Airlines need the 747 NOW more than EVER.

this episode of kobe explains is brought to you by magic spoon visit the link in the description and use the promo code kobe explains to get five dollars off your order trying to fly commercially in 2022 has been utter chaos we've all seen the images of crazy long security lines and encountered sky-high prices when booking flights but by far the most disruptive part of traveling this summer has been the mass flight cancellations it turns out that the pilot shortage we've been hearing about for years has finally caught up to airlines with more scheduled flights than pilots available carriers have had no choice but to cut back but what if they got creative what if instead of canceling flights they consolidated them what if instead of flying two separate flights on a 737 or a320 airlines operated a single flight on a 747 a plane that's twice the size that way you'd need half the number of pilots to carry the same number of passengers could this tactic actually help solve the shortage and more importantly would it be profitable let me explain real quick folks youtube is still telling me less than 20 percent of the people watching this video are actually subscribed to the channel so go ahead and hit that button and bell so we can build the absolute best community in aviation together first let's talk about why exactly we're facing a pilot shortage the current shortage is a global affair and the root cause varies dramatically by region but we're going to focus primarily on north america where aside from europe the problem is most pervasive america's pilot shortage is driven by two key factors the first of which is pilot age simply put pilots are old and getting older for some context commercial pilots in the u.s must retire at age 65 and as of the writing of this video the average american pilot was in their mid 50s when covet hit and air travel bottomed out it forced many in this cohort into an early retirement and now that demand for travel is surging we're starting to feel the impact of that depleted supply but why exactly is the average pilot so old to begin with well that brings us to driver number two the cost of flight training is ridiculously high prospective pilots pay anywhere from fifty to a hundred thousand dollars to obtain all the necessary training and certifications needed to fly commercially and while senior pilots do make really good money in some cases up to seven hundred thousand dollars a year new pilots make hardly any in many cases it can take over a decade to recoup that initial investment in a world where the cost of living is skyrocketing this expensive and time-intensive process is scaring people away from the flight deck and it's creating a world where there just aren't enough young pilots to backfill the older ones meaning this shortage is only going to get worse now airlines have taken a few steps to cope the most obvious of which is canceling flights while this tactic is undeniably effective in a pinch it also foregoes a lot of potential profit while also leaving passengers very unhappy but this is far from the only tactic that carriers are trying a more sustainable long-term solution has seen airlines launching their own flight schools these flight schools are designed to offer a simple direct path to the cockpit let's take a look at united's new aviate academy as an example once accepted into aviate united will pay for you to obtain your private pilot's license which can save prospective pilots up to twenty thousand dollars after you've earned this certification you'll interview with united directly for a spot at their mainline carrier now this doesn't mean you're gonna fly for united right away you still need to accrue the necessary 1 500 total flight hours before flying commercially but by offering job security well in advance united hopes that more pilots are willing to continue their costly training they'll even help you earn those 1500 hours as quickly as possible pairing you with either a flight school or regional partner to accelerate the process but while programs like these can certainly make flight school more accessible their impact won't be felt for several years it's clear that another short-term fix is needed and this is what brings us to the crux of today's video could airlines solve the problem by operating bigger planes in theory this is a simple and elegant solution jets like the 747 can carry twice as many passengers as narrow bodies like the a320 and 737 that means that fewer of them and in turn fewer pilots are needed to keep up with demand but up until recently u.s carriers have been largely resistant to the idea of deploying jumbos on short-haul routes for one large planes just aren't nearly as efficient as narrow bodies since they're larger and create more aerodynamic drag what's more big jets take longer to load and unload meaning they spend more time on the ground and less time in the air making money but when covet hit the narrative began to change wide bodies were proving quite expensive to store and maintain during the downturn because they're just so darn big now i know this might come as a real shocker but airlines really don't like losing money so rather than keep them in storage indefinitely many started to experiment by deploying them on short domestic routes between 2019 and 2021 this resulted in a 40 uptick in wide body usage on domestic flights and the tactic ultimately proved far more viable than many expected now to be fair these jets still aren't nearly as profitable as narrow bodies on most short routes but what this experiment demonstrated was that given extenuating circumstances the tactic is a viable one and we're clearly facing extenuating circumstances today airlines seem to be losing far more money by canceling flights and rebooking passengers than they would if they just used larger jets and with covid forcing many old jumbos like the 747 into retirement there is a glut of them waiting to be purchased for cheap we've actually already seen select airlines embrace this sort of approach lufthansa for instance is trying to tackle rising demand by taking six a380s out of deep storage but it should be noted that they aren't deploying them on short domestic routes like i'm suggesting here so if this tactic works so well why aren't airlines across the board embracing this approach well even though it's viable it isn't without its drawbacks the most pressing of which is a staffing issue again airlines are already short on pilots so they need to be very prescriptive around how they craft pilot schedules but by bringing jumbos into the mix it would disrupt that airlines would need to train their airmen on these new planes which means pulling them out of the cockpit and sticking them in the classroom this is sure to further exacerbate the problem in the short run there's also the problem of space the vast majority of airport terminals taxiways and runways are designed to fit smaller planes since they significantly outnumber wide bodies an industry-wide shift towards larger jets even if only temporary could strain airport infrastructure this wasn't that big of an issue during kovid since the total number of flights was significantly lower and gate space was plentiful but with travel back to semi-normal there simply won't be enough space for all these big boys causing congestion and delays but despite all of these constraints i do believe there exists a middle ground that can be reached perhaps rather than going all in with just jumbos airlines can utilize a mix of planes like the 747 and a380 while also adopting smaller wide bodies like the triple 7 and a330 many of these planes also faced early retirement during covid meaning there are plenty available to be picked up for cheap should airlines choose to pursue this solution it could prove both a quick and effective fix and at the end of the day it could help stem the pilot shortage until a more permanent solution can be reached speaking of pilots i've been floating around the idea of chasing my private pilot's license of course it is a massive investment both from a time and money perspective so if any of you have spent time in the cockpit i'd love to hear more about your experience feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments or email me directly at kobiexplains gmail.com and thanks again to magicspoon for supporting today's video now i don't know about you but i love cereal always have but as i've grown older i've started to realize that eating it isn't exactly the best way to start your day most cereals are packed with sugar and are low in nutrients and i've actually started to eat cereal more as a dessert instead of a breakfast and that's why i got really excited when i learned about magic spoon magic spoon is essentially an adult version of all the cereals you loved as a kid but without all the added sugar each serving has up to 14 grams of protein and only four to five net carbs meaning you're able to quickly fuel up in the morning in a healthy and delicious way they've got all sorts of great flavors from cocoa to peanut butter to fruity and my personal favorite frosted magic spoon is so confident that you'll love their cereal that they back up your purchase with a happiness guarantee if you're not 100 satisfied they'll refund your order if you want to try magic spoon for yourself simply head to the link in the description and use the promo code kobe explains to get five dollars off your order thank you so much to my patrons for helping to make this video possible if you like what i do and want to help the channel grow go ahead and check out this link right here and as always if you learned something new today leave a like and subscribe to keep learning and until i see you again don't forget to look up you

Channel: Coby Explanes

Views: 281,199

Keywords:

Id: z2n7p7hMQ2s

Length: 10min 48sec (648 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 19 2022