I don’t know about you, but I sure love being proved right. Lord knows it happens rarely enough at home, so I have to look for small victories elsewhere. As it so happens, writing a monthly column for a widely read aviation magazine makes for a potentially rich vein of retrospective sagacity. Thus I was recently perusing a few of my early Taking Wing columns when I came across this gem from March 2014: “What Shortage? It’s Kinda, Sorta, Maybe Here.” Despite the blithely noncommittal title, I drew a few strong conclusions about the nascent pilot shortage in that piece that have, quite happily, since been borne out by industry developments.
Taking Wing: What Pilot Shortage?
Key Takeaways:
- The predicted pilot shortage has materialized, driven by an impending wave of major airline retirements and sustained growth in air travel.
- The shortage is most acutely felt by regional airlines, prompting them to offer substantial financial incentives (e.g., large signing and retention bonuses, higher base pay), streamlined hiring, and improved quality-of-life perks to attract and retain pilots.
- This demand has created an advantageous environment for pilots, leading to more fluid career progression, falling hiring minimums at major airlines, and overall optimism within the profession, making it a highly opportune time to start a flying career.
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