Regulations that vow to increase consumer safety are rarely met with resistance. After all, who wants to come out on the side for less safety? However, more often than not, these regulations tend to impede economic growth rather than achieve their intended goal of making the public safer.

Such is the case with the latest job killing regulation set to take effect next summer. The Wall Street Journal reports that new requirements for pilots will make it harder to obtain a license, increasing the required prior flight experience six-fold to 1,500 hours. This effectively raises the cost to become a pilot, shrinking the supply of newcomers to the market at the same time airlines are looking to hire more.

Currently, the occupation is aging and large numbers are set to retire. John Allen, head of flight standards with the Federal Aviation Administration, himself called the retirement figures, “astounding and dramatic" and stated that "we don't have a system to address this issue.” This should be prime time for hiring more pilots, but increasing the cost restricts the pool from which to hire. At the same time as the new requirements for a license kick in, regulations will also increase required daily rest time, further worsening the problem as airlines need more pilots to accommodate the change. The effect on airlines will be higher costs in addition to their already rising costs from higher fuel prices. Consumers will undoubtedly feel the pain in the form of higher prices as the costs get passed down.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mallorycarr/2012/11/13/latest_regulations_will_raise_cost_of_air_travel



GOBAMA!

As usual the Federal government has got the "solution" to a problem wrong. 

The last time there was a major shortage of commercial pilots for the major airlines the airlines handled the problem as they saw fit.  Guess what?  The airlines got their pilots and the public remained very safe.

The current crop of younger pilots will love this and this is the payback to the pilot's unions for their support of the Fool, Bobo, the Post Turtle.

The flying public will paid the price.

Raising the number of flying hours "six-fold"?

Sounds like they are talking about the flight hours required to simply get a Commercial Pilot's License! If that is the case, it will have a much greater impact on the smaller, General Aviation flight operations than the airlines. Most airlines wont hire a pilot with less than 1500 hours as it is. However, if the smaller Part 135 operators can't hire pilots with less than 1500 hours flight time this will worsen the pilots shortage because that is where the ATP pilot learn their trade and get their ratings!

It will make the cost of getting a commercial pilot's license skyrocket! Many small FBOs and flight school could be run out of business (even without Obamacare taxes and regulations!).

Thats 9 months 3 weeks at 40hr a week. Crazy.

Pilots don't work a 40 hour week.

  And.

LOL!  You figure it out.  You can do it.  I have faith in you.