Caravan Pilot Shortage

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3WE
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Caravan Pilot Shortage

Postby 3WE » Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:20 pm

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/fl ... /79002278/
SeaPort Airlines abruptly cancels service in several states

Harriet Baskas, Special for USA TODAY 1:52 p.m. EST January 19, 2016

SeaPort Airlines issued a statement on Friday announcing that the Portland, Ore.-based commuter airline would be discontinuing all its scheduled service to destinations in California and Mexico at the end of the day.

The carrier’s service to destinations in Kansas and Missouri ceased the following day, Saturday, Jan. 16.

“The company was forced to take this action because of the impact on SeaPort’s business and operations following the effects of the shortage of airline pilots in the United States,” Seaport said in its statement, noting that flights would be canceled to Sacramento, Visalia, Burbank, San Diego and Imperial, Calif., as well as Salinas and Great Bend in Kansas, Kansas City, Mo., and San Felipe, Baja California, in Mexico.

As of last Saturday, SeaPort had 17 pilots available, but the airline needed 54 to keep up its schedule, the Salina Journal reported.

“Finding airplanes is easy, but getting enough pilots to keep them in the air is hard thanks to stepped up federal regulations on pilot qualification and rest,” said Brett Snyder of The Cranky Flier.

SeaPort executive vice president Tim Sieber told the Salina Journal the airline had planes sitting on the ground, but an attrition of pilots “attributable to the increase in the required number of hours that pilots have to have in order to fly large jets.”

SeaPort’s pilots are “getting lured out the door by $10,000 and $15,000 signing bonuses by the major airlines,” Sieber said.

SeaPort isn’t the only small airline having a tough time keeping pilots.

“When times are tougher for pilots, many of them have no choice but to work for the wages that these airlines offer,” explained Seth Kaplan, of Airline Weekly. “But right now, with many Vietnam-era pilots having recently retired after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65, and a limited number of new pilots replacing them, many pilots have their pick of good jobs. When the music stops, it’s the small-plane operators who don’t have enough pilots willing to work for what those airlines are willing to offer.”

For now, SeaPort says it plans to continue its Pacific Northwest flights, which serve Moses Lake, Port Angeles and Seattle in Washington, North Bend/Coos Bay, Pendleton and Portland in Oregon, Harrison and Hot Springs in Arkansas, Memphis and Houston.

The airline is offering to issue refunds to customers with unused tickets on the routes canceled.

Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.
Commercial Pilot, Vandelay Industries, Inc., Plant Nutrient Division.

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flyboy2548m
Posts: 4384
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Re: Caravan Pilot Shortage

Postby flyboy2548m » Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:42 pm

It's called "pay more money".
"Lav sinks on 737 Max are too small"

-TeeVee, one of America's finest legal minds.


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