If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Larry Dighera writes:
Could it be that Americans are working longer hours? That is certainly part of it. Americans work a lot harder than they used to, and they are making less money in return (in constant dollars). The number of people who just scrape by is much greater than it was 40 years ago, especially in the withering middle class. And is it possible that the increase in hours worked don't equate to more disposable income? Absolutely. Forty years ago there was an affluent and very large middle class in the United States that had the money and time for things like flying in many cases. Today that class is vanishing. The much smaller class of people who can afford to fly today may still be discouraged by the tremendous barriers to entry into the hobby, as compared to other hobbies. It is ridiculously difficult to become a private pilot, and unless one is among the very tiny minority of people who are truly obsessed with flying, there are many other hobbies that provide similar levels of satisfaction for far less money and with far less hassle and red tape. And although some will flame me for this, simulation still enters into the picture. I note that the number of people interested in online simulation of flight is greater in Europe than in the United States, and I think the main reason for that is simply that it's even more difficult to become a private pilot outside the USA than it is inside the USA. The more difficult it is, the more likely people are to settle for simulation to satisfy an interest in aviation, just as the cost and hassle of Formula 1 racing or the sheer unlikelihood of being drafted onto a football team leads many people to simulation. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Marco Leon writes:
Yes, and yes. While I don't think that the reasons you mentioned are the primary reasons, I do think they play a part. Salaries are indeed higher but so are the housing prices. A "starter" house in Long Island, NY for example is around $450K. Paying for that mortgage while bringing up a family leaves little room to blow $7K on a year's worth of flight training. Forty years ago, a "starter" house might cost 1.5 times the annual salary of a person in the middle class. Now it may cost ten times the annual salary of such a person (although the middle class is disappearing). -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Kyle Boatright writes:
I doubt that. What is happening is that people are spending their money differently. That is far less important than the fact that they simply don't have the money to begin with. I have a $100/month cable/internet bill. Plus a $50 cell phone bill. Plus the maintenance, repair, and replacement expenses for 20 different devices in my home that people didn't have 50 years ago. Add them all up and you'll find that it still doesn't cost anywhere near as much as flying. We have more discretionary income than before, we just spend it on day to day conveniences and various iterations of the idiot box (TV, Computer, Gaming, etc.)... No, the income is actually worth less. Adjusted for inflation, discretionary income is disappearing. My personal theory is that flying is no longer the source of hero worship it once was. Is there a current Lindberg? How about an Amelia Earhart? Maybe a John Glenn? Not really. Flying has lost the public's imagination, and therefore the publicity. I think that very few people indeed are motivated to fly by hero worship. People undertake hobbies because of a fundamental interest in the hobby, for the most part, and not become some celebrity is interested in it. And one reason we don't have aviation heroes any more is that aviation is much more expensive than it used to be. Also, we have commercial flights every day that exceed just about anything that can be done in a private plane, so there aren't many records to break any more. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Nathan Young writes:
The LSA industry certainly appears to be booming. Every flying magazine I get has a new LSA listed each month. Most of the LSAs are ~$100k. Flying magazines are perhaps not very objective sources of information. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
I've discovered that the harder you work the more he's got his hand
in my pants taking more of my hard earned efforts to come up with a few extra bucks for flying. Amen, brother. Until we, as a people, come to grips with this completely out of control, tax-consuming, inefficient monster of a government bureacracy that we've created, we will find our freedoms and our income ever more diminished. This isn't a Democrat or Republican thing -- this is a We the People thing -- and we've GOT to do something about it, soon. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Mxsmanic wrote:
Kyle Boatright writes: I doubt that. What is happening is that people are spending their money differently. That is far less important than the fact that they simply don't have the money to begin with. I have a $100/month cable/internet bill. Plus a $50 cell phone bill. Plus the maintenance, repair, and replacement expenses for 20 different devices in my home that people didn't have 50 years ago. Add them all up and you'll find that it still doesn't cost anywhere near as much as flying. For $150 you can easily rent a C-172. -- Jim Pennino Remove .spam.sux to reply. |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Mxsmanic wrote:
Nathan Young writes: The LSA industry certainly appears to be booming. Every flying magazine I get has a new LSA listed each month. Most of the LSAs are ~$100k. Flying magazines are perhaps not very objective sources of information. So all those ads are false advertising? Quick, call the Feds. -- Jim Pennino Remove .spam.sux to reply. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
"Mxsmanic" wrote in message ... Marco Leon writes: Yes, and yes. While I don't think that the reasons you mentioned are the primary reasons, I do think they play a part. Salaries are indeed higher but so are the housing prices. A "starter" house in Long Island, NY for example is around $450K. Paying for that mortgage while bringing up a family leaves little room to blow $7K on a year's worth of flight training. Forty years ago, a "starter" house might cost 1.5 times the annual salary of a person in the middle class. Now it may cost ten times the annual salary of such a person (although the middle class is disappearing). Then someone is buying way too much house! |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
Mxsmanic wrote in
: Marco Leon writes: Yes, and yes. While I don't think that the reasons you mentioned are the primary reasons, I do think they play a part. Salaries are indeed higher but so are the housing prices. A "starter" house in Long Island, NY for example is around $450K. Paying for that mortgage while bringing up a family leaves little room to blow $7K on a year's worth of flight training. Forty years ago, a "starter" house might cost 1.5 times the annual salary of a person in the middle class. Now it may cost ten times the annual salary of such a person (although the middle class is disappearing). Good thing you live in a dumpster then huh? bertei |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
NY Times Story on Pilot Population Decline
"Mxsmanic" wrote in message ... Oh quit whining and go get a job you moron. If people want to fly, they can fly. Perhaps a little less than for the same relative money 20 years ago, but it hasn't changed that much. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
FA: pilot and globe trotter with a story to tell? | wcmoore | Aviation Marketplace | 0 | February 16th 05 10:53 PM |
Story from an older pilot 74 | Hankal | Owning | 17 | November 4th 04 04:26 AM |
Story of an older pilot 74 | Hankal | Instrument Flight Rules | 3 | November 3rd 04 03:52 AM |
Start of the Decline of Al Qaeda?? | Denyav | Military Aviation | 5 | May 8th 04 06:45 PM |
Soaring's decline SSA club poll | Craig Freeman | Soaring | 4 | May 4th 04 01:07 PM |