I personally believe that the pilot shortage is 100 percent real and that it's due to an increasing number of senior pilots retiring. It's true that until recent years the regional airline pay has been so low that it has discouraged pilots from joining the industry. The shortage is so real that regional airlines have recently almost doubled the potential pay for an incoming new first officer. Five years ago it wasn't uncommon to have incoming first officers of regional airlines making below 20 thousand a year. Now after incentives some regional airlines make it possible to make over 50 thousand a year as a first year first officer. The bottom line is that between a mixture of traditionally low pay and retiring senior pilot populations between the ages of 55 and 65 there is in fact a pilot shortage and there will continue to be in the foreseeable future.

Regional airlines may be concerned with their hiring pool because the pool is not big enough to supply them with enough pilots. This is for a number of reasons but mainly that the pool has shrunk due to the knee jerk reaction regulations after the Colgan accident discussed in the movie we watched. To legally acquire an ATP a pilot needs to have logged 1500 hours these days (Shlangenstien and Sasso 2016). So airlines wont hire you unless you have 1500 hours as opposed to the 250 they could potentially hire you at 7 years ago. This regulatory requirement has good and bad things about it but I would argue it has more bad. For starters, it decreases the amount of pilots in the pilot pool that regional airlines can draw from which decreases competition which in turn decreases quality of pilots. For a new pilot to reach 1500 hours you almost have to flight instruct which in my opinion is not meant for everyone. Not everyone is a good teacher and furthermore flight instruction is mostly hands off watching someone else fly. These hours are of lower quality then hands on flying in most aviators' opinions. Alternatives for pilots seeking to meet this minimum hour requirement would be getting employed as a pilot in jobs other then flight instructing where they could use their commercial certificate. These jobs could include banner towing, flying skydive jump planes, crop dusting, Ariel photography, and charter or tour flying. There are other alternatives to instructing too but the reality is that these jobs are very few and far between and hard to build significant amounts of hours quickly (Croft,John 2015). There really aren't many alternatives for the regional airlines themselves because they are so desperate for pilots right now and will continue to be in the near future. They are so desperate for pilots that basically if you have 1500 hours they will hire you even if they think you're not the greatest pilot. This is sad but very true and leads to a decrease in the quality of our nations airline pilot population

There is not a blanket organization or association that covers everyone else in the airline business besides the pilots. Instead there are separate organizations that cover specific people such as air traffic controllers or management. For example there exists the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA).

Professionalism to me is simply doing the very best job you are capable of when a consumer hires you to do something, whether it's making a widget or flying an airplane. Sometimes this means having more overhead or spending more money to do a better job. It sounds simple but in reality it's very hard when the ultimate goal of business is to make as big of a profit as possible.

Professionalism was lacked by Colgan Airlines in many ways. First of all they were employing a captain that in my opinion was not monitored enough and adequately trained to fly the aircraft that crashed. Also professionalism was lacked by the first officer who had commuted from across the country from the northwest coast all night and was sick. The circumstances that Colgan provided to her may have forced her to commute. But if she felt she was unfit for duty she should have never boarded that plane, even if it meant she would have to get a hotel under her own dime.

I strongly believe that first year pilot pay and/or the compensation structure of a regional airline is a contributing factor in the lack of professionalism demonstrated in the documentary. The documentary did a very good job of giving the general public a look into the lives of some starting first officers at regional airlines. It gave us a glimpse of what living in a "crash pad" looks like. It's obvious to anyone that has seen the documentary that it would be hard to remain professional when living in those conditions. Some pilots are more fortunate then others but if your pay is so low that you need to live like that I think the airlines should pay you more. However a pilot should always remain professional no matter what and at the end of the day it's a pilots choice to live in a crash pad. He/she has no one to blame but themselves. No one forces someone to be a regional airline pilot so lacking professionalism should never be accepted with the excuse of "I don't get paid enough". On the other hand I believe regional airlines need to take better care of their pilots and in past years we have started to see that in many ways throughout the country with the obvious change in an increase in pay. Some would argue this change is rooted in desperation of regional airlines to acquire pilots but i believe it is also because they have realized they need to take better care of their pilots if they want them to remain professional.

When I become a regional airline pilot I will always maintain vigilance and professionalism by aspiring to be the very best airline pilot I can be. One thing I will do is always make sure I get adequate rest before I fly. If this means I have to live at the hub I fly out of I will choose to do so. Also I will never accept making excuses to provide reasons for me to act in an unprofessional matter. As airline pilots we are looked up to and we need to set examples of some of the best professionalism in the business world. I will always continue to be educated beyond the minimum recur-ency requirements of the FAA.

References
John Croft, US Carriers face shrinking pool of pilots, retrieved from http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/us-carriers-face-shrinking-pool-pilots, on 9-30-16

 Mary Shlangenstien and Michael Sasso, Shrinking pool of Future Pilots Keeps Major Airlines on Edge, retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/shrinking-pool-of-future-pilots-keeps-major-airlines-on-edge, on 9-30-16

ATC Privatization and Next Gen

Our ATC system as it has traditionally operated has been with ground based stations such as radar to monitor and control traffic flow. Note that radar is a technology that has been around since before the second world war. Next Gen is the opposite in that it's a new and improved system that uses satellite air based GPS systems to monitor and control traffic. The overall main advantage of the Next Gen ATC system is accuracy and efficiency. It's more efficient because the satellite based GPS navigation is more accurate then traditional radar coverage methods of monitoring aircraft and traffic flow. For this reason separation between traffic can be safely decreased which in turn increases traffic flow and density and increases effeciency. This decreases the amount of fuel needed to complete flights because aircraft can fly more direct routes. Decreasing fuel usage is obviously a huge advantage for everyone in that is saves money and decreases carbon emissions.(https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/)

GA  has spoken out against the privatization of ATC for one reason and that reason is simply money. The typical GA pilot doesn't want to have to pay out of pocket for when they use ATC services. Imagine getting a bill in the mail from an ATC agency for the times you used their services last month. This is exactly what GA groups such as the AOPA and EAA are trying to avoid. The stance of U.S. airlines is usually that they are against ATC privatization as well for similar reasons. Airlines use the ATC system more then anyone else therefore they would have the biggest bill to foot if ATC was ever privatized. For this reason they would rather not have ATC privatized. However some airlines would prefer it be privatized so that new technology could be input and upgraded more quickly to increase effeciency thereby saving airlines fuel costs, The AOPA and EAA have both publicly stated their opposition to ATC provatization.

ATC is privatized in some other countries. ATC is currently privatized in countries such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. (http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/10/transportation-watchdog-lauds-privatized-air-traffic-control/) In these countries ATC is basically run like a normal business would in that they are responsible for making there own money. The big advantage to this is that that are also responsible for choosing operating procedures and can decide when to modernize equipment which is what is traditionally very slow and delayed in the United States and has been an area of complaint by the airlines. In countries like these the ATC facilities are privately funded by the entities that use the services such as the individual airlines. For example Nav Canada is one of these private operators. Most people agree that ATC in these countries runs somewhat more efficiently then ours because technology can be modernized and replaced quicker because the individual ATC facilities themselves have the power to decide. As opposed to a goverment agency having deciding control such as in the United States.

In order for the privatization of the Unites States ATC system to happen it would have to go through congress. The FAA cannot make this decision on its own because it needs to be approved through congress with a bill. ATC privatization was addressed in the latest FAA re-authorization of 2016 by a provision specifically for ATC privatization.

I personally feel that ATC in the United States would run more efficiently if it were privatized, That's not to say that I'm one hundred percent for it. But I do believe it would be more efficient just as I believe taking government out of anything makes it simpler and more efficient. However I really don't want to have one more monthly bill to come in the mail for me to pay either. The main reason it would be more efficient is because removing government control would speed up processes of change such as upgrading to more efficient technology which is a necessity in our ever changing technologically advanced world.

References
https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/
http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/10/transportation-watchdog-lauds-privatized-air-traffic-control/

Hello my name is Jason Dickinson and I'm currently in the aviation flight program at EMU. I hold a private pilot single engine land certificate with an instrument rating. I'm half way through the commercial syllabubs and am looking forward to taking my commercial check-ride. My goal is to have it done by the new year.

My experience in flying the last year and a half has been nothing but fun and I'm looking forward to the future. My long term goal is to be a captain at a major airline someday. My short term goal is to graduate and obtain as many ratings and certifications along the way as possible. I like to adventure and learning to fly has been a great outlet for me to do this. I love taking trips up north to small airports and exploring new places. I would say that's the highlight of my career as a pilot so far. I'm looking forward to this course and have heard great things about it.