Pilot Shortage ‘Isn’t Real,’ ALPA Says

The union claims that there's a surplus of airline pilots.

Ryan Ewing

Friday, April 19, 2024 at 11:36 AM ET

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A Horizon Air Embraer E175 at Seattle’s Paine Field. [Courtesy: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera]

Key Takeaways:

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) asserts there is a surplus of commercial pilots, not a shortage, and is strongly opposing legislative proposals to raise the mandatory pilot retirement age from 65 to 67.
Despite major airlines slowing or halting pilot hiring in 2024, regional carriers continue to face severe pilot shortages, particularly for captains, and are offering significant financial incentives to attract and retain them.
This debate highlights conflicting views, with ALPA calling the pilot shortage "not real," while some industry analyses still project a future gap between pilot supply and demand, though improved from previous estimates.

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Following several years of record pilot hiring at U.S. airlines, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is saying that there is a surplus of commercial aviators and that the pilot shortage “isn’t real.”

In a recent social media post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the world’s largest pilots union—which represents more than 77,000 pilots at mainline and regional carriers—pushed back against ongoing legislative efforts to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67.