Ouch!!! Wet rates keep going up!

The hourly rate on all of the planes in my flying club just went up
again (second time in a year).

Archer II's just went up by another $10 per hour. Flying rates in the
past 6 years have gone up by a factor of 1.6 times yet I am still
making the same salary I was making in 2001. If this keeps up, I sure
won't be flying much...

I keep hearing claims that inflation is low, but fuel costs have
doubled in the past 6 years, and housing prices have also nearly
doubled (my house is appraising from almost twice what I paid for it
in 2000), and consequently my property taxes have doubled. Seems to
me that inflation is running pretty high since energy and housing are
both pretty big portions of everyday expenses.

Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on, very
few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten raises
in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty small (a
couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this trend
continues...

Dean

You know, pretty soon we are not going to make anything. What happens then.
We need to outlaw unions and get rid of the minumum wage. I dont know we
need to do something different.
wrote in message
ups.com...
The hourly rate on all of the planes in my flying club just went up
again (second time in a year).

Archer II's just went up by another $10 per hour. Flying rates in the
past 6 years have gone up by a factor of 1.6 times yet I am still
making the same salary I was making in 2001. If this keeps up, I sure
won't be flying much...

I keep hearing claims that inflation is low, but fuel costs have
doubled in the past 6 years, and housing prices have also nearly
doubled (my house is appraising from almost twice what I paid for it
in 2000), and consequently my property taxes have doubled. Seems to
me that inflation is running pretty high since energy and housing are
both pretty big portions of everyday expenses.

Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on, very
few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten raises
in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty small (a
couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this trend
continues...

Dean

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:29:40 -0700, "Aluckyguess" wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...
Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on, very
few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten raises
in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty small (a
couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this trend
continues...

You know, pretty soon we are not going to make anything. What happens then.
We need to outlaw unions and get rid of the minumum wage. I dont know we
need to do something different.

Out of idle curiosity, I have to ask: How is eliminating the minimum wage going
to allow more people to afford to fly?

Ron Wanttaja

Ron Wanttaja wrote in
:

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:29:40 -0700, "Aluckyguess" wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...
Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on,
very few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten
raises in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty
small (a couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this
trend continues...

You know, pretty soon we are not going to make anything. What happens
then. We need to outlaw unions and get rid of the minumum wage. I
dont know we need to do something different.

Out of idle curiosity, I have to ask: How is eliminating the minimum
wage going to allow more people to afford to fly?

Well, more employers..

Bertie

Ron Wanttaja wrote:

Out of idle curiosity, I have to ask: How is eliminating the minimum wage going
to allow more people to afford to fly?

The employers will have more money.

On Sep 20, 8:15 pm, wrote:
The hourly rate on all of the planes in my flying club just went up
again (second time in a year).

Archer II's just went up by another $10 per hour. Flying rates in the
past 6 years have gone up by a factor of 1.6 times yet I am still
making the same salary I was making in 2001. If this keeps up, I sure
won't be flying much...

I keep hearing claims that inflation is low, but fuel costs have
doubled in the past 6 years, and housing prices have also nearly
doubled (my house is appraising from almost twice what I paid for it
in 2000), and consequently my property taxes have doubled. Seems to
me that inflation is running pretty high since energy and housing are
both pretty big portions of everyday expenses.

Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on, very
few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten raises
in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty small (a
couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this trend
continues...

Dean

Many people probably have frozen salaries on the west coast too.
The wave of outsourcing will stop once the cost
of doing business across the globe equalizes. It appears
we are getting there.

One can also view the middle between the coast as places
for big companies to "out source" jobs out of their home
locations.

If Kansas can gather critical mass for aviation, Boise should
make a claim in a specialized tech field. Don't be a dispensable
auxiliary to HP and such.. Oh, yeah, how about making some
better GA gears ? From better instruments to better LSAs that
are like real airplanes :-).

On Sep 20, 11:33 pm, wrote:
On Sep 20, 8:15 pm, wrote:





The hourly rate on all of the planes in my flying club just went up
again (second time in a year).

Archer II's just went up by another $10 per hour. Flying rates in the
past 6 years have gone up by a factor of 1.6 times yet I am still
making the same salary I was making in 2001. If this keeps up, I sure
won't be flying much...

I keep hearing claims that inflation is low, but fuel costs have
doubled in the past 6 years, and housing prices have also nearly
doubled (my house is appraising from almost twice what I paid for it
in 2000), and consequently my property taxes have doubled. Seems to
me that inflation is running pretty high since energy and housing are
both pretty big portions of everyday expenses.

Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on, very
few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten raises
in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty small (a
couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this trend
continues...

Dean

Many people probably have frozen salaries on the west coast too.
The wave of outsourcing will stop once the cost
of doing business across the globe equalizes. It appears
we are getting there.

One can also view the middle between the coast as places
for big companies to "out source" jobs out of their home
locations.

If Kansas can gather critical mass for aviation, Boise should
make a claim in a specialized tech field. Don't be a dispensable
auxiliary to HP and such.. Oh, yeah, how about making some
better GA gears ? From better instruments to better LSAs that
are like real airplanes :-).- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well, I have co-founded a company that is making LED lighting for GA
(experimental category initially), but we are still trying to earn
back our initial investment and won't be in the black for many
months. I have hopes that our business will grow to the point that I
can make a living at it, but only time will tell.

In the meantime, it is a real struggle being an engineer in this
economy. I know many engineers that bailed out and took jobs in the
business and financial sector where they aren't using their
engineering skills other than their math and critical thinking. Many
of them are making better money than they did as engineers. I know
some that have gone back to get their MBAs (and the associated
lobotomy) so that they can work in business management careers.

If the trend ever does reverse, there is likely to be a shortage of
engineers with many who left the profession not wanting to come back,
and fewer new grads coming out of college since the job market is so
poor right now.

Oh well, we all have to do the best we can. Maybe we will get lucky
and half of China will die of lead or melamine poisoning.... :-)

Dean

On Sep 20, 11:33 pm, wrote:
On Sep 20, 8:15 pm, wrote:





The hourly rate on all of the planes in my flying club just went up
again (second time in a year).

Archer II's just went up by another $10 per hour. Flying rates in the
past 6 years have gone up by a factor of 1.6 times yet I am still
making the same salary I was making in 2001. If this keeps up, I sure
won't be flying much...

I keep hearing claims that inflation is low, but fuel costs have
doubled in the past 6 years, and housing prices have also nearly
doubled (my house is appraising from almost twice what I paid for it
in 2000), and consequently my property taxes have doubled. Seems to
me that inflation is running pretty high since energy and housing are
both pretty big portions of everyday expenses.

Salaries are being held down by offshoring of jobs. We have lost
close to 5,000 high tech jobs in Boise in the past 2 years alone,
mostly due to offshoring by Micron and HP. With that going on, very
few people in the high tech industry in this area have gotten raises
in the past 5 or 6 years, and if they did, it was pretty small (a
couple of percent one time).

I don't see how GA is going to attract many new pilots if this trend
continues...

Dean

Many people probably have frozen salaries on the west coast too.
The wave of outsourcing will stop once the cost
of doing business across the globe equalizes. It appears
we are getting there.

One can also view the middle between the coast as places
for big companies to "out source" jobs out of their home
locations.

If Kansas can gather critical mass for aviation, Boise should
make a claim in a specialized tech field. Don't be a dispensable
auxiliary to HP and such.. Oh, yeah, how about making some
better GA gears ? From better instruments to better LSAs that
are like real airplanes :-).- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Actually a few years ago the Boise Valley was producing more aircraft
per year than any other city in the US. We had both Skystar, Avid,
Papa51, Helicycle and Skyraider all producing kit aircraft. Most of
these companies are now gone or seriously downsized.

Brian

One can also view the middle between the coast as places
for big companies to "out source" jobs out of their home
locations.

Not. The outsourcing to India (and other places) continues here too.
We're running 3% unemployment here, which essentially means that
everyone who wants to work is working.

I just spoke yesterday with the HR manager of a Fortune 500 company.
He's a pilot, and a good guy, and he's totally despondent because he
can't find ANYONE to work skilled trades, for ANY amount of money.
We're talking six figure incomes here.

They're now even offering to train people from zero, and he STILL
can't find anyone worth a damn. Sadly, our workforce is chock-full of
lazy, do-nothing, video-game-playing, no-work-ethic, good-for-
nothings, and anyone that IS worth a damn is already employed.

At the hotel, of course, we're at the other end of the scale, looking
for entry-level workers. We're in a college town with 35,000 young
people -- yet Mary and I can't find *anyone*. We can't even get
anyone to APPLY for the jobs, let alone interview. It's scary.

Our latest tactic is to try to hire older, semi-retired folks. They
still remember how to work, and often out-produce their young
counterparts by a factor of 2 to 1. Unfortunately, every employer is
jumping on that bandwagon, and there just aren't that many older folks
willing (or able) to keep working.

Bottom line: There is plenty of work and opportunity in America for
those who are willing to work. The rest have been lobotomized by the
nanny state.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Sep 22, 6:41 am, Jay Honeck wrote:
One can also view the middle between the coast as places
for big companies to "out source" jobs out of their home
locations.

Not. The outsourcing to India (and other places) continues here too.
We're running 3% unemployment here, which essentially means that
everyone who wants to work is working.

I just spoke yesterday with the HR manager of a Fortune 500 company.
He's a pilot, and a good guy, and he's totally despondent because he
can't find ANYONE to work skilled trades, for ANY amount of money.
We're talking six figure incomes here.

They're now even offering to train people from zero, and he STILL
can't find anyone worth a damn. Sadly, our workforce is chock-full of
lazy, do-nothing, video-game-playing, no-work-ethic, good-for-
nothings, and anyone that IS worth a damn is already employed.

At the hotel, of course, we're at the other end of the scale, looking
for entry-level workers. We're in a college town with 35,000 young
people -- yet Mary and I can't find *anyone*. We can't even get
anyone to APPLY for the jobs, let alone interview. It's scary.

Our latest tactic is to try to hire older, semi-retired folks. They
still remember how to work, and often out-produce their young
counterparts by a factor of 2 to 1. Unfortunately, every employer is
jumping on that bandwagon, and there just aren't that many older folks
willing (or able) to keep working.

Bottom line: There is plenty of work and opportunity in America for
those who are willing to work. The rest have been lobotomized by the
nanny state.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,

I'm not surprised to hear that there are jobs near you because you are
close to Collins and Aerospace is booming right now. Unfortunately,
we don't have any large Aerospace companies in Boise. I know that I
could relocate to Cedar Rapids and have a job anytime I want one there
(a friend of mine is a Director there), but I don't want to move the
family to Iowa.

I'm not sure that I believe the HR guy about 6 figure jobs that he
can't fill though. I have heard that story before, but usually they
have such a specific set of requirements that they screen out a lot of
people that really could do the job. For example, there are lots of
good experienced software types that can't get a job doing .NET unless
they have specific experience with .NET recently on their resume.
Learning a new language like .NET for someone with lots of other
software experience really isn't that tough, but HR guys usually don't
understand that.

Locally there are lots of good experienced engineers here that are
underemployed or working in other fields... I suspect that many of
them don't want to have to pack up and move.

Dean