this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
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A cargo plane flew 50 miles with no pilot onboard using a semi-automated system. An aviation expert says the technology could address the pilot shortage.::The flight system allows a plane to be remote operated by a pilot on the ground, which could streamline pilot airline operations in the future.

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[–] EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 11 months ago (3 children)

How about we just make being a commercial pilot worth people's while instead of replacing them with robots?

Why can't the parasites in the executive board room ever just pay their employees more? "nO bOdY wAnTs tO wOrK aNyMoRe!" No, nobody wants to work in an abusive workspace for shitty pay just to get fired once the time for a raise comes around.

[–] SpacePirate@lemmy.ml 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

According to the Bureau Of Labor Statistics, the median salary for airline captains, first-officers, second-officers, and flight engineers in the United States is $203,010 as of 2021.

The big problem is actually in certifying people qualified to take those jobs, which takes additional time and money, mostly to pay for flight time for training. It can take a few grand for just a personal pilot license, but to fly an airline, you need instrument, commercial, and Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) certifications, plus increasingly expensive type ratings for the various aircraft you will be flying, a minimum of 1500 hours of flight time, and multiple years at the bottom working your way through smaller regional airlines and courier services.

You can get through the commercial licensing in 12-18 months and about $40k in flight time and insurance, but that is barely enough to get your foot in the door making $50k a year, and even then, you’re still not allowed to fly parcels or passengers for money. Getting those licenses will take another 18 months and another $40-80k, again, mostly in flight time.

That said, once you have ATPL, the company will start paying for your flight time, and you will be earning a 6 figure salary. After 5 years or so and about $100k investing in your training, you should be making over $200k, and can begin to recoup those costs.

[–] EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.de -3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

the median salary for airline captains, first-officers, second-officers, and flight engineers in the United States is $203,010 as of 2021.

That's not enough to support yourself in many places. People's rent isn't getting any lower. And being an airline pilot is an extremely stressful job. Being a flight attendant is also extremely stressful. Look up some Karen stories on reddit and youtube and even if you want to say that 80% of those stories are made up, which many of them are true, I know narcissists that are worse than that, that's still a huge number of entitled people demanding first class for free and then lying about being assaulted when the person in first class declines their offer to trade seats.

[–] thecrotch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

That's not enough to support yourself in many places.

Please name one of those places.

[–] silas@programming.dev 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

One solution to this would be having humans in the board room instead of parasites. Not sure who’s idea that was

[–] aeronmelon@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

board room filled with parasites

"Ssssss, the humanssss are coming for our jobssssss!"

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 0 points 11 months ago

Actually, this seems like a really good path towards that.

Some people like spending 40 something weeks out of the year on the road. Others will enjoy "having a home" and remotely landing a hundred planes a day from the comfort of an office building

[–] 18107@aussie.zone 1 points 11 months ago

Adequate for cargo flights, not happening any time soon for passenger flights. Aviation safety is very strict and slow to change.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You know what else could fix the pilot shortage?

Decent wages and much lower training costs.

[–] AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

Or, you know, just pay pilots more.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml -1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I have an uncle that quit being a pilot because being a trucker paid much better. I not stating an opinion, just a fact. Do with it what you will.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world -1 points 11 months ago

Fallout New Vegas is the best video game of all time. I'm not stating a fact, just an opinion. Do with it what I will.