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No pilots, US airlines in trouble

2023-02-19 00:25:25Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
No pilots, US airlines in trouble
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The pilot shortage in the United States is limiting the number of flights airlines can operate, causing delays and cancellations during periods when demand for travel is high. Several major airlines are currently partnering with pilot schools or have launched their own training programs to create a more diverse pilot pool.

Ashley Montano hadn't flown until last summer.

With two degrees in criminology, she quit her job analyzing prison sentence data and took out a loan to attend the United Airlines Aviation Academy.

Now she is preparing to land a small plane with three passengers in the Arizona desert.

"United Airlines is making efforts to make its staff more diverse, hiring more women and people of color." It was really a perfect opportunity and moment for me to change my career and start something new," she says.

Airlines have complained about staff shortages in recent years. During the pandemic this was exacerbated as pilots were encouraged to take early retirement because the coronavirus pandemic caused a dramatic drop in the number of flights in 2020.

Some US airlines have started their own training programs or are partnering with aviation schools to provide a more diverse generation of pilots. Less than 4 percent of current airline pilots are black and less than 5 percent are women.

The cost of schooling and completing the mandatory flight hours is high. Up to $100,000 is required to insure the 1,500 mandatory flight hours.

After students graduate, they must find work as a flight instructor to gain enough flight hours to be hired by a regional airline.

“The lack of female representation discouraged me at first, but now I see myself as part of the first big wave of female pilots. I will be part of the change", says Sara McCauley, a student at the United Airlines Aviation Academy.

The pilot shortage contributed to a 52 percent increase in flight cancellations in the United States last year compared to 2021, though it's not yet clear what impact weather and congested air traffic have had on that.

The shortage is giving pilot unions more leverage in labor contract negotiations that have been disrupted since the start of the pandemic.

The new contracts are likely to include large wage increases that will increase operating costs for airlines. According to the US Department of Labor, the average annual salary for US airline pilots last year reached $200,000.

The pilot shortage is most severe for smaller airlines that do not pay as well and serve as a transition step to employment at larger airlines that offer higher salaries.

Southwest Airlines has more than 700 planes, but grounds 40 to 45 of them each day because of a pilot shortage, says company president Bob Jordan.

Southwest Airlines is expected to hire 2,250 pilots this year, drawing them mostly from smaller airlines.

"They don't have as many pilots as they need and will continue to hire thousands of pilots in 2023 and 2024. So we're still nowhere near solving the pilot shortage problem," said analyst Henry Harteveldt of the Atmosphere Research Group. ".

The US government estimates there will be about 18,000 pilot job openings per year this decade, many of them to replace retiring pilots.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued over the past five years. only about 5,200 pilot licenses per year.

Some predictions on the pilot shortage made by the private sector are even more bleak.


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