Will the Airline Pilot Shortage Affect You?

THE PILOT SHORTAGE is here, and it’s been making headlines. Network news channels have been carrying the story, as have dozens of print and online sources. Last month, Republic Airways, a large U.S. regional carrier that flies on behalf of American and Delta, filed for bankruptcy protection. It blamed the filing, in part, on a dearth of qualified pilots. Other carriers have been canceling flights and mothballing aircraft because they can’t find enough pilots to man their cockpits.

Yes, the shortage is real. It’s critical, however, to make clear which sector of the airline industry we’re talking about. We need to draw a sharp divide between the major carriers and their regional affiliates. It’s the latter that have a problem on their hands. (The term “regional airline” isn’t understood by everyone. We’re referring to the numerous subcontractors who operate smaller jets and turboprops: those myriad “Connection” and “Express” companies, whose actual identities are usually concealed beneath the liveries of their major carrier affiliates.)

passing legislation mandating higher flight time totals and additional certification requirements for new-hires.

Some airlines blame the shortage at least partly on these tougher rules. Technically they’re right, but really all the new regulations are doing is returning things to historical norms. My first job with a regional — “commuters” we called them in those days — was in 1990. Competitive applicants at the time had between 1,500 and 2,000 hours, and most of us had an FAA Airline Transport Pilot certificate as well. That’s more or less what the FAA requires today. The difference, of course, is that there are more jobs to fill.

An aspiring aviator has to ask, is it worth sinking $50,000 or more into one’s primary training, plus the time it will take to build the necessary number of flight hours, plus the cost of a college education, only to spend years toiling at poverty-level wages, with at best a marginal shot at moving on to a major? For many the answer is no.

The regionals, to their credit, have begun upping their salaries. Some now offer signing bonuses of several thousand dollars, while work rules also are improving. The cost structures of these carriers, whose existence is primary to allow the majors to outsource flying on the cheap, limits how much they can lavish on their employees, but if they want to stay in the game, they have little choice, frankly, other than improving their pay and benefits.

Reprinted with permission from Patrick Smith.

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