When I created Jetwhine wayyyyy back in 2006, the tagline was pretty simple … “aviation buzz and bold opinion.”
Since then, some 650 stories of fact and aviation opinion have appeared on these pages. Some of them have have driven readers simply crazy, like some we’ve written about air traffic controllers and the FAA for instance. Some haven’t raised so much as a speck of dust anywhere. But that’s life.
The stories written by our editor Scott Spangler though are often much more controversial than mine. The difference of course is that Scott’s style is so smooth that he makes his point without seeming to point fingers in people’s faces. I’m still hoping he can teach me that trick.
Now as we enter 2014, I think it’s time to add a new element to Jetwhine … more audio.
Today we’re rolling out Episode One of The Aviation Minute. 
These podcasts (scroll down) are designed to briefly capture the essence of a single topic. They’re also designed to create enough interest for you to seek more information on your own. It’s the only way you’ll ever stay informed on the ever changing world of aviation. And let’s be serious … this is not the aviation world I came into when I soloed a Champ in 1966 around the patch at Champaign Airport, IL (CMI).
Our first show is devoted to the pilot shortage. And if I stay on top of things, we should have a brand new episode each week that tantalizes you just enough on one topic to make you think.
And of course, I also hope these will someday bring my delivery up to the standards of Scott Spangler … but I still have a way to go.
BTW, we’re always on the lookout for fresh topics that we should keep an eye on. Some of the best of the best have been suggested by you our readers … and listeners now. So please feel free to send along your ideas and comments to me … rob@jetwhine.com.
For those of you who have come to expect complete technology savvy shows, let me mention there will soon be a separate RSS feed and iTunes account to subscribe to only The Aviation Minute should you choose. More on that soon.
Enjoy,
Rob Mark, Publisher
I think you hit the nail on the head. I don’t always agree with Lee Moak, ALPA president, but he summarized it as a wage and benefit shortage, and I think he’s right on.
Great idea to present current topics in a brief one-minute format. But PLEEEEASE fade the beepy, annoying background sounds to nothing after starting to speak.
You summarized the alleged “pilot shortage” nicely. I would go farther by saying that transporting up to several hundred passengers at a time through the air in a long metal tube is a serious responsibility, requiring knowledge and skills rarely found among the general human population. Pilots deserve to earn no less than the highest paid surgeons.
You fellows and gals hit the nail on the head why in the hell would you want to spend 4years of college and then have to spend another 70,000 for flight training and then you are told you will be flying one of our 70 passenger state of the art jets but we only pay 15,000 a year come on. and not only that you have to move or commute and sleep at a crash with 20 other people maybe if you are lucky yu might be able to sleep in te closet
Well I been a professional pilot for almost 40 years now, I’m 59. A friend flies for a Regional and he wanted me to apply too. I talked to them, I was 58 at the time. The wind up it was 22 an hour with a 65 hour a month guarantee and I would have to live in Chicago! I told them I would consider 100 an hour with the same 65 a month guarantee. I have no desire to live like a 22 year old again, knowing full well I would have to be gone in 6 years. I would never be a captain. The HR guy tried to talk me into it, buy saying it would top off a career or some such BS. The Gulf of Mexico will be hiring helicopter pilots again and I will go fly off shore, since I also fly helicopters, and I will start at near 60 K a year on a 14/14 work schedule with time and a half for work over and per diem and 90 bucks a day if I stay off shore, And this is one of the lower paying operators to boot. The money is just not there in flying anymore if there really was any. Long accident free experience, my flight times are in the mid six digit range, counts for nothing other than with 2.65 I can get an extra large coffee from Dunkin Donuts.
I would also like to say that there should b a minim pay to start of at least 50-60 thousand to start so you could at least feed your family and put gas in your car and have a cup of coffee there telling the younger generation what a beautiful career it is but they don’t tell you can qualify for welfare and food stamps with this job there is no shortage just smarter people
On iTunes?