The pilot shortage is here, and it’s the result of baby-boomers’ retirement and the much lower number of military trained pilots over the past few decades.
We believe the pilot shortage is good for aviation:
- For the first time in a long time, the flight school business is a good business to be in since demand is so high. Even while finding and holding onto CFI’s is much harder than before.
- The numbers of aircraft orders for training purposes is much higher than any other time in recent history.
- Pilots are now getting starting salaries that are much higher than in decades past, a just reward for a very expensive education.
The shortage is forcing companies to hire pilots using lower experience requirements. This can be perceived negatively from a safety perspective. But the reality is that the experience requirements we had in place were created when jets had steam gauges. Modern glass panels provide a much higher level of situational awareness so we predict accident rates will not change appreciably.