|
The
Pilot's Dilemma
Brian
Trumbore
President/Editor, StocksandNews.com
I subscribe to at least 20 political
and financial publications and one of the very best
is Crain's New York Business. So the other day I was
reading a piece on airline pilots and where they are
forced to live these days, due to the affordability
issue, and I thought it was such a great synopsis
of the current environment, in many different respects,
that I sought the permission of Crain's to reprint
it in full. So special thanks to reporter Hilary Potkewitz
and editor Greg David for granting this wish. And
to those of you who live in the New York area in particular,
subscribe to the publication. It's both highly entertaining
and enlightening.
---
Airline
pilots detour around NY?by Hilary Potkewitz
When
a flight lands at one of New York's airports, the
pilot usually says over the loudspeaker, "On behalf
of your New York-based flight crew, we'd like to thank
you for flying with us." But don't assume he lives
here. More likely, the crew commutes from homes in
the Midwest, the South or upstate cities like Buffalo.
Deterred
by the high cost of living and salaries relatively
the same as a decade ago, many pilots assigned to
New York or New Jersey refuse to relocate.
Senior
pilots usually have a say in their placements, so
it's often junior pilots who draw the city's airports.
Less able to afford New York area real estate - their
pay ranges from $37,000 to $70,000 - junior pilots
feel they have little choice but to commute from cheaper
parts of the country.
Pilots
endure stress-filled journeys to get to work, and
when they hit the same delays that bedevil other travelers,
their late arrivals can further disrupt airline schedules.
"You
can end up spending two of your three days off flying,
just to make it to work then home again," says Capt.
Craig Hoskins, a pilot with JetBlue Airways. He's
been based at John F. Kennedy International Airport
for more than four years but lives in Bradenton, Fla.
"The delays put additional stress on getting to work."
Two
decades ago, pilots could afford to live in New York,
or at least nearby. When Capt. Jack Norman took a
job with People Express Airlines in the 1980s, he
moved his family to New Jersey from California. He
rented a townhouse near Sparta, about 40 miles from
Newark Liberty International Airport. The town became
so popular with airline personnel, they called it
the "pilots' ghetto."
But
real estate prices kept rising, so when Mr. Norman
wanted to buy, he wound up in Bethlehem, Pa., a 90-minute
drive to Newark. The 59-year-old pilot can now count
at least 30 pilots living within a 30-mile radius.
"As suburban New Jersey became pretty expensive, this
became the next big place for people to look for nice,
middle-class family housing," says Mr. Norman, now
a captain with Continental Airlines.
Out
of range?
Only
Detroit is a less desirable posting than New York,
says a spokesman for the largest pilot's union, the
Air Line Pilots Association. Of Continental's 2,200
Newark-based pilots, only about a third live locally
- many in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, 75 miles from
Newark. Only 20% of JetBlue's 1,300 pilots live in
the New York area, even though the Queens-based company
is concentrated at JFK. American Airlines has 1,090
pilots based here, but just 50% live in the area.
The few pilots who want to be stationed here tend
to be natives.
"Everything's
done by seniority," says Kit Darby, president and
publisher of AIR Inc., an Atlanta-based pilot career
information service. "What you fly, when you fly and
where you're based."
All
this traveling, whether by plane from the Midwest
or by car from Pennsylvania, adds to the potential
for complications. A rain delay or a mechanical hiccup
can send a cascade of woe through the schedule.
"Whether
it's coming to work or transferring between trips,
we are subject to the same constraints and limitations
as the general public," notes Capt. Gerry Dupree,
Northeastern vice president of the Organization of
Black Airline Pilots. "It may be a little easier for
us to get on a plane, but if flights aren't moving,
we're not moving."
Fewer
extra seats
Airline
personnel have long had more flexibility because they
have access to jump seats - the extra seat up front
where an off- duty pilot can hitch a ride - even on
competitors' flights. But with packed flights and
more pilots commuting, there are fewer jump seats
available. "It adds so much uncertainty; you just
never know what flight you'll be able to get on,"
says Mr. Hoskins.
But
airlines and pilots insist that delays are rarely
due to commuting snafus. Pilots are required to leave
room for at least three flights to deliver them in
time for their shift, and failure to report on time
can be cause for termination, especially in the first
year.
Pilots
and consumer groups say delays are instead largely
due to flight overscheduling. If a pilot's first flight
misses a connection, most airlines have a few reserve
pilots on call. But when delays are lighting up the
screens, a handful of reserves aren't enough to get
things back on track.
"Airlines
are overscheduling pilots, and there aren't enough
of them," says Kate Hanni, founder of the Coalition
for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. She blames
pay cuts and a history of furloughs for driving pilots
to cheaper cities. "Not having a crew available for
all these scheduled flights is certainly one of the
problems, especially in New York," she adds.
Capt.
Demico Black knows the scenario well. One of the few
native New Jersey pilots, the 25-year-old works for
a regional airline and often has trouble getting home
to Newark.
"We
know that if there's even one cloud in the sky [in
the Northeast], you're going to be delayed," says
Mr. Black from a waiting area at Charlotte Douglas
International airport.
He
is scheduled to fly to Newark and within an hour be
in the cockpit on a flight to Pittsburgh. His Newark-bound
flight is delayed.
"That
Pittsburgh trip is probably not going to happen [for
me] today," says Mr. Black.
---
I
have to admit, folks. I never thought about some of
these issues before. Special thanks again to Crain's
for allowing me to bring this to you.
Wall
Street History returns Nov. 30.
Brian
Trumbore
BUYandHOLD
does not recommend any securities. The securities
mentioned above are being used for illustrative purposes
only and should not be regarded as an offer to sell
or as a solicitation of an offer to buy.
|
