Looks like they were running out of fit pilots

originally posted by: anonentity
a reply to: 1947boomer

Ok, you explain the massive increase in the "In Memorandum" section of the Aviators magazine.

Not the whole massive increase, but a percentage will be due to the aging baby boomer population.

My uncle, who was that age group, was a test pilot for the RAF and died a few years before the pandemic but had been flying various projects long after his retirement until he got sick. This will be the case for many commercial and military pilots.

Outside of this shift in demographic I do think there will be a risk factor for pilots who took the shots. If it can drop athletes in the prime of their life, it will do it to other professions.

Workers seem scarce around here and there was an ad up by a thirteen year old looking for odd job work and he was asking $16-$20 an hour. Lots of older people like myself, with tons of experience, have spent their lives trying to get to that rate but there was people interested in hiring the kid. I feel kinda ripped off these days. A carpenter was charging $50 and hour and a plumber $80. These are unticketed people to boot.

originally posted by: Zanti Misfit
a reply to: tamusan

" AI is going to do much of the flying."


What Will be the Last Words from the AI Pilot to the Passengers as the Plane Crashes into the Ground ? Will it be Comforting or Cold ?

"Attention passengers! We will crash now! Please, put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye....and thank you for flying the friendly skies!!!"

a reply to: igloo

Who cares about the number the kid is earning? For one, it’s great a 13 year old is so ambitious these days. You shouldn’t be jealous you didn’t become an “unticketed” plumber.

Don’t forget, the purchasing power of that hourly rate isn’t the same as it was just a few years ago. Moving the minimum wage up to 15+ an hour only means everyone making more than 15/hr took a pay cut

a reply to: anonentity

Commercial pilots are getting older and older. With age comes more health issues and deaths. There has been a looming shortage for some time now.

Average Age Statistics of Pilots: Are We in a Pilot Shortage? 14 February 2020
Boeing CEO says a global pilot shortage is 'one of the biggest challenges' facing the airline industry 17 June 2019
A Looming Pilot Shortage Means a Bumpy Ride for Airlines 21 July 2015
Airlines Face Acute Shortage of Pilots 12 November 2012

The shortage has been a long time coming.

a reply to: tamusan

And in terms of AI flying the planes? The first gyroscopic autopilot systems were already in use by WWI! Modern autopilot systems are very advanced and have already been in use, in conjunction with autothrottles and autobrakes, for decades.

They are capable of flying pretty much once the plane is off the ground (you would want a pilot for take off) and all the way to even touchdown and rollout for some aircraft. Airlines and manufacturers would not need to waste the time to develop and train an AI, or want to spend the money on gaining FAA certification, to replace an already highly developed, sophisticated, and certified aircraft system.

1) Your link is kaput

2) Apart from a swell cut and paste to the first link you could find that supported your position, do you actually understand ANY of what you shared? Parroting supporting points of view doesn’t accomplish much in the way of proving your point.

Not meant to be a personal attack on you, but I see a lot of that type of “counter-argument” on ATS from every possible place in the spectrum and it never really proves or supports anything other than that the person is willing to believe anything that they can find that back up whatever preconceived notion they may have on a particular topic.

How much do you REALLY understand about 1st degree heart blocks?


a reply to: 1947boomer

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

Back in the day when 61-2669 was Speckled Trout, flying out of Edwards, they already had new more advanced auto takeoff, auto throttle, and auto landing systems testing on that aircraft. The 747-400 had real currency issues, because the aircraft would fly the approach to the point that the pilots wouldn't get credit for the landing. So they were having to do extra simulator sessions to keep current on landings.