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Back to the main theme of the thread, you are getting distracted, and that plays to their hand. Bottomline, Fingers listened to the problems (like Boomer before him), and decided it was easier to go around the identified problems and ask Congress to take action to make every pilot less marketable. A big GIANT FU to those that serve. I will not address the issues that make you want to leave, I will simply ignore your complaints and take external actions that will make it harder for you to find a job on the outside. Anyone else want to vomit at the hypocrisy? It was the same thing from a former MAJCOM/CC, a guy I used to respect, who said "they will stay out of patriotism and if they don't we will just make more" Good luck with that one...of course he was a Nav.

You guys are missing the point. Nobody is gonna take a paycut to live in DLF. You want those lifers in the sim building to run the flightline? Half can't pass a medical. But you go right ahead. Look, you're not gonna get any takers to come down here to District 12. You're gonna have to incentivize the $$$ in ways that make civilians a non-starter. Once you hit AGR levels of equivalent hard/soft compensation, it's not worth it to the DOD to pay a civilian that. This isn't new. They already tried to make us all ARTs down here. Didn't go anywhere. And I mean nowhere, dead in the water full stop. It was amazing to see how they even had to carve us out DLFers from the conversion. Never seen management have to be so transparent about a concession in my 12 years in this gig. You guys know the muckity mucks are going back to an ART-to-AGR retrofit with tail between their legs right now, right? 55% system-wide manning on the ART side alone. They can't staff it in GOOD locations, let alone the UPT shitholes. This whole thread is moot already. And you guys think the P-cola model of having non-ART/straight-GS GS-12 flying T-1s is gonna get traction in UPT shitholes? LOL Hell, there was a huge exodus in P-cola precisely because they wouldn't give those guys GS-13 with the SSR, only the most hardcore "live in FL over anything" townies remained. And moving UPT on a piecemeal basis to good locations in order to normalize for the inability to pay civilians AGR money and benefits? ROFL. Your god-damned chief of staff is actively lobbying for the regional industry just so he doesn't have to address servicemember non-monetary QOL drivers, and you guys think the DOD is gonna have the impetus to make basing changes? Holy shit you guys are hitting the Petrovskaya a bit hard and early on this one. Good AFSO-21 topic though. Good luck.

Below is a post from Albie over at APC. Highly pertinent to this discussion, and , as usual from Albie, spot on: It is not as dumb as you think... Part of the reason pilots are doing so well in contracts now is the pilot shortage has decimated regionals. This move by Goldfein would make the regionals able to hire less experienced and less expensive pilots. This labor shortfall could be significantly reduced by producing more regional pilots sooner, which is his goal in reducing the flight time required for these jobs. If regionals could again hire guys at 250 hours with a commercial, they could fill a lot more right seats...quickly. Until the ATP requirement, young pilots could get a loan for their training and build time for only a short while before being scooped up. There were plenty of pilots in the mid 2000s that would take out a 100k loan to get to that hour mark. Two things stopped that. First--the requirement to have an ATP and 1500 hours. Second, the financial crisis drove a lot of folks out of the loan making business, which funded the "puppy mill" flight schools across Florida and the sunbelt. Many of those schools and programs shrunk or disappeared. 750 hours isn't at easy at 250 and a commercial to acquire, but it is half of what they need now. It is a big cut. If the regionals can start stacking their right seats again, here's some potential ramifications... 1. The bonuses/wage increases we've seen in the regionals might ebb or disappear. The financial barrier for a new pilot to gain 750 hours, while not insignificant, is reduced. So is the time it takes (by 6-18 months) to get those hours as a CFI in those same schools. Those helo transition courses might fade as well... 2. Regionals being better manned will allow some code-share and out-sourced flying to go back downhill to the regionals from mainline. Part of the reason Delta is interested in 100 seaters and bought the 717s from SWA was the lack of reliability and shrinking cost advantage of regional feeders. More pilots to fly those 50/70/90 seaters for less money puts downward pressure on mainline pay and benefits. 3. Once regionals can successfully fill their own schedules, they will again be whipsawed to lower their costs or face losing routes to their regional competitors. The downward pressure on wages when that occurs has already been demonstrated many times since 2002. While it is a tragic story, the fact is one poor regional pilot with a bad training record probably did more to enhance our profession than years of dedicated work and effort by many ALPA volunteers. The Colgan crash put pilot experience and competency into the discussion in the media and in Congress, and also flight time and duty time issues. Subsequent legislation meant to enhance safety like the Part 117 regulations and the 2013 ATP changes not only helped enhance safety, but also gave pilot groups more leverage than they have had in years by shrinking the pool of available labor. What Goldfein hopes to do--as do the RAA and a host of others--is lower the requirements to increase that pool size. In the process, he will take pressure off his manning crisis by not only increasing the of non-military pilots available for airlines, but by potentially reducing our future pay as well. He doesn't just want to keep his pilots--he wants to make the airlines an overall less attractive option. The hero in these stories? The Colgan families. They have never let up in their fight to highlight the issues that affect airline safety. They are on the Hill--even now--quietly walking the office halls wearing their red jackets and adored with a simple button that usually has a picture of the loved one they lost. They are going to need to keep the fight going, along with the help of ALPA and others, if the 1500 hour requirement is to be preserved. https://www.faa.gov/news/press_relea...m?newsId=14838 Congress tightens requirements for airline pilots - latimes

Maybe. Or again, maybe he's proposing "non-monetary" solutions so that when he goes back to congress asking for a bump in the bonus and/or monthly flight pay, they can see he's tried other solutions.

Airline IT is stuck in the late 70s/early 80s. After being at AA for almost 3 years, I can say without a doubt the only reason this shit show doesn't implode is because of the Capt and FO. These companies are not going to outlay the capital to make any improvements which would allow single pilot or autonomous. Possible in a Utopia...sure. Just not in this fucking world.

We are quite a ways off from removing the elevator operator from the elevator in both professional and public acceptability. Cease buzzer.

Lemme guess, part time UPS so you can get an employee number.

With that perspective, I feel that much more betrayed by Gold-fiend and his AF cronies. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Valid points. Just throwing it against the wall to see what sticks, apparently not much. The real solution is two fold: Make UPT Instruction a more desirable assignment by putting UPT in decent locations with additional career opportunities offered for extended tours. Higher educational opportunities, homesteading, professional development, etc... if you put some decent carrots out there, the Line will respond. If you continue to put shit sandwiches on the plate, they'll respond again but with their feet. Use the pilots you already have trained more in your Guard / Reserve force. The AF spends over 5 billion a year in training, I am not sure what X percentage of that is UPT but probably a good chunk. Train fewer pilots but offer more work to your already trained crew force. This is more complicated than my simple one sentence answer but the cost in terms of time and money to make new trained / qualified pilots is more than to use the ones already trained. Doing the same thing day after day in a cold, sunless, sterile Borg cube flying a computer to the same virtual places to see the same screw ups with just a different name doing it, that would never wear down a man's soul to a hard edge curmudgeon... never...

I would find an apartment or similar place for on base-lodging rate or less off base. Then pick a date and quietly check out of lodging. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

And THAT, gentlemen, is how you do a rant. Any questions? Right, carry on...

Go look at AFSAS to see how well datalink works

What guard unit is this?

Three years ago we were encouraged to consider furnished apartments. Now we're not? This is still the current guidance on their site though... https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/news.cfm?ID=30 Effective as of November 1, 2014 MAP/CAP 118-13, Flat Rate Per Diem for Long Term TDY - In order to encourage travelers to take advantage of cost saving opportunities..... The commercial lodging industry considers stays greater than 30 days to be “extended stays” and typically offers reduced rates to ensure occupancy. Travelers may also consider furnished apartments or similar types of lodging which are typically cheaper than room rates in commercial lodging.

I've often wondered how it work out if they put UPT into the Guard. Great mission for a part time force, with zero deployments. Highly experienced dudes teaching for years/decades. Haven't even begun to consider the numbers, but you'd clearly be required to have WAY more bases than we do now, as most bases could only handle one airframe. Has RAND or some masters student done a study on this? Probably thousands of reason this is a bad idea...just thinking out loud.

+1 for Gold Dot....in any caliber. If you are shooting a .357 short barrel, 38SPCL +P are the way to go (IMO). Cheers ATIS

Why the F' don't they just add TSP matching to any AFSC 11X or 12X or Aviation bonus payment used for TSP....the services are allowed to match.... It'd be a small upfront payment from Mother Blue for a possibly big benefit for aviators later when we're old and deaf from flying her planes.

I hope this isn't a repost. Please enjoy this offering of humor from The Duffleblog https://www.duffelblog.com/2017/02/fighter-pilot-shortage-results-in-recruitment-of-average-looking-uncool-people/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Duffel+Blog&utm_content=Air+Force+to+allow+average+looking%2C+uncool+people+to+become+fighter+pilots

Two distinct issues: 1. Upper pressure garment inflating early restricting blood flow 2. OBOGS regulator (panel-mounted I believe) issues during negative-g: causing insufficient partial pressure of oxygen (PPO2) outflow to the mask.

I would argue that the things this guy bitches about are all things that have started over the course of the last couple of Commandants of Cadets and Superintendents. There is a lot of WHITLY and the place is going to hell thrown around by every class but I find the lack of discipline and decorum disturbing. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Because being a company yes man makes you a better officer?....I have feeling your cause and the actual " fly/fight and win cause" of the air force don't match. Your cause seems to be a"Me" mentality Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Who was the guy with a P who got promoted with no IDE or AAD? I want to know his story.

Not too much sour grapes...but...Having checked all my boxes and drank the Kool-aid by the gallon; quite frustrating to see that someone who didn't show the same "dedication to the cause" be rewarded with the promotion. Understand ever story is unique, but it still stings....

I'm starting to think Buddy Spike must be trolling us here. I've got plenty of time in both, single-seat jets and multi-engine heavies. That experience tells me that just because a jet designed for one pilot can be flown well in an emergency situation doesn't mean a multi-engine heavy can also be flown well by a crew of one in an emergency. A compound emergency in dogshit weather and congested airspace with an incapacitated pilot (under this proposed single-pilot construct)? Recipe for disaster, and as many here have pointed out, AI has a lot of growing up to do before the FAA and Airline execs are willing to assume that much risk betting on automation to save the day. Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network Forums