There is a Huge Pilot Shortage – Start Flying Today!
During the Covid pandemic, airlines grounded planes and offered early retirement packages to thousands of senior pilots to cut costs and fewer pilots are coming from the military, for these reasons and more, there is now a huge pilot shortage.
As air travel demand continues to recover from 2020 the demand for pilots has outstripped the supply globally and will continue to worsen over the next decade. They are estimating global aviation to be short nearly 80,000 pilots by 2032.
There has never been a better time to learn to fly!
Major airlines are trying to hire 12,000-13,000 by the end of 2023, and approximately 8,000 in 2024. Some airlines are recruiting from outside the US, and some have even dropped the four-year degree requirement for pilots. This shortfall has prompted pilot unions to demand raises and operational changes this year, blaming the shortage on the airlines and saying some of them are trying to “shortchange” pilots.
If you flew anywhere this past summer, you likely encountered long security lines, cancellations, or delayed flights. On the Fourth of July holiday alone, more than 12,000 flights were delayed, and hundreds were canceled due to bad weather, high fuel prices, inflation, and staffing shortages.
So, what is behind the pilot shortage?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all pilots to take their last flight by their 65th birthday. Almost 6,000 pilots retire each year because they hit mandatory retirement. There has been a proposal to raise the retirement age to 67, which would allow more pilots to continue flying, but younger pilots would prefer to keep the rule in place because they stand to get promoted faster.
In April 2020, the number of airline passengers fell 96% in a single day, prompting airlines to worry about their survival. Some airlines, including Delta and American Airlines, cut a third of their staff, and many airlines offered early retirement packages to senior pilots.
It typically takes three years to accumulate the necessary 1,500 hours of flying time required to apply for an air transport pilot license, which is needed to fly a commercial airliner or commercial cargo plane. There’s some talk about reducing the number of hours for a license amid the shortage, but 1,500-hour the 1,500-hour requirement stays firmly in place.
Getting a private pilot’s license can be costly, and a commercial pilot license is even more, which can be a big barrier to people pursuing the profession. With that in mind, some airlines are offering financing to help people train to become pilots for their airlines. (Learn more about the costs associated with becoming a pilot using our Cost Calculator.)
In the past, airlines would recruit directly from the military, but even the U.S. Air Force is facing a shortage of pilots. Airlines across the globe are aggressively recruiting, as are regional airlines and cargo airlines like UPS and FedEx.
It’s easier for large airline companies such as American Airlines, Delta, United, and Southwest to recruit than it is for smaller airlines, which means the number of short trips flown across the nation (typically by smaller airlines) has dropped or will end service to more than 50 US cities this year.
For years, foreign airlines, such as Lufthansa and Japan Airlines, have recruited people with no experience and trained them to be pilots. It wasn’t until this year that United jumped into the business of training a pipeline of future pilots. In 2018, American Airlines started its own American Airlines Cadet Academy, which has four locations, 650 cadets, and 90 graduates. Other academies, including Delta’s Propel program and Skyborne Academy, are also training new pilots. Yet even after those pilots are trained, it could be three to four years before these new pilots start showing up in airplanes.
What this could mean for you!
If you have ever considered flying as a career, there has never been a better time! Whether you are just researching information to become a pilot or looking to advance your pilot skills, you are already on the right track by taking a look at Safety In Motion Flight Center!
We have two convenient locations in Puyallup and Olympia, Washington, and we can walk you through every step of the process. We encourage you to set up a consultation to determine your goals, answer questions, and discuss the next steps. We’ll take you up in an airplane and let you do the flying to see if you enjoy it (and you will!) and give you an opportunity to interview us and our school.
If you’re serious about becoming a Commercial Pilot, we are affiliated with the Horizon/Alaska Airlines Pilot Development Program. The Horizon Air Pilot Development Program gives you a great start on a career with Horizon Air. After successful completion of Private Pilot training with Safety in Motion, interested applicants are interviewed by Horizon Airlines for consideration of acceptance into their Pilot Development Program. Successful applicants complete training at Safety in Motion and either gain experience working as a Certified Flight Instructor, fly with a Part 135 program partner or build required flight time in some other fashion. Upon successful completion of training and meeting the ATP or R-ATP minimums, applicants will begin training at Horizon Air as a first officers.
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