at least 50
percent of their airline
service level since 2013
FAPA's Smith has been
tracking hiring at the major
airlines for more than 40 years,
and although he sees a rapid
pace of hiring, he cautions
against using the "S" word.
"It's important to define a labor
shortage. FAPA considers it a
shortage when employers pay
for training to help applicants
become minimally qualified.
The major airlines are developing programs providing a path,
but so far the applicant pays the
fees, indicating no shortage in
that sector," he said.
Yet everywhere you look,
the signs of a strong job market are there. Most regionals
are offering some sort of signing bonus or incentive. SkyWest
helped pay Karg's loan while
she was instructing, for example. Jim's experience with the
interview and selection process is a clear indicator of how

RANDY SCHOEPHOERSTER

chose his airline primarily because he can be
based close to home to
spend more time with
his son, Matt.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018

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