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do you think there will be a pilot shortage in usa?
my friend got an atp and nobody call him.
regional airline pay suck
school pay crap
so where to go for him?
because if there was a pilot shortage he would get a well paid job.
he would just go to any airlines and would get out after 10 minutes interview with a job offer.
he got nothing.
not even a telephone call.
he is been in florida last year, and everybody told him they don't hire.
As you figured out for yourself there is no pilot shortage. Good flying jobs are few and far between. so many people want to fly for an airline, even the horror shows like Cougan, that they are willing to pay thousands for their own training. In my humble opinion the entire industry is an employment joke.
Learn to drive a bus or a train instead. Railroads are actually loking for train drivers (engineers) and will teach people how to do it.
It's been said an awful lot, but there's not a pilot shortage...there's a shortage of pilots who are willing to fly for xx,xxx salary.
When I see folks from aviation consulting firms on television talking about how worried they are that airlines won't be able to attract pilots in the near term, since flight schools aren't turning out the numbers they used to, the military doesn't produce the same number of pilots they used to, etc...they always tend to leave out a big piece of the equation, the major airlines had guys sitting outside the cockpit for YEARS because they furloughed them...a furlough means no pay, or less pay, or pay doing something else. They also forget to mention that more than half the flights performed in the country are flown by regional airlines, comprised of one pilot making a livable wage and another pilot who's near poverty.
I work with an awful lot of ex military fliers who have no interest in going into aviation living the "dream" lifestyle that keeps them away from their families and friends for days on end just so they can play around in airplanes...I work with a lot of former airline and corporate pilots who've been laid off one to many times for comfort, or don't want to endure the abuse of the company for whatever gains they receive for flying airplanes.
Aviation does have some great options out there if you're willing to leave the country and are current on a in demand type of airframe. A friend of mine was furloughed from 3 different regional airlines, and after his last furlough looked overseas. He flies for Qatar and makes a decent salary, albeit he's now far far away from home and his parents. His wife did go with him, and she visits the states often. Another friend is flying an Embraer Legacy all over europe, asia, africa in a charter outfit and seems to love the work. Some friends seem to be loving life at Jetblue, were recently recalled to American, or are at Southwest and UPS. Then the vast majority are still at the regionals, making a decent Captain's salary and constantly looking for the next job
No there is no pilot shortage in the USA at the moment. Personally I know a commerical pilot with ATP and a few thousand hours who has been on and off unemployed (which is his current status) in recent years.
This pilot shortage crap has been bandied about for decades. I remember in the early 90's when I started flying hearing it. It's BS put out by the airline associations and university flight programs. They have to keep supply high to keep the schools full, and airlines need high supply to help drive wages and benefits down. Supposedly there's a looming boom in retirements coming as well among senior pilots. Guess what, I've been hearing that one since the dawn of time as well. Don't believe the hype.
I have been flying for almost 30 years in general aviation. What I don't understand is why any one with common sense would want to go through all the work just to get a 50K job a year flying. Yes I know that some pilots do make more then 100K a year but there are not many of them. Fail one medical or have one accident had kiss your flying career away.
I have heard about pilot shortages for a long time and the previous post about there is no pilot shortage just pilots that don't want to fly for the small pay they are offering is true.
Drones are greatly affecting Air Force demand for pilots. Far more academy grads want a real cockpit but are being placed into drone slots. Also, a lot of multi-engine AF pilots are in the reserves and fly both AF acft and commercially making a good living and building up an AF retirement. An airline that can get an AF pilot who has flown tankers for example (DC-10 equivalent) and has thousands of heavy acft hours will get a good pilot and one with a lot of experience. Someone coming out of a civilian flight school can hardly compete with that.
Does the same ring true for helicopter pilots as well?
Or does this all just seem to be concentrated in the fixed-wing world?
I drive semi-trucks as a living right now and either fixing things or flying helicopters would be the next step in my employment life.
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