Yesterday, I discussed how the pilot shortage is unfolding domestically for airlines and the growing problem it will become in the very near future.

If the problem shows up in 5 years, we are already late in addressing the problem.  It takes time for people to move through the various levels of experience needed to become an airline pilot.  You cannot make an airline pilot in a few weeks or months.

In my view, there are a few things that could be done to start mitigating the problem.

1)  Find a way to apprentice pilots into the airlines.  Pay for the training and education in return for a commitment and a living wage that sees salary growth on a slower curve.

2) Revisit this 250 hours vs 1500 hours required rule.  Raising it to 1500 hours was in response to the Colgan Buffalo accident and, in my view, an inappropriate reaction to a single event.  Lower the hours to 500 or 750.

3) Turn regional airlines into these apprentice shops and tie upgrades between the regionals and national airlines.

4) Attract new entrants with bidding and seniority systems that reward productivity.  Currently, there is no incentive to become a pilot for a legacy or SuperLegacy airline as you’re likely to sit in the same seat for 10 to 15 years in many instances.  Find ways to reward productivity because it is a win for the airline and a win for the pilot willing to work hard for his / her upgrades.

5) Find ways for pilots to make their skills and their seniority more portable to other airlines.  If airline A needs to furlough 300 737 pilots and airline B needs 100 more 737 pilots, there has to be a way to allow those needs to get met without punishing the pilots with entry level salaries again.  ALPA, you could work this out if you wanted to.  The point is to facilitate supply transferring to where there is demand.  Otherwise, pilots tend to “hang on” at existing airlines in the hopes of keeping their seniority while seeing their skills wane from lack of use.

6) Find ways to sponsor flying clubs at the high school level.  That’s where the bug for flying is best started.  The teens who learn to fly at 15 and 16 are teens you can recruit out of college when you need them.  The industry should be doing this already but doesn’t.  Flying is expensive and horribly so compared to 20 or 30 years ago.  Many who would willingly be attracted to the profession get diverted from it due to the entry costs.

Nothing here is revolutionary.  Most of it embodies steps that could be implemented in one year or less.  All of it requires the industry to acknowledge the looming problem and to be allowed to cooperate with each other to foster a better supply of new entrants when they’re needed.

Filed under: Airline News, Airline Service by ajax
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