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Student pilots trade airplanes for couches By
Keri Vargason Sitting hunched over on the sky blue couch, hands propped on his cheeks, he stares blankly out the clouded windows of the Logan-Cache Airport as the fog creeps in like a scene from a horror movie. It blankets the mountains, then the street, next the runway lights until the fence only a few steps away is no longer visible. "Damn fog," mumbles the pilot hunkered down on the couch. The call comes out on the radio for pilots to land because lack of visibility. The pilots trade in their Cessna's for the couch of the dimly lighted airport lounge and compromise for exchanging tall tales of flying. However, more and more pilots are being grounded not only by fog these days, but by the airlines themselves after Sept. 11. "Flying is an addiction. If I couldn't fly, I think I would die," said Jess Hatcher, 23, USU flight student from Boise, Idaho. "I came out of the womb ready to fly. I don't want to do anything else," said Hatcher, quickly dismissing other employment options besides flying. The aftermath of Sept.11 left young pilots who have trained to fly all their lives grasping for other options. Before Sept. 11, the future for getting a job as a pilot was phenomenal. Now more than 100,000 airline workers stand to lose their jobs because of the decrease in air travel linked to the fear of terrorist attacks post Sept. 11. "I don't know how to do anything else. I've spent my life since I was 16 learning to fly, building hours, spending every last dime I had on flying," said Hatcher. Continental, Northwest and American Airlines have sliced schedules and furloughed 20 percent of their workforce, or about 12,000 people each. United Airlines has laid-off 20,000 workers as it deals with reduced demands after the attacks. "Every pilot I know that has gotten hired by an airline in the last 3 years is now laid off or furloughed," said Hatcher. Like most everything in America, the airline industry won't be the same for a long time--if ever--after the terrorist attacks that used four U.S. jetliners as deadly missiles. To survive, the industry in a single stroke is erasing one-fifth of its operations, which overall move 650 million people a year and generate $106 billion in passenger revenues. "It is frustrating that I have spent all this time and money and when airlines begin hiring again, the pilots that have been laid-off or furloughed are going to be first in line," said Hatcher. This year is shaping up to be only the second year since World War II that worldwide air traffic will have declined. The other year came a decade ago, during the Persian Gulf War. Atlanta-based Delta "is experiencing negative cash flow" and the cuts are mandatory "until a more stable economic environment returns to the aviation industry," Delta Chairman Leo Mullin said in a statement. "U.S and foreign airlines combined are expected to lose at least $7 billion this year, mainly because of the attacks," said Tim Goodyear, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association. But the dramatic turn of events goes far beyond money. Consumers went from complaining about surging business fares, flight delays and congestion to simply worrying about staying alive in the air. Now many passengers are too afraid or anxious to fly, or fret about the hassles at the ticket counter because of new security rules at the airports. So jets are taking off half-empty, and the airlines are slashing their schedules to survive. No one knows when the public will return to the skies in numbers even close to what they were before Sept. 11, when an average plane took off 70 percent or more filled. The issue got even murkier when the United States retaliated against the terrorism, adding to consumers' skittishness about flying. Shane Edwards, 25, a graduate from the USU flight program, was furloughed from American Eagle Airlines in San Juan, Puerto Rico two weeks after the attacks. Edwards and his wife Amanda were left with no other options than to move in with Edwards parents in Farmington, Utah to save money until airlines begin hiring again. "Every pilot that was hired with me is now furloughed. Now we are all just sitting around twiddling our thumbs until people decide to get over their fears and get back on planes," said Edwards. Utah State University's aviation program has more than 200 students enrolled. The final goal of all these students is to be eligible and qualified to fly for commercial airlines such as Delta, Continental, United and American airlines. However, their futures aren't looking quite as promising as they were six months ago. In a gesture to help its laid-off and furloughed employees, some airlines are attempting to help get them back in the workforce. United Airlines is hosting a career-counseling session for its employees who were laid off after Sept. 11. The workshops include sessions on resume writing, interviewing techniques and job searching.
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