Industry News
Pilot shortage creating opportunitiesLater this month, Adam Jannik will finally make it to the big leagues.
After eight years of learning the pilot trade, honing his craft on short-hop routes for regional airlines, he'll start a job at one of the biggest birds in the sky: United Airlines.
Jannik, from Wentzville, is part of a mass migration under way in the ranks of the nation's 90,000 commercial airline pilots. Many are moving up in the world, the beneficiaries of a hot job market after many lean years.
For some, it's the end of a long logjam that set in after Sept. 11, 2001. For others, it's a sprint up the industry's rigid career ladder faster than has been possible in decades. And it's having a profound effect on the dozens of regional airlines, like Bridgeton-based Trans States Airlines, that fly about 20 percent of the nation's air passengers and have long served as a sort of farm system for the better-known majors.
What's happening is that, at last, the big guys are hiring.
Through a combination of expansion and retirement, pilot seats are opening at major airlines at a record clip. US Airways recently announced plans to bring on 500 pilots. JetBlue wants 400 by next year. Southwest plans 700 hires, according to industry forecasts. This causes a domino effect as they pluck from the ranks of the regionals, where young pilots typically go to earn their wings before jumping to a better-paying major.
"They're the feeding ground," said Kit Darby, president of Air Inc., an Atlanta-based company that tracks pilot hiring. "It's causing attrition that has to be replaced."
So regional airlines are scrambling to hire, lowering their experience requirements and offering jobs to some pilots straight out of flight school, instead of making them work as flight instructors first.
To keep its 545 cockpit seats full, Trans States has been hiring about 25 new pilots a month, said spokesman Bill Mishk, though not all of those make it through training. Like some of its peers, it has lowered minimum flight requirements for a new hire, to 500 hours, or just twice what the Federal Aviation Administration mandates for a transport license. A few years back, the standard was 1,000 or 1,500 hours.
"I'd be remiss if I didn't say the regional industry has become more competitive," Mishk said. "We have to be very active out there in terms of recruitment."
All that turnover has a cost. Training a new pilot typically takes two months and can cost tens of thousands of dollars. New hires must learn new policies, spend time in simulators and take practice flights with an experienced airman.
"This is not a carwash," Darby said. "There's a lot of complicated things to learn at an airline. Turnover is very disruptive."
It can have an effect on passengers, too, especially if pilot seats go unfilled.
The FAA allows pilots to be in the air only 100 hours a month, which can make the end of the month a harrowing time for an understaffed airline. In late June, Northwest Airlines grounded hundreds of flights, largely due to crew shortages. That could easily happen at regionals if they have trouble hiring, Darby said.
"If you have a big shortage one day, you end up canceling everything," he said. "It's very expensive and a PR nightmare."
It could also raise safety concerns if it forces airlines to skimp on training, though several in the industry were quick to say those standards have not fallen. At Trans States, Mishk said, they've intentionally tried to hire from more rigorous flight schools and college aviation programs.
"We always keep a high standard," he said.
But for pilots, the shortage means opportunity.
The last few years have been hard for many, said Todd Hirshon, a pilot from suburban Boston who spent eight years bouncing through several regional airlines, including Trans States, before landing a job at Spirit Air this summer.
He stuck it out through a corporate bankruptcy and a layoff at a regional subsidiary of US Airways, then moved to Trans States, which has had a strained relationship with its pilots union in recent years. He was a first officer there, unable to move up to captain because turnover had stalled.
"It wasn't fun. I never made money," Hirshon said. "It was stressful financially, but also mentally. Was I going to be one of those pilots who got stuck?"
Eventually he moved to another regional - Freedom Airlines - where he could be a captain. He earned his hours and won a job with Spirit Air, a fast-growing discount carrier that flies to Latin America and the Caribbean. He plans to start training soon.
For the generation behind him, things may come faster.
A well-trained flight school graduate can get a job right away these days, industry experts say, and regionals are recruiting heavily at colleges.
Last month, Atlantic Southeast, a Georgia-based regional carrier, flew a plane to St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia to woo students from St. Louis University's aviation program, said Manoj Patankar, dean of SLU's Parks College of Engineering. They handed out job applications to 50 students.
"It is very aggressive," he said. "They are really reaching out to schools."
And they have something to offer. While pay is still low - many regional jobs start below $25,000 a year, and many young pilots have six-figure debt - advancement can be swift. With experience requirements as low as they are, a first officer these days could make captain in a year or two. A captain could jump to a major airline a couple of years after that, where they can eventually make six figure salaries.
To Jannik, 35, who spent years "paying his dues" at the regionals, that's a little tough to swallow. It's hard to see rookies complaining about the low pay when they can walk right into an airline job.
"They don't know how good they have it," he said.
But, he notes, everyone who can fly a passenger jet has it good these days, because there aren't enough of them to go around. That means more opportunity, a chance to finally get that break, after a long stretch of lean times.
"Now is the pilots' time," Jannik said. "Now is the time that we get it back."
By Tim Logan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/17/2007
FAA REVEALS 10-YEAR CONTROLLER HIRING PLAN
The FAA on Wednesday released its updated plan to hire air traffic controllers over the next 10 years. According to the FAA, it will hire and train more than 15,000 controllers over the next decade, starting with nearly 1,400 new controllers this year. Instead of listing a fixed optimum staffing number for each of the FAA's 314 facilities, as in the past, the new plan provides a range of numbers to give the agency greater flexibility. "Air traffic levels are very dynamic," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. "It is critical that we staff facilities based on actual and forecasted traffic demands. We are confident that the new controller hires will be able to meet the needs of the future."
Demand for pilots sky-high
Fresh on the heels of hiring 610 pilots last year, SkyWest Airlines intends to hire another 700 this year to keep even with the regional carrier's snowballing growth. It will be a daunting task. Regionals are flourishing as they pick up less-profitable and shorter routes that national carriers no longer want to fly.
The consequence is a shortage of commercial pilots, which some in the industry predict could reach a crisis level and others say has compelled some airlines to lower their hiring standards closer to government minimums in order to fill seats in their cockpits. "We are looking nationwide. We have a full-court press throughout the system," said Necia Clark-Mantle, vice president of people for St. George-based SkyWest. "The market in general is pretty difficult."
SkyWest executives say the airline has not lowered its hiring benchmarks. Its applicants need 1,000 hours of flying time, including 100 hours piloting multi-engine airplanes in order to get a job interview, and its typical candidate has 1,800 hours of experience. The Federal Aviation Administration requires 250 hours of flight time for a commercial license.
"Anything above and beyond what is stated [in FAA rules] is a business decision on the part of the airline," FAA spokesman Les Dorr said.
Because SkyWest is unwilling to relax its requirements, it must work harder than some airlines to hire qualified pilots. Great Lakes Airlines demands 750 hours and is not feeling a shortage of acceptable candidates, said Monica Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Cheyenne, Wyo.-based regional carrier. American Eagle, which is hiring 30 to 60 pilots a month, accepts as few as 400 hours if applicants complete pilot training at approved flight schools, spokesman Dave Jackson said. American Eagle is a subsidiary of AMR Corp., which also owns American Airlines.
SkyWest has posted help-wanted notices on its Web site, and it will conduct pilot career fairs in Salt Lake City and seven other cities this month. The airline wants to talk to pilots who fly for other regionals or who have been furloughed by bigger carriers. And it's combing through university aviation programs, looking for acceptable candidates.
There might be no time like the present to become a pilot for hire. Airlines hired about 8,500 aviators last year, and the pace should continue at that level or higher for the next 10 years, according to AIR Inc., which tracks pilot hiring. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. estimates the global appetite for new pilots at 17,000 a year through 2024.
"All I can say is it's the best time to get into the industry," said Mike Kraus, program director for the aviation studies program at Westminster College, which graduates about 110 commercial pilots a year, ready for the job market. "When you are born sometimes controls your destiny and opportunities."
The remarkable turnaround of the airline industry - whose fortunes ebbed after 9/11 - is behind much of the demand for pilots, said Kip Darby, president of Atlanta-based AIR. Much of the industry is returning to profitability after wresting huge pay and benefits concessions from employees, shedding expensive retirement programs and shifting more flying to contract carriers such as SkyWest. Rising fares and falling jet fuel prices are helping, too.
At the same time, the military - traditionally one of the best sources of commercial pilots - is retaining more of its aviators. And many pilots who leave the military are choosing other careers, underlining the instability in the airline industry that has pushed many carriers to extract big pay and benefit cuts from their employees.
"The next big crisis is a lack of qualified crews," said Ed Thiel, a Delta Air Lines captain and member of the executive council of the Delta unit of the Air Line Pilots Association. "The airlines are having difficulty finding qualified applicants. There are not as many people coming out of the military route, and it's almost prohibitively expensive to go through the civilian route, while the career has degraded to the point where it doesn't make sense to go into the business."
Aspiring pilots who enroll in aeronautical colleges can expect big tuition bills. An undergraduate degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida costs almost $100,000. Thiel said nonacademic routes to a job at a major airline can be as expensive and take 10 years to complete.
All the same, a job isn't hard to find after a pilot earns a commercial license. Two years ago, Frank Ayers, chairman of Embry-Riddle's flight department, was able to keep graduates on as flight instructors for a couple of years before they landed a job flying for a regional airline or other employer. "I'm lucky now if I keep someone six months," Ayers said. "Don't get me wrong; it's a good problem to have. Despite all the bankruptcies, it appears that the increased demand for air travel is solid. Airlines have finished downsizing and have figured out how to fly profitably."
Analysts are betting that most airlines will report strong earnings in 2007. Ray Neidl of Calyon Securities thinks that American Airlines could earn earn $4.06 per share, or about $889 million, with United Airlines earning $4.80, or abut $531 million. SkyWest is expected to be the most profitable regional carrier, earning $2.71 a share, or close to $173 million, this year.
"There is a relationship between airline profits and hiring," AIR's Darby said. He believes that some airlines will earn as much as $1 billion a year as their profitability builds during the rest of the decade. "If that relationship holds true, we will see a lot of hiring."
The pilot hiring that SkyWest is undertaking is part of a broader plan to expand its 10,000-employee work force by up to 4,000 workers this year. In part, turnover is pushing the airline to accelerate pilot hiring. Regionals historically have been where young pilots assemble enough flying experience to move to bigger airlines.
About 10 percent of SkyWest's pilots leave the company each year. Some pack it in when they reach age 60. (Last week, the FAA said it would propose raising the compulsory retirement age to 65.) Others leave for jobs at other airlines, said Camille Ence, manager of pilot recruitment.
Most pilots who leave hope to hire on at national airlines and air cargo companies, which pay more and give better benefits, Darby said. FedEx pays an Airbus A380 captain with 10 years of experience $17,464 a month, according to WillFlyForFood.cc, a Web site that compares pilot pay. An American Airlines captain flying a Boeing 767 earns $11,008 a month. SkyWest jet captains with a decade of experience earn about $3,000 a month. First officers are paid $1,425 a month, according to WillFlyForFood.
Although some bankrupt carriers have turned their retirement programs over to the government Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., most retirement packages at the bigger airlines are still defined-benefit programs instead of 401(k) programs. Bigger airlines also provide more rest time between flights, Darby said.
The key reason why SkyWest must hire hundreds of new pilots this year is its growing alliance with Delta. In November, Delta selected SkyWest Inc. to take over some of the regional flying business operated by its Comair subsidiary. This month, Delta will shift the flying of 12 Canadair regional jets to SkyWest, The company also is waiting to hear whether Delta will award it another 131 Comair jets. Each aircraft needs a rotation of nine pilots.
Delta also granted eight of the 70-seat jets to SkyWest when it bought Atlantic Southeast Airlines in September 2005. Those aircraft are scheduled to be delivered between now and May.
The growth in the numbers of pilots and other employees "will be primarily dedicated to our Delta mainline partnership," SkyWest's Clark-Mantle said.
By Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 02/03/2007 01:49:24 PM MST
Worldwide Shortage of Pilots
One of the world's leading flight training experts is warning the corporate aviation sector of an impending crisis in the quality of pilots available for hire. He is also making recommendations on what the industry can do to avert the situation.
The worldwide shortage of qualified pilots across all aviation sectors is already well documented, but Bruno Dobler, President of the Board of Horizon Swiss Flight Academy predicts that the business aviation industry is teetering on the verge of a disaster unless it tackles the issue now. Says Dobler, "Traditionally, pilots head for the airlines first and then move into business aviation. What looks likely to happen is that there will be more pilots flying for the airlines and there will fewer top calibre pilots available to the corporate sector. As an industry which is dependent on its reputation, this could have dire consequences for safety, unless it does something now".
Dependence on reputation
As CEO for Switzerland's Helvetic Airways and with twenty-five years of pilot training under his belt, Dobler is well qualified to comment. The public perception of business aviation safety has already become a delicate topic. Last year's flurry of accidents in the US - both fatal crashes and serious non-fatal incidents - has already raised alarm bells in some quarters. Last May the respected US business magazine Forbes ran an article entitled "Flight of fear". The emotive piece focused on the lack of policing in the US charter industry and mentioned a court case concerning a co-pilot on a Learjet involved in a fatal accident. It is claimed that his records had been falsified, to indicate he passed his FAA annual proficiency flight. The fact that Forbes ran the story signals awareness outside the industry that recent safety performance has not been as good as it should be.
Fatalities on US private business charter planes jumped 55% last year to 65 deaths out of 68 separate accidents. The FAA was so concerned that it organised a roundtable of experts in February to look at the issues. "We're in trouble here," Steven Wallace, director of the FAA's Office of Accident Investigation said at an industry conference last March. "There's no question the perception in Washington, aided by the press, is we really have to do something." The National Air transportation Association said that the industry "must improve charter operations safety", whilst aircraft manufacturer Bombardier stated that "The majority of accidents are still caused by Human Error".
Robert Breiling, who conducts safety analyses for the NBAA, found that there were more serious accidents involving business jets in 2004 than the previous year. In October 2005, Breiling noted the number of fatalities in turbine-powered business aircraft of all types had increased by 80% compared with the same period in 2004. Business aircraft often operate into smaller airfields lacking the safety equipment associated with airports serving scheduled commercial air traffic. 80% of accident investigations place pilot decision making as the primary cause. Cockpit resource management is an essential element in the training of all pilots and crew but it is not a requirement for jet charter operators outside the EU and accidents often take place due to poor crew co-ordination and not following standard operating procedures.
The emerging very light jet (VLJ) market could also put pressure on the industry's reputation for safety. The first deliveries of the Eclipse 500 six-seat twinjet are set for next year and will put huge numbers of business owner-pilots, or even pilots employed by air taxi or charter operations, at the controls of aircraft much faster than they have handled before. In addition the twin turbofan aircraft will be certified for single-pilot operation, whereas most business flights at the moment are run with a crew of two.
Stiff competition with airlines for pilot recruitment
The most important factor affecting business aviation is the worldwide shortage of pilots. Forecasters anticipate that China will become the world's second-largest aviation market after the US within 20 years and Chinese airlines are falling over themselves to recruit qualified foreigners. Hainan, Shenzhen and Sichuan Airlines, along with Okay Airways, China's first private operator, hired around 100 European pilots in 2005 and expect to take on more. Last year China's major airlines carried 120 million passengers, a 38 per cent rise on 2003, and ordered over 200 new aircraft last year.
Boeing has set up a training centre near Beijing and estimates that China will need more than 2,400 new passenger and freight aircraft over the next two decades and require 55,000 pilots to fly them. However, qualified captains are needed in the short term. There is likely to be a shortfall of up to 8,000 experienced pilots over the next 10 years, which will compel the country into hiring more foreigners.
India is also desperate to entice captains from the West. The country's strong economic growth has boosted the market for air travel with a 25% growth in air passenger traffic last year. There are six to seven million air passengers in the country, and industry watchers say their numbers could rise tenfold in five years. Indian airlines placed orders for more than 100 widebody aircraft in 2005. The civil aviation ministry estimates India will need 5,000 pilots in the next three to four years. Last July the government stated that Air India was 118 pilots short, while Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Indian Airlines, had 40 vacancies. The supply of new pilots in India is also being squeezed, as a number of flight schools have had to suspend lessons because their instructors have been hired to fly for commercial carriers.
Middle Eastern airlines, too, are demanding pilots at a rate of knots. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways all regularly recruit and local private operators, such as National Air Services or the region's various royal flights, are constantly looking for pilots. Thanks to huge growth in the region's aviation sector, the local fleet is expected to grow by around 600 aircraft over the next 20 years, according to Boeing, which means that around 4,800 extra pilots need to be recruited or trained to fly them. Larger carriers also face a challenge, although theirs is more about finding volumes of quality staff. Emirates has 1,200 pilots from 60-plus countries and is looking to double this number by 2012. It is aiming to recruit 200 pilots this year, and 300 next year.
However, while Europe, along with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, has supplied a large number of the pilots to the region over recent years, this flow may soon start to dry up, as the airline industry there begins to recov er.Arecentconferenceorganisedby the British Airline Pilots union, BALPA found that 700 new flight deck crew will be needed for 2006 to fill vacancies caused by expansion and retirements.
Business aviation growth
Coupled with the lack of pilots, business aviation is set to grow. A survey by Honeywell in October found that the long-term future for the growth of business aviation is very positive. The outlook forecast demand for 7,600 new business aircraft over the next five years. By 2012 the fractional ownership fleet will comprise 10 to 12 percent of all active business aircraft in the world (compared with around 7 percent today). Speaking at the NBAA conference in Orlando this year Honeywell Aerospace's president, Bob Johnson said, "[We] continue to believe that only a small portion of the potential fractional business has been developed, and we believe that continued growth in this segment is sustainable for years to come".
Despite recent rumblings, the sector enjoys a reputation for high standards of maintenance and safety, which it can call on to offset extra costs that it could incur because of increased bureaucracy. For example, in Europe, The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is proposing that corporate operators push the fact that they traditionally have a superb safety record to avoid some of the bureaucracy involved in qualifying for an aircraft operator's certificate (AOC) designed for airlines.
In order to maintain its traditional impressive safety record and protect its good name, Dobler believes that business aviation needs to raise its game and provide more stringent quality checks on pilot ability and increase training where it sees a skills shortfall. Unlike the airlines, the sector has not yet established a common standard for refresher training. Scheduling can exacerbate the problem. But solutions are available; Horizon has developed an online testing programme using internet tools, which pilots can access at any time from anywhere. The system tracks the results automatically, which also does away with administration. The system is already used by airlines and corporate aviation companies.
Suggested solutions
So what can the industry do to protect itself? Dobler suggests several key areas to look at, the first being recruitment and how to pitch the profession to attract suitable wannabes. He should know. Horizon has an impressive track record in weeding out appropriate candidates for an aviation career. On average, more than 95% of its graduates are hired within six months of completing their training, even in the last four years when jobs were scarce. "The industry has to apply itself carefully to the screening process", Dobler says. "Not only that, it needs to promote itself to attract students in the first place, and to tackle some of the difficult issues, such as rostering. Business jet pilots often don't know their schedules until the last minute, unlike airline pilots, who are aware of theirs two to four weeks in advance. This obviously has a negative impact on people's lives and it is resolvable with careful planning".
To tackle the problem of experienced business aviation pilots defecting to the airlines, Dobler believes it is vital that the industry promotes the advantages of working in the sector, such as opportunities for rapid career development in smaller teams, flying some of the world's most sophisticated aircraft to destinations all over the world and staying in luxury hotels. Says Dobler, "Most of the world's high fliers use business aircraft, rather than flying with airlines. This demonstrates that there is a real need to select the right pilots, to treat them and train them well to qualify them for this highly demanding segment of aviation".
Dobler also believes that the business aviation industry could take up the model adopted by many airlines, where companies work with training organisations to pre-select student pilots, who then pay for their own training, perhaps with a loan or a contribution towards the costs of their training from the company. The company then tracks its students' progress and they stand a better chance of being hired by that organisation on completion. This would dramatically reduce the screening process for a business, as it will have tracked candidates through their training. Says Dobler, "The corporate aviation industry must act now, or find itself with serious difficulties in the very near future".
- Elizabeth Moscrop,
Airsider.com, May 2006
Training schools see increase in students as pilots still in demand
At least 14,500 (pilots) will join major and regional carriers this year, about four times as many as a decade ago, according to industry employment tracking service AIR Inc. ...Optimists see job opportunities ahead because of the pending mandatory retirement of nearly 30,000 pilots in the next 10 years as they reach the 60-year-old age limit. Even this year, some 10,500 additional pilots are needed at small, regional and major carriers, according to AIR. Entry level pay for commuter pilots of small airplanes can approach $25,000, but average salaries at major airlines can reach $100,000 — even more for captains of jets like the (Boeing) 737.
By Douglas Sams
Gwinnett Daily Post, July 23, 2006
If you've ever dreamed of flying, now could be the right time to break into aviation.
There is a high demand for pilots, industry experts say. Older pilots are retiring and regional airlines are expanding and hiring, even as a few major airlines are cutting back.
The number of new hires at airlines has been steadily rising since 2003, said Kit Darby, president of Atlanta-based Aviation Information Resources Inc. Airlines have increased hiring for the past two years, following declines from 2001 to 2003.
The regional airlines are hiring hundreds of beginners to fill openings. Mesa Airlines Inc. in Phoenix hired about 600 pilots in the last year and is looking to hire 80 more this month, said pilot recruiter Chris Bender. The company expanded its contract with Delta this year and started new flights to Hawaii in June, adding more planes.
Last year, the major airlines hired 2,500 pilots, and Darby said he expects they'll hire about that many this year.
Half of the major airlines, including low-cost carriers such as Southwest and cargo fliers such as FedEx, are hiring. The other half still have a combined 8,300 pilots on furlough, although some are being recalled, Darby said.
Adding to the demand is the effect of many pilots reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60, although there is a movement to push the retirement age to 65. About 12,000 pilots will retire in the next five years.
By Becky Pallack
Arizona Daily Star, July 13, 2006
With Jobs Scarce, U.S. Pilots Sign On At Foreign Airlines
In a new twist on global outsourcing, a flock of U.S. pilots is fleeing the depressed North American airline industry to work in far reaches of the world where aviation is booming. After the 2001 terrorist attacks stifled air travel and sent the U.S. industry into its deepest decline ever, more than 10,000 U.S. pilots were laid off, and many more took early retirement. Despite subsequent hiring by a few healthy carriers, including Southwest Airlines, thousands haven't been able to find new flying jobs at their old pay grades.
At the same time, the industry is expanding rapidly in China, India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. As these regions have grown more affluent and loosened aviation restrictions, travel demand has soared. New airlines have started up, existing carriers are adding routes, and hundreds of new jets are on order.
So, like British and Australian pilots who long have plied their trade wherever they find work, more Yanks are taking their skills offshore. They are doing so despite trepidations about moving families, flying on short-term contracts, and sometimes giving up union rights to be called back to work by U.S. carriers according to seniority.
U.S. pilots are working as far afield as Bolivia, China, Qatar and Vietnam. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines are hiring more Americans, as are carriers in Taiwan and South Korea, and increasingly, in India.
The diaspora is one symptom of a growing global shortage of well-trained commercial pilots. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. estimates the global jet fleet will grow to more than 35,000 airplanes in 2024, from fewer than 17,000 in 2004. Boeing pegs demand for new pilots at nearly 18,000 a year through 2024. China alone will need more than 35,000 new pilots over 20 years, and the rest of Asia will need 56,500, the company estimates. Many countries are currently unable to train enough pilots at home.
The result: a global bazaar where experienced pilots go to the highest bidder. Norwegians and Venezuelans are flying in China, Egyptians and Russians in India, Jamaicans and Iranians for a Japanese carrier. Four out of five pilots at Qatar Airways are foreign. More than 70 Philippine Airlines pilots have quit since 2003 for better-paying jobs elsewhere. Etihad Airways, a new airline based in Abu Dhabi, says its No. 1 source of pilots is Malaysia. India's fleet of startup carriers was so plagued by pilot poaching that the government last year began requiring pilots to serve at least six months at one carrier before moving on.
The hiring frenzy has led to some safety concerns. English is the industry's world-wide language. Putting two pilots with different native languages in the same cockpit, where they might have to interact with an air-traffic controller whose native tongue is different still, can lead to problems, especially in emergencies, contends Dennis Dolan, a retired Delta Air Lines captain and president of the U.K.-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, which represents pilot unions and associations in 95 countries.
One pilot who moved from a U.S. airline to a national carrier in Southeast Asia says that informational updates on safety at his new employer arrive late or not at all, and that little attention is paid to punctuality or how many hours pilots work. "Training for the most part is far from the quality I was used to in the U.S.," says the 55-year-old captain, who asked not to be identified for fear of angering his employer. He adds that he likes the lifestyle and finds the job "relatively easy."
One reason for the pilot shortage is that developing nations aren't training enough of them at home. There are not enough flight schools in the world to meet demand, says Brent Mills, the chief executive officer of Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, a flight academy in Tulsa, Okla., that plans to open schools in India with a local partner in the next year. It takes many years for a college graduate to accumulate sufficient flight training and commercial flying hours to climb the professional ladder from novice to first officer to captain.
Some nations, such as Japan and Ethiopia, have raised the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to alleviate the shortage. ICAO, the U.N. agency, will recommend later this year that the age be raised to 65 from 60, although member nations will not be required to do so.
India counts more. Deregulation has spawned startup airlines, an influx of international flights, and 20% annual passenger growth. India expects to need 2,500 new pilots by 2010. At Jet Airways, the nation's largest private carrier, 111 of its 685 pilots are foreign. Air Deccan has 75 foreigners among its 250 pilots, and is setting up its own flight school in Bangalore.
Compensation for the foreign gigs varies widely. But it is often better than what U.S. pilots can earn at home, where pay levels and benefits have been reduced by bankruptcy filings and restructurings. Richard Paul, an 18-year US Airways veteran who was bumped from captain to first officer during one round of layoffs, says he plans to quit soon and report for training to fly cargo at a large Asian carrier he declines to identify. The 46-year-old pilot says he will start as a first officer, but "in four or five years, I'll probably be a captain on a 747 and make twice as much" as the $72,000 a year he currently earns.
Mr. Baedke, the former Northwest pilot who now flies out of Honolulu for Jalways under a crew-leasing contract, says he's trying to spread the word to other American pilots. Many of his pilot friends, he says, were laid off after 9/11 and have not yet been called back.
As a first officer, Mr. Baedke earns $100 an hour, or $105,000 last year. He expects to begin training next month to become a captain, a process he says could take 2½ years. If he succeeds, his pay will climb to $150 an hour for the first 50 hours flown each month, and $180 an hour for anything exceeding that.
By Susan Carey in Chicago, Bruce Stanley in Hong Kong, and John Larkin in Mumbai
The Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2006
With the oil industry booming, offshore aviation companies are facing a near critical shortage of helicopter pilots, which has led to an increase in demand, (and) higher pay.
For years, many in the aviation industry have known that the time would eventually come when the huge glut of Vietnam-era pilots, who came back from war with hundreds and sometimes thousands of flight hours beneath their belts, would begin to reach retirement age. Some now are doing just that, while others have lost their medical certificate due to their age.
Aviation companies, most of which require their pilots to have 1,000 hours of flight time, are struggling to fill those vacancies, due to increasing competition from several other industries that are starting to use helicopters more and more. They include the air medical industry, news agencies, hospitals, tour guide companies and even a growing number of wealthy individuals who seek glorified chauffeurs. All are competing for experienced pilots.
So, companies have turned to a growing number of flight schools that are working overtime to turn out pilots to meet the growing demand.
Joe Sheeran, the owner of Vortex Helicopters said there has never been more of a demand for pilots than there is today.
"The time is really right for pilots," said Sheeran, who practically guarantees that his students will find a job when they finish. If not, "they're not looking," he said.
By Jason Brown
The Daily Advertiser, April 9, 2006