Once I am able to build enough time, I plan on getting hired by a regional in order to build enough time to get hired by a major. After doing some research although they require even more time, my goal is to get hired at Shuttle America or Compass Airlines. These two regional airlines fly Embraer 170 which are very nice aircraft. Hopefully I wont have to stay with the regional airlines too long, but after the regional I would love to fly for Delta Airlines. Ever since I was little I wanted to fly for Northwest Airlines, but since they merged with Delta, that will have to do. Once getting hired with Delta I realize I am going to have to make my way up to the ultimate goal of flying Boeing 777. Boeing 777 is my favorite airplane and is my ultimate goal to fly one one day. I enjoy seeing other places and especially other countries, so flying internationally would be a dream come true. Where I am at in my career is the very beginning, but is a step in the right direction in order to fulfill my childhood dream.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Career Plan
My career plan was and still is to be a commercial airline pilot. Its something that I have wanted to do since I was young, and nothing has changed. I currently have 230hrs and am currently working on my Commercial Single Engine. I am planning on having that wrapped up within the next 2 months. After my commercial I am going to start training for my CFI, once I get my CFI then I will work on getting my Multi. With the new NPRM for August 2013, requiring an ATP to get hired, I am still up in the air whether I want to flight instruct or find another way to build my time such as banner towing, skydiving etc.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
American Airlines Merger
American Airlines was once the largest airline in the world, ten years later they have filed for bankruptcy and are potentially on the verge of merging with another airline for the first time since the merge with TWA. On November 29th American Airlines filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, that will eventually cut up to 13,000 jobs, most of them being management positions. According to American Airlines they operate an all Boeing fleet with an MD-80 as well. In 2011 American announced the purchase of 10 777-300's and an additional 200 boeing 737-800s both are supposed to be in service by 2012 and 2013. It is going to be very interesting to see how and what American will do with these new aircraft considering they just filed for bankruptcy.
After talking to a ton of American Airlines pilots they all agreed on one thing and that was American needs to do something, but one thing they all were very negative about was the potential merge with U.S. Airways. Every pilot I talked too said if they merged with U.S. it would be very disastrous, they never gave me a definite answer of why, but for whatever reason they all agreed. When I asked what should happen, most agreed that American should merge with Alaska Airlines or JetBlue. Jeremy Lemer wrote a great article in the Financial Times with the title "Rivals say AMR must find merger-or perish". He suggests all sorts of different merger solutions from every US airline possible.
According to Dallas News " 94% of AA pilots are at 12th year of pay longevity. That's the top of the pay scale, meaning that they aren't getting pay raises unless they move to a bigger airplane or move from first officer to captain." The average age of AA pilots is 51.6, and for captains its 54.4years. American is so senior in aircraft and pilots that 70% of their pilots have to retire within the next 7-10 years. Its hard to believe that just 10 years ago American Airlines was the largest Airline in the world, and now there bankrupt laying 13,000 jobs off. No one has a definite solution to fix there problem, from a potential merge with U.S Airways to JetBlue or Alaska, but everyone can agree that something needs to happen before its too late.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
UAV
1) What is the current status of this sector of the industry?
UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicles) are becoming more and more popular with the growth of today's technology. UAVs are primarily used for military operations, but is also used for surveillance and scientific research. The reason UAVs are becoming more and more popular in the military and for civilian use, is it takes the pilot out of the aircraft which is the safest method for bombings, surveillance etc. According to UAV there are 12 different types of UAVs such as Global Hawk, X47-A, Mariner, Predator along with others. The technology on these modern UAVs are incredible. The Predator for example can fly over 220kts at 50,000ft for over 30 hours. That's much loner than any commercial airliner/ military jet. UAVs are in the beginning stages of what can and will be a long and lasting career.
2) What are the issues in these sectors that must be evaluated while moving towards the future?
Since UAV's are just in the early stages, there are many issues that must be evaluated moving towards the future. According to BML he points out scenarios that could cause major issues such as, since there is no pilot in the cockpit what happens if the UAV losses communications, or a loss of engine or power you don't have a pilot in the cockpit to control it. Another issue especially in crowded areas is what about a mid air collision with a airliner, although the UAV has no pilot in the cockpit the airliner is full of people and some of those UAVs are as big if not bigger than a Cessna.
3) What is the 5-10 year outlook for this sector?
The 5-10 year outlook for the UAV is very promising. With the increase in technology, our military is putting alot of time and money into UAVs. A UAV guest speaker came and talked at a conference last year at EMU and said that the current state of UAVs is equivalent to just after the Wright Brothers for airplanes, which is pretty crazy to think about. If they already have UAVs flying at 50,000ft at almost 500mph, whats UAVs goin to look like in the next 10 years.
4) What is/will the government's involvement be in this sector?
The governments involvement in UAV is very significant, it is already implemented in all military use from hand thrown UAVs to Predators the government is very involved. According to the FAA the reason the military wants UAV or UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) is because " In today’s military, unmanned systems are highly desired by combatant commanders for their versatility and persistence. By performing tasks such as surveillance; signals intelligence (SIGINT); precision target designation; mine detection; and chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance, unmanned systems have made key contributions to the Global War on Terror." The government and military want to reduce the risk of our soldiers by taking the pilot out of the cockpit.
5) What are possible career opportunities in this sector (be specific, which may require you to find actual job descriptions)?
Since UAVs are becoming more and more popular in the military and civilian use, career opportunities are becoming more and more popular. According to the ARMY some job duties for flying UAVs are "Conduct air reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and acquisition missions", Planning and analyzing flight missions and Launch and recover air frame from runway. Jobs in UAVs are endless, if you don't want to fly the UAV there are repair UAV repairers just like mechanics for airplanes. Each UAV employer has different requirements. According to Simply Hired the average salary in California for UAV pilots is $89,000, but will also vary on the company, location and experience. With UAVs becoming more and more popular the demand for UAV pilots is only going to increase with technology.
UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicles) are becoming more and more popular with the growth of today's technology. UAVs are primarily used for military operations, but is also used for surveillance and scientific research. The reason UAVs are becoming more and more popular in the military and for civilian use, is it takes the pilot out of the aircraft which is the safest method for bombings, surveillance etc. According to UAV there are 12 different types of UAVs such as Global Hawk, X47-A, Mariner, Predator along with others. The technology on these modern UAVs are incredible. The Predator for example can fly over 220kts at 50,000ft for over 30 hours. That's much loner than any commercial airliner/ military jet. UAVs are in the beginning stages of what can and will be a long and lasting career.
2) What are the issues in these sectors that must be evaluated while moving towards the future?
Since UAV's are just in the early stages, there are many issues that must be evaluated moving towards the future. According to BML he points out scenarios that could cause major issues such as, since there is no pilot in the cockpit what happens if the UAV losses communications, or a loss of engine or power you don't have a pilot in the cockpit to control it. Another issue especially in crowded areas is what about a mid air collision with a airliner, although the UAV has no pilot in the cockpit the airliner is full of people and some of those UAVs are as big if not bigger than a Cessna.
3) What is the 5-10 year outlook for this sector?
The 5-10 year outlook for the UAV is very promising. With the increase in technology, our military is putting alot of time and money into UAVs. A UAV guest speaker came and talked at a conference last year at EMU and said that the current state of UAVs is equivalent to just after the Wright Brothers for airplanes, which is pretty crazy to think about. If they already have UAVs flying at 50,000ft at almost 500mph, whats UAVs goin to look like in the next 10 years.
4) What is/will the government's involvement be in this sector?
The governments involvement in UAV is very significant, it is already implemented in all military use from hand thrown UAVs to Predators the government is very involved. According to the FAA the reason the military wants UAV or UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) is because " In today’s military, unmanned systems are highly desired by combatant commanders for their versatility and persistence. By performing tasks such as surveillance; signals intelligence (SIGINT); precision target designation; mine detection; and chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance, unmanned systems have made key contributions to the Global War on Terror." The government and military want to reduce the risk of our soldiers by taking the pilot out of the cockpit.
5) What are possible career opportunities in this sector (be specific, which may require you to find actual job descriptions)?
Since UAVs are becoming more and more popular in the military and civilian use, career opportunities are becoming more and more popular. According to the ARMY some job duties for flying UAVs are "Conduct air reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and acquisition missions", Planning and analyzing flight missions and Launch and recover air frame from runway. Jobs in UAVs are endless, if you don't want to fly the UAV there are repair UAV repairers just like mechanics for airplanes. Each UAV employer has different requirements. According to Simply Hired the average salary in California for UAV pilots is $89,000, but will also vary on the company, location and experience. With UAVs becoming more and more popular the demand for UAV pilots is only going to increase with technology.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Export-Import Bank
1) What is the Export-Import Bank?
According to EXIM Mission Statement the mission of the Export Import Bank is to assist in financing for export US goods to international markets. "Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies — large and small — to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy." 85% of their transactions go to benefit U.S. small businesses.
2) What is its relation to the aviation industry?
The relation that Export-Import Bank has with the aviation industry is terrible for US carriers and awesome for foreign carriers. The whole point of the ExIm bank is to create jobs in the US by exporting materials/airplanes to foreign countries for cheaper loans. According to senator DeMint Ex-Im costs U.S. airline industry up to 7,500 in job loss. "Delta estimated that ExIm cost the U.S. airline industry up to 7,500 jobs and $684 million a year." ExIm makes it so foreign carriers can buy newer and better aircraft cheaper than any U.S. competitors which is extremely ridiculous.
3) Why has it been in the news lately?
ExIm bank has recently been in the news lately due to the new purchase of aircraft of Air India. Air India according to Business Standard is in "deep red" and without the help of ExIm there is no way they would purchase these 30 brand new Boeing Aircraft. This is extremely bad news for competing US airlines such as Delta Airlines who is competing with Air India for certain Middle Eastern routes. According to the Business Standard "The Bank's support for foreign carriers puts ATA's operator members, including Delta, at a competitive disadvantage because, among other things, the Bank's foreign beneficiaries have access to cheaper capital to finance their aircraft purchases."
4) What is the ATA stance on this? What about Boeing?
ATA stance on this Export Import bank issue is very strong. On November 17th ATA sued the Export Import Bank of the United States seeking to halt the $3.4 billion in loan guarantees for aircraft financing for Air India according to Business Week. ATA is obviously not happy that airlines like Air India who are getting these great loans for Boeing newest aircraft such as the 787, which is going to cost US Airlines a ton of money not to mention a loss of employees. This statement for Business week really sums up the whole problem "“When ATA’s operator members purchase such aircraft, they must do so without the United States as a guarantor for their financing,” the association said in the lawsuit. “As a result, ATA’s operator members pay substantially more than the bank- backed foreign carriers pay to finance the same Boeing aircraft.” Boeing on the other hand is on the other side of the street. Boeing believes that if the there were no Export Import Bank that these new purchases by foreign air carriers would not be purchased. According to WCARN "Boeing said in a statement that the bank is "vital to helping level the playing field" globally." This is a very tough situation, where as Boeing is creating more jobs to build these new aircraft for foreign air carriers, U.S. carriers is throwing a fit because they are losing money, and not getting these beneficial loans such as Air India.
According to EXIM Mission Statement the mission of the Export Import Bank is to assist in financing for export US goods to international markets. "Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies — large and small — to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy." 85% of their transactions go to benefit U.S. small businesses.
2) What is its relation to the aviation industry?
The relation that Export-Import Bank has with the aviation industry is terrible for US carriers and awesome for foreign carriers. The whole point of the ExIm bank is to create jobs in the US by exporting materials/airplanes to foreign countries for cheaper loans. According to senator DeMint Ex-Im costs U.S. airline industry up to 7,500 in job loss. "Delta estimated that ExIm cost the U.S. airline industry up to 7,500 jobs and $684 million a year." ExIm makes it so foreign carriers can buy newer and better aircraft cheaper than any U.S. competitors which is extremely ridiculous.
3) Why has it been in the news lately?
ExIm bank has recently been in the news lately due to the new purchase of aircraft of Air India. Air India according to Business Standard is in "deep red" and without the help of ExIm there is no way they would purchase these 30 brand new Boeing Aircraft. This is extremely bad news for competing US airlines such as Delta Airlines who is competing with Air India for certain Middle Eastern routes. According to the Business Standard "The Bank's support for foreign carriers puts ATA's operator members, including Delta, at a competitive disadvantage because, among other things, the Bank's foreign beneficiaries have access to cheaper capital to finance their aircraft purchases."
4) What is the ATA stance on this? What about Boeing?
ATA stance on this Export Import bank issue is very strong. On November 17th ATA sued the Export Import Bank of the United States seeking to halt the $3.4 billion in loan guarantees for aircraft financing for Air India according to Business Week. ATA is obviously not happy that airlines like Air India who are getting these great loans for Boeing newest aircraft such as the 787, which is going to cost US Airlines a ton of money not to mention a loss of employees. This statement for Business week really sums up the whole problem "“When ATA’s operator members purchase such aircraft, they must do so without the United States as a guarantor for their financing,” the association said in the lawsuit. “As a result, ATA’s operator members pay substantially more than the bank- backed foreign carriers pay to finance the same Boeing aircraft.” Boeing on the other hand is on the other side of the street. Boeing believes that if the there were no Export Import Bank that these new purchases by foreign air carriers would not be purchased. According to WCARN "Boeing said in a statement that the bank is "vital to helping level the playing field" globally." This is a very tough situation, where as Boeing is creating more jobs to build these new aircraft for foreign air carriers, U.S. carriers is throwing a fit because they are losing money, and not getting these beneficial loans such as Air India.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Corporate Aviation
The corporate aviation company I chose to discuss is one that is even though really big, it is a dream job that I would love to have one day and that is NetJets. NetJets is a fractional aircraft ownership that was introduced to the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) in 1986. NetJets is open to anybody that is willing to pay the money necessary.
According to NetJets Fleet they offer the "largest, most diversified private aircraft fleet in the world." They offer jets in 3 different categories, the light cabin which consist of six different aircraft, midsize cabin and large cabin. All together NetJets offer 14 different types of aircraft from Cessna Citations to Hawkers to Gulfstream. With a fleet size of over 340 airplanes. The largest aircraft they offer is the Gulfstream 550.
The thing that I like the most about NetJets is they don't have a specific route they fly. They will fly all over the world as long you purchase it. The benefit of purchasing a fractional ownership from NetJets is one you get to fly on your own private aircraft but it also will save time compared to a regular commercial carrier. An example of this is a route from Miami to Chicago on a airliner takes approximately 7.5 hours (which takes into account driving to the airport, security, waiting etc.) compared to 3.1 hours if you fly on a NetJets aircraft.
In order to even apply for a pilot position at NetJets they require a minimum of 2500 hours total time, 500 hours multi and 250 hours instrument time according to NetJets Qualifications. Each aircraft requires different qualifications. NetJets pilots salary range from a wide range. For a first officer salary ranges from $56,875-107,768 and captain salary ranges from $87,500-187,260. Salary for NetJets is just like the airlines ranging from type of aircraft and years of service. NetJets is a dream job for most pilots due to the freedom of going to different places, meeting some interesting people, and having a very nice corporate aviation fleet.
According to NetJets Fleet they offer the "largest, most diversified private aircraft fleet in the world." They offer jets in 3 different categories, the light cabin which consist of six different aircraft, midsize cabin and large cabin. All together NetJets offer 14 different types of aircraft from Cessna Citations to Hawkers to Gulfstream. With a fleet size of over 340 airplanes. The largest aircraft they offer is the Gulfstream 550.
The thing that I like the most about NetJets is they don't have a specific route they fly. They will fly all over the world as long you purchase it. The benefit of purchasing a fractional ownership from NetJets is one you get to fly on your own private aircraft but it also will save time compared to a regular commercial carrier. An example of this is a route from Miami to Chicago on a airliner takes approximately 7.5 hours (which takes into account driving to the airport, security, waiting etc.) compared to 3.1 hours if you fly on a NetJets aircraft.
In order to even apply for a pilot position at NetJets they require a minimum of 2500 hours total time, 500 hours multi and 250 hours instrument time according to NetJets Qualifications. Each aircraft requires different qualifications. NetJets pilots salary range from a wide range. For a first officer salary ranges from $56,875-107,768 and captain salary ranges from $87,500-187,260. Salary for NetJets is just like the airlines ranging from type of aircraft and years of service. NetJets is a dream job for most pilots due to the freedom of going to different places, meeting some interesting people, and having a very nice corporate aviation fleet.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
FAA Reauthorization Bill
The new FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 aka The FAA Reauthorization Bill which was released on February 14 2012 has set the stage for major improvements in the airline and cargo industry. Although the bill is over 400 pages of material highlighted with important information, I will chose 3 of the main topics that I believe will have the largest impact on the industry.
The first one I will talk about is pry the most important and will have the most impact on the industry over time and that is the Next Generation Air Transport System aka NextGen. NextGen according to the FAA is a way to update navigation using surveillance technology. It will increase safety significantly and save airlines alot of money by " shaving minutes off flight times as we enhance the airspace around our busiest clusters of airports." Which translates into shorter flights to help save fuel and help the environment. In the new FAA Reauthorization Bill it pushes for a faster timeline to implement NextGen. It will mandate precision navigational procedures at 35 US airports by 2015. The Reauthorization Bill will implement the NextGen faster then originally thought.
The second point which I believe will be most beneficial for the industry is Runway Safety. In the new bill the FAA pushes to develop and implement a plan to improve runway safety. This new runway safety will scientifically reduce runway incursions within six months. The new bill which is planned to be in place by June 30 2012 will alert pilots and controllers of potential runway incursions. This is great news for everyone in the industry. Runway incursions are a very dangerous situation that could lead to a incident or accident. According to FAA Runway Safety there were 954 runway incursions in 2011. With then new bill the new Runway Safety will improve runway safety and reduce the number of runway incursions.
The last point in the FAA Reauthorization Bill that I believe is a good implement is putting cockpit doors for all-cargo aircraft. You may think whats the point of putting doors on planes when the only thing on the airplanes are the pilots and boxes, but with terrorism in the world increasing every day cargo airplanes are an easy target. With cargo companies not having enough man power to check every single cargo on the airplane they just do a random check. There have been rumors going around that the next target for terrorists is putting people with bombs in the cargo. With the new bill implementing cockpit doors, this will eliminate the potential danger of people fitting in cargo and busting in the cockpit. This was never a discussion before the new FAA Reauthorization Bill came out. I strongly believe this is very smart, and in the industry and the way the world is today, it is defiantly better to be safe then sorry.
The first one I will talk about is pry the most important and will have the most impact on the industry over time and that is the Next Generation Air Transport System aka NextGen. NextGen according to the FAA is a way to update navigation using surveillance technology. It will increase safety significantly and save airlines alot of money by " shaving minutes off flight times as we enhance the airspace around our busiest clusters of airports." Which translates into shorter flights to help save fuel and help the environment. In the new FAA Reauthorization Bill it pushes for a faster timeline to implement NextGen. It will mandate precision navigational procedures at 35 US airports by 2015. The Reauthorization Bill will implement the NextGen faster then originally thought.
The second point which I believe will be most beneficial for the industry is Runway Safety. In the new bill the FAA pushes to develop and implement a plan to improve runway safety. This new runway safety will scientifically reduce runway incursions within six months. The new bill which is planned to be in place by June 30 2012 will alert pilots and controllers of potential runway incursions. This is great news for everyone in the industry. Runway incursions are a very dangerous situation that could lead to a incident or accident. According to FAA Runway Safety there were 954 runway incursions in 2011. With then new bill the new Runway Safety will improve runway safety and reduce the number of runway incursions.
The last point in the FAA Reauthorization Bill that I believe is a good implement is putting cockpit doors for all-cargo aircraft. You may think whats the point of putting doors on planes when the only thing on the airplanes are the pilots and boxes, but with terrorism in the world increasing every day cargo airplanes are an easy target. With cargo companies not having enough man power to check every single cargo on the airplane they just do a random check. There have been rumors going around that the next target for terrorists is putting people with bombs in the cargo. With the new bill implementing cockpit doors, this will eliminate the potential danger of people fitting in cargo and busting in the cockpit. This was never a discussion before the new FAA Reauthorization Bill came out. I strongly believe this is very smart, and in the industry and the way the world is today, it is defiantly better to be safe then sorry.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Emissions Trading Scheme
EU ETS is the European Union and Emissions Trading Scheme. According to The European Commission was launched in 2005 it is a way to limit greenhouse gasses. Emissions are given off in factories and power plants. Each airline is required to keep record of emissions given off for each flight and turn the information in at the end of the year. Every airline is given an allowance to cover, but if they go over they are fined heavily. The EU ETS not only effects aviation in a major way, but covers all businesses in Europe. Carbon Trust states "it covers 45% of EU emissions, including energy intensive sectors and approximately 12,000 installations". This will have a large impact on aircraft flying to Europe from a money standpoint. Airlines for America (A4A) estimates it will cost U.S. Airlines between $1.3 and 3 billion by 2020.
The US is upset about the implementation of the ET ETS because it has been a "diversion of ICAO's energies". US among other countries are trying to work with the EU to come together in coming up with something that is not so significant. On November 2nd the US joined in passing a resolution in ICAO that approved opposition to the ETS. 21 countries including China, India, Japan and the United States opposed the application of the ETS to their airlines. The US government is trying to fight with other countries in court, while trying to come in the middle with the EU to come up with a solution. In 2009 the Airlines of America used the EU claiming that ETS is a violation of customary international law.
According to Centre for Aviation ICAO is developing global framework for market based measures. Pretty much no one is happy with the current EU ETS, ICAO is in the middle of it and has to come up with a solution to get the majority in agreement. The Centre of Aviation states "The technical study will be completed by the end of this month and ICAO’s work in 2012 will be dedicated to the identification and development of a framework for market-based measures and a global scheme."
My response to the EU ETS is a little over board. Too think that will cost billions (over years) all for something that can not be prevented. It says something when 21 countries are opposed to the ETS. I feel like its a scam for the EU to get money. It would be different if we had a solution to get rid of the emissions but technology has not got that far yet. I think the EU just needs to sit back and relax and realize how big of an impact this will have not only on the world airline industry, but also businesses and factories who this will affect as well.
I have mixed feelings on how ICAO should handle global aviation emissions. You cant treat every place the same because its not. More emissions will be given off according to the location. The hotter it is more emissions will be given off, so how can you treat Africa and the Middle East where it is hot pretty much all year long to somewhere cold. ICAO is in a tough situation to handle global aviation emissions. But I believe ICAO should implement greener flying. With newer aircraft coming out giving out less emissions just let technology come and be patient, I believe ICAO should invest into alternative ways for fuel i.e algae, soybeans, corn. We will never be able to get rid of emissions but investing into greener flying, it will make our world a cleaner place.
According to Centre for Aviation ICAO is developing global framework for market based measures. Pretty much no one is happy with the current EU ETS, ICAO is in the middle of it and has to come up with a solution to get the majority in agreement. The Centre of Aviation states "The technical study will be completed by the end of this month and ICAO’s work in 2012 will be dedicated to the identification and development of a framework for market-based measures and a global scheme."
My response to the EU ETS is a little over board. Too think that will cost billions (over years) all for something that can not be prevented. It says something when 21 countries are opposed to the ETS. I feel like its a scam for the EU to get money. It would be different if we had a solution to get rid of the emissions but technology has not got that far yet. I think the EU just needs to sit back and relax and realize how big of an impact this will have not only on the world airline industry, but also businesses and factories who this will affect as well.
I have mixed feelings on how ICAO should handle global aviation emissions. You cant treat every place the same because its not. More emissions will be given off according to the location. The hotter it is more emissions will be given off, so how can you treat Africa and the Middle East where it is hot pretty much all year long to somewhere cold. ICAO is in a tough situation to handle global aviation emissions. But I believe ICAO should implement greener flying. With newer aircraft coming out giving out less emissions just let technology come and be patient, I believe ICAO should invest into alternative ways for fuel i.e algae, soybeans, corn. We will never be able to get rid of emissions but investing into greener flying, it will make our world a cleaner place.
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