Airlines need competent pilots who can keep their billion dollars aircraft fleet up in the sky round the clock. Suppose the aircraft gets filled with paying passengers and for some reason, pilots don’t show up, what will happen? The results are obvious – Huge operational losses and a bad reputation for the airline. This is exactly what is happening in the United States due to pilot shortages.
Delta airlines has cut regional flying operations by 25% during the first half of 2022. The reason to cut operations despite the travel demand in these sectors is a shortage of pilots. When many pilots took incentive-based early retirements during COVID-19, the airlines looked at their regional partners to fill those pilot seats. During this transition, regional airlines couldn’t train their first officers to be promoted as Captains due to corona virus-related training restrictions. The disruptions caused a diminution of well-trained pilots and led to the closure of regional routes. Delta airlines Chief Executive Officer, Ed Bastian expects to induct 100 to 200 pilots every month into the next year.
Dealing with the same problem as Delta Airlines, United Airlines is also facing pilot shortage so intensely that it had to ground its 100 regional jets. Discontinuation of operations to and from smaller communities was a no-choice decision as United has not enough pilots to serve on those routes.
Keeping in view the pilot shortages, airlines are now offering attractive salary packages in order to induct new pilots and retain the existing ones. At Envoy Air, new pilots have received a pay raise of a whooping 47%, taking the per hour $25.84 salary to $37.90 with a probability of additional bonuses. Similarly, the Dayton, Ohio-based PSA airline which is also a fully owned subsidiary of American Airlines has increased the hourly rate for first-year pilots to $38.50, and an additional bonus of $35,000 over the next years.
The study presented by Geoff Murray predicted a supply of 357,214 pilots against the demand of 416,709 pilots, taking the global shortage of pilots to 60,000 by 2029.
As the world has almost come out of the pandemic and airplanes are soaring high in the skies once again, it is just the right time for new entrants who want to make a career as an airline pilot. Amid the pilot shortage reported by many US airlines, it is high time to get enrolled in flying schools and end up hunting a job much quicker than ever before.
Looking for more information on how you can convert your forging license to an FAA and land a job in the US? Drop us a message and we will get back to you to make your dream come true!