Acute shortage of pilots

[Foreigner]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...634.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read#printMode

Reckon shortage will be worldwide, but more so in Asia where airplane manufacturers are filling order books.

 

[nickykim]

Could that be because in the general aviation sector it is impossible to get a job that pays enough to live off? There's plenty of young people obtaining commercial licences they then need the experience and hours to move up. I watched lots of friends struggle with this in their early 20s.

 

[Boris spatsky]

The erosion of pay and conditions over the past 20 years with the introduction of LCCs means that the industry is now underpaid compared to other sectors. Why would i join Jetstar as an FO for $60k when i can easily crack $100k in most other sectors and not have to pay for my training?

 

[eastwest101]

Could that be because in the general aviation sector it is impossible to get a job that pays enough to live off? There's plenty of young people obtaining commercial licences they then need the experience and hours to move up. I watched lots of friends struggle with this in their early 20s.

Correct - with the baby boomers retiring or already retired and the next generation of pilots gone AWOL due to unprecedented lack of investment in training this issue will become quite big. On a positive note the shortage of pilots may reverse the trend away from lots of B737/A320 size aircraft back to larger aircraft for some airlines. Lots of layoffs in the US and Europe may keep the supply of pilots available for a while as airlines in countries (Spain, UK, France etc) with economies in trouble export their mid-level pilots to Asia & Middle East.