Comments

Maybe it's time for Flying to do a 2-6 month multi-part article on this topic and explore this topic from several perspectives. I, too, have been hearing about these shortages for most of my adult life, but it is almost always in a 1-3 paragraph blurb and there is no data presented to back up the claims. Based on the comments above, I'm not sure anyone believes the cry anymore, so more than anecdotes and press releases are needed. While I think the GAO report might be interesting, I think Flying could talk to Airlines, the industry groups, pilots, pilot groups and the like. It would also be nice to see some hard data on pilot ages, experience and pathways to jobs and careers (and remember they are different). Mix in salary, starting, average, and high for jobs in training, cargo, passenger, scheduled, etc., and throw in information about tenure at various job categories, and I bet fascinating trends will emerge. The series could also include sidebar interviews with pilots who took different routes in (big schools, military, learning at the local field)--and those could have 2 themes, one on the job path, and one on "where my training excelled, where it didn't," and while this dips back into anecdote, we might all learn a lot.