Aleksander Kucinski
Prof. Bob Finegan
ENGL-102-140
15 October 2018
An Analysis of Today’s Worldwide Pilot Shortage and Possible Solutions
The screeching of an aircraft’s tires hitting the runway can have different interpretations for every individual. For some, it means they have arrived in a foreign place – the start to a long-awaited vacation. For others, it signifies the return home. For some, it means the beginning of a common business trip, and for others it is the start of a new life in a new home. Even for those who have never flown, air transportation affects them. It is responsible for delivering packages and mail, and supplies to military personnel overseas. Despite aviation’s effect on the entire world, there is an ongoing crisis in the field: a shortage of pilots. Recently, the supply of pilots has been failing to meet the demand considering, “growing airline industry, a coming wave of retirements of major-airline pilots, and a demand for regional flights [that] has left airlines scrambling to fill their cockpits”, and there being 30% less pilots than there was about 30 years ago (Martinez; Gail). The pilot shortage is a serious problem that needs to be solved so that people around the world are not denied travel and delivery services.
With higher requirements and low entry-level pay, a career as a pilot is less practical now than ever before. In 2013 the Federal Aviation Administration released a new set of qualifications prospective airline pilots need to meet to be considered for a job. The new law, known as FAR 121.436, now requires new pilots to have a minimum of 1,500 flight hours before becoming a first officer for a regional airline (Lutte and Lovelace 53-54). This is 600% more hours than the previous qualification, and poses a great barrier for pilots wanting entering a career in the airlines.
Although the new rule is in the interest of safety, it has taken a major toll on the pilot supply worldwide. A study published by the Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering shows that the new rule has caused approximately 51% of prospective pilots to change their career path (Lutte and Lovelace 57). This shows that the new requirement is far too much for potential pilots to handle, whether it be due to time, finances, or other things. With this decrease in supply a disaster is unavoidable considering “over the next 20 years, air travel will double” (Gail). The rapidly increasing demand, combined with a dwindling supply is a growing catastrophe. To worsen the issue, many of today’s senior flight captains will leave the workforce soon as “Baby Boomer pilots who are the largest number – almost 50% of the pilots flying today – are about to retire.” (Garcia). Not only will their retirement mean less supply to meet the demand, but if the shortage is not fixed soon, the world will lack true seniority. With no senior pilots in the workforce, young pilots will upgrade to flying larger aircraft very quickly, possibly before they have had enough experience to be truly ready for these planes. This could then compromise the safety of passengers: a risk nobody would want to take.
The problem with the increase in the number of hours required to fly before working for an airline is cost. Flying is very expensive. As a private pilot, I can personally attest to that notion. During my private pilot training, I paid up to $185 an hour for renting an aircraft and hiring an instructor. With all aspects considered – flight training, testing, and materials – the cost of gaining a commercial pilots license, the certification needed to be eligible for an ATP certificate, can cost around $100,000 (Lutte and Lovelace 56). This figure, however, fails to include the college degree required by almost every airline. After spending money on a commercial pilot certificate, pilots need to build more flight time, and often do so through instructing. A certified flight instructor is allowed to log flight time while teaching others to fly, thus taking steps closer to the airline. A major flight school in the United States advertises flight instructors “earn up to $42,000 annually” (“Guaranteed Instructor Job”). Considering the vast amount of time and money needed to reach the point of being an instructor, $42,000 is not appealing to most prospective pilots. Although some may say joining the military is an easy way to avoid some of these high costs, that is not an option for most today. With the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles, the military does not need as many pilots as it once did, therefore there are fewer pilots the military can feed to the airlines (Gail). Because of the high costs associated with pilot training, the need to find a solution is urgent. Failure to do so could have a great impact on the entire world: meaning flights could be canceled, or deliveries delayed, slowing down the world economy.
Solutions to the world pilot shortage are rather simple. The easiest solution to fix the shortage would be to reduce the number of hours required to become an airline transport pilot. What does 1,500 flight hours truly mean? In an interview with veteran flight instructor and former airline pilot, George Merriam reflects on a former student of his, and explains why the 1,500-hour rule does not make much sense from a training perspective:
I flew with a kid that had all his ratings from a Florida pilot factory. He had 300 hours. So now what? He won’t be considered for over a thousand more hours, so all he has to do is kick around KBAF [Westfield Barnes Regional Airport] and pick up habits from the other instructors he associates with that are doing the same thing. He has the licenses. Why can’t he be tested and go right into the commuters because he may have what it takes now. (Merriam)
The point that Merriam is trying to address is that you cannot quantify proficiency in the world of aviation. Some pilots may be more proficient than others and only have half the amount of flight hours logged. Proficiency does not take the same amount of time for everyone. Obviously, there needs to be a minimum number of flight hours to ensure pilots are experienced, but 1,500 is an excessive amount. A study following the implementation of the new airline pilot requirements showed that pilots who entered a career prior to the rule were more successful in their primary training than those who began training after the rule was introduced (Shane). This comes to show that the new pilot qualification rule does not prepare pilots better, but instead contributes to the pilot shortage. If pilots were just as proficient before the new qualification rules was implemented, there is no increase in aviation safety – the pilots were held to the same standards, only in a lesser amount of time. The best action to take would be for the FAA to significantly decrease the minimum flight hours required to be a pilot: ideally around the old 250-hour requirement. Only requiring 250 hours would be more acceptable because less potential pilots would feel there is a barrier preventing them to enter into a career. This would give people a greater incentive to enter into an aviation career and the demand for pilots would be closer to being met.
Works Cited
Gail, Peter. “The US Is Facing a Serious Shortage of Airline Pilots.” CNN, Cable News Network, 16 July 2018, www.cnn.com/travel/article/airline-pilot-shortage-united-states/index.html.
Garcia, Marisa. “A 'Perfect Storm' Pilot Shortage Threatens Global Aviation.” Forbes, Forbes Media LLC, 27 July 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2018/07/27/a-perfect-storm-pilot-shortage-threatens-global-aviation-even-private-jets/#256958f61549.
“Guaranteed Instructor Job.” ATP Flight School, ATP, atpflightschool.com/airline-career-pilot-program/guaranteed-cfi-job.html.
Lutte, Rebecca, and Kent Lovelace. “Airline Pilot Supply in the US: Factors Influencing the Collegiate Pilot Pipeline.” Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering, vol. 6, no. 1, Nov. 2016, pp. 53–63.
Martinez, Julia. "Demand for Pilots Sparks Instructor Shortage at Colleges' Flight Programs." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10 Nov. 2017, p. A42. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/apps/doc/A515974704/AONE?u=drexel_main&sid=AONE&xid=7ef852db. Accessed 16 Oct. 2018.
Merriam, George. Personal interview. 2 October 2018.
Shane, Nancy R. “The Impact of the First Officer Qualification Ruling: Pilot Performance in Initial Training.” Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering, vol. 5, no. 1, Oct. 2015, pp. 26–32.