Today, USA Today published an article eluding to the coming economic pinch that will hit the regional airline sector in the coming years.
The article is accurate and on point, and states the problem simply; there aren’t enough pilots willing to operate regional airliners for the wages being offered today. That is to say, highly trained and experienced pilots are unwilling to offer their services for, at the highest paying regional airlines, around $25,000 per year.
While I could take the time to detail the moral and economic absurdity of these pay rates, I will instead present an argument that I’ve made in the past as it relates to the actual cost that each passenger is paying for their first officer at a regional airline.