ships will be able to bring more TEUs, more containers. But a large part of our flow of traffic is not TEUs or containers; it's petrochemical. So I believe we will need more pilots. But at a minimum, we have to replace those that are leaving.
Q: You mentioned that currently, a lot of pilots come to hear about the ship channel through word of mouth. How does that affect the actual pilot pool?
A: It has been a very family business. Texas has an anti-nepotism law—your brother can’t be a pilot when you’re a pilot; you and your son cannot be a pilot at the same time. Not even your uncle, I think. But your buddy from college could, and there are several pilots whose father retired, and then they came in as pilot. The word-of-mouth problem is that it's not getting out to enough people. It's not getting out to a diverse crowd of people. We now have four female pilots here in Houston Ship Channel. We have one African American full pilot, and one who is a deputy.
Q: How have the pilots themselves reacted to this change, or this prospect of change?
A: They have been very cooperative. We have worked very closely together. They helped in the initial funding of the Pilot Board. We just have a debate about this issue of who determines how many pilots and who determines who the pilots are.
In my opinion, there is a conflict with the pilots, between how many pilots you have and their ultimate revenue. I use the example of a pie. If you have more people getting slices of the pie, the slice is going to be smaller. So there's a conflict there.
We, the pilot board, cannot betray the trust we have been given. We have to increase the pipeline. And the only way to do that is national marketing, letting people know that these opportunities exist. What I'm proposing to the board is that we use money to advertise at the various state and federal maritime academies, and to find a point person with the military so that when people transition out of the military that they can look at this as a possible career option.
I see that we need to be looking at it now, and biting the bullet on it now, because you just can't make a pilot in two weeks. It may decrease some revenue for the pilots, but it will put them in a better position five or 10 years from now to be ready for the opening of Project 11 and more ships coming around from Panama.
Q: What would you say to these potential future pilots across America about the opportunities that are available in Houston?
A: I'd say, “Apply.” We have a great executive director, Tyler Gavis. He’s putting people in the pipeline. And the maritime industry is a great industry even if you don't become a pilot. The Houston Ship Channel contributes $800 billion to the national economy, $300 billion to Texas, and about 3 million jobs. Those are all maritime-related jobs in some shape, form or fashion. It's a great industry that people don't know about.
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