Register
Careers News Training and Proficiency

Flight Schools: Farm Teams for the Airlines

FLYING staff writer and CFI shares story of a student recruited by an airline right out of flight school.

Meg Godlewski
Verified
Today, many airlines are using stipends to help their future captains and first officers pay for their training—even when they are years away from the flight deck of a jet. [File Photo: Adobe Stock]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Airlines are actively addressing the pilot shortage by offering stipends, hiring bonuses, and pilot development programs to recruit and fund aspiring pilots early in their training.
  • Pilot development programs provide conditional job offers and financial support to accelerate training, as exemplified by pilots like Kevin Peterson who received early sign-on bonuses.
  • While not always mandatory, an aviation college degree can significantly accelerate a pilot's career by qualifying them for a Restricted Airline Transport Pilot (R-ATP) certificate with fewer flight hours and providing direct pathways to airline partnerships.
  • Flight schools face a double-edged sword: high demand for training but difficulty retaining Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs) who are quickly hired away by airlines.
Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->
See a mistake? Contact us.

Editor’s note: This article is the third in a six-part series examining the aviation industry’s pilot shortage and what can be done about it.

Jan. 14: An overview of the issue | Jan. 17: How the military is dealing with its shortage | Jan. 18: Recruiting right from the flight schools | Jan. 19: Outreach programs do their part | Jan 20: The role of flight schools in creating pilots | Jan 21: Want to get your chops back? Here’s how. 

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

Ready to Sell Your Aircraft?

List your airplane on AircraftForSale.com and reach qualified buyers.

List Your Aircraft
AircraftForSale Logo | FLYING Logo
Pilot in aircraft
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!

Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox.

SUBSCRIBE