Demand for Pilots Remains High for 20 years

"The world's airlines will need more than 17,000 flight schools graduates each year for the next 20 years to fill the seats of the airplanes on order...the experience minimums some of the airlines are now requiring for pilots have tumbled...the average now is 250 total hours and 25 multiengine, and a few require only the commercial rating." source: Flying Magazine, December 2007 issue - Flying Magazine Training Section

Pilot shortage Creating Opportunities

Through a combination of expansion and retirement, pilot seats are opening at major airlines at a record clip. US Airways recently announced plans to bring on 500 pilots. JetBlue wants 400 by next year. Southwest plans 700 hires, according to industry forecasts. This causes a domino effect as they pluck from the ranks of the regionals, where young pilots typically go to earn their wings before jumping to a better-paying major.

So regional airlines are scrambling to hire, lowering their experience requirements and offering jobs to some pilots straight out of flight school , instead of making them work as flight instructors first.

A well-trained flight school graduate can get a job right away these days, industry experts say, and regionals are recruiting heavily at colleges.

With experience requirements as low as they are, a first officer these days could make captain in a year or two. A captain could jump to a major airline a couple of years after that, where they can eventually make six figure salaries.

By Tim Logan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

FAA Reveals 10-Year Controller Hiring Plan

The FAA on Wednesday released its updated plan to hire air traffic controllers over the next 10 years. According to the FAA, it will hire and train more than 15,000 controllers over the next decade, starting with nearly 1,400 new controllers this year. Instead of listing a fixed optimum staffing number for each of the FAA's 314 facilities, as in the past, the new plan provides a range of numbers to give the agency greater flexibility. "Air traffic levels are very dynamic," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. "It is critical that we staff facilities based on actual and forecasted traffic demands. We are confident that the new controller hires will be able to meet the needs of the future." For more info visit FAA's Updated Hiring Plan Matches Controller Staffing to Air Traffic

Demand for pilots sky-high

There might be no time like the present to become a pilot for hire. Airlines hired about 8,500 aviators last year, and the pace should continue at that level or higher for the next 10 years, according to AIR Inc., which tracks pilot hiring. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. estimates the global appetite for new pilots at 17,000 a year through 2024.

"All I can say is it's the best time to get into the industry," said Mike Kraus, program director for the aviation studies program at Westminster College, which graduates about 110 commercial pilots a year, ready for the job market. "When you are born sometimes controls your destiny and opportunities."

By Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune