The Pilot Shortage Is Preventing People From Flying Between U.S. Virgin Islands

A pilot shortage, drawing pilots away from small operators, has left St. Thomas and St. Croix with virtually no air service between the two islands. These islands within the U.S. territory are virtually unconnected by passenger air, and this is the result of U.S. laws which limit the number of pilots, and which prevent world airlines from providing service. That needs to change.

Lack Of Pilots Hits Small Markets Hardest

Government subsidies were used to pay pilots to retire early. There aren't enough pilots because of government rules that limit the number of pilots and it takes a long time to get more.

Regional airlines serving small cities have had a problem with their pilots being recruited by major airlines. A pilot can make more money flying a bigger plane. Small airports are most affected by the pilot shortage.

U.S. Virgin Islands Are Suffering A Lack Of Air Service

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, this is hitting close to home. People use flying to get between the two islands.

• Cape Air, which provided the primary air service between the two, has cut its operation to the bone due to lack of pilots.
• Seaborne Airlines, the other main carrier between the two slands, hasn’t been operating either. They are losing their government-granted monopoly on seaplane service.
• A third airline, Seaflight, has only a single plane which had been grounded for mechanical reasons.

There are still scheduled flights, though mostly with zeroed availability, and sometimes only a few seats for sale per day with no guarantee flights will operate. Foreign air carriers should be allowed to provide service in the U.S. if U.S. airlines are unwilling to do so.

Restricting Service To U.S. Carriers Is Corporate Welfare

Foreign people can't own more than 25% of a U.S. airline. The U.S. airline ownership rules are some of the strictest in the world.

The requirements were enacted in the Air Commerce Act of 1926 and the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, and have largely remained the same since then. A “citizen of the United States” is an individual U.S. citizen, a partnership whose members are U.S. citizens, or a corporation or association organized under U.S. law where at least 75 percent of the total voting interest is owned and controlled by U.S. citizens.

100 years ago, foreign ownership restrictions were justified because of the protection of the US airline industry.

The rules against foreign ownership of U.S. airlines and cabotage are designed to keep fares high and limits choice at the expense of consumers. The itineraries for award flights between the US mainland and Guam are no longer available.

There is no reason to give hundreds of dollars per passenger for inferior air service as a first choice policy. At a minimum, we should invite foreign airlines to operate routes that the U.S. carriers have determined are uneconomic. Let those carriers either try to make it work or burn their own capital in order to provide better service to U.S. air travelers.

The U.S. airlines will fight this because they don't want foreign airlines to gain a foothold here and because they show that consumers can have better options.

We Subsidize Routes That Make Far Less Sense Than This One

In the late 1970s, the Essential Air Service program was created to make up for the loss of deregulation. There is nothing as permanent as a temporary government program. A 10 year transition period was included in the legislation. In 1988 this was supposed to be over.

There are over 150 communities that the program subsidizes flights to. The cost of the program per actual passenger is much higher than for Amtrak. Many airports that receive subsidies are not necessary to sustain air service at other airports. Over the last 25 years, spending on the program has tripled.

St. Thomas and St. Croix don't have an alternate airport.

The U.S. Should Invite Foreign Carriers To Operate Between St. Thomas And St. Croix

There are restrictions on the ability to connect the islands by air. Subsidizing the routes would only draw pilots away from other cities. Shouldn't foreign airlines be allowed to operate the route if U.S. airlines don't want to?

There were significant barriers to becoming a pilot that were unrelated to the cause of the Colgan Air accident. If congress wants air service to the smallest cities, they can fix this.

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Commercial airline pilots are hard to find in the U.S. The rules do not have anything to do with safety. The problem is that more available pilots mean less leverage for pilots unions.

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The pilots union is in talks with American. The company is offering a raise by the end of the year. The president of the union said they knew their members would get paid.

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