Colorado Flight Instruction : Demand for airline pilots set to soar
Begin your flight instruction today at Eagle County Regional Airport... Here is an interesting article from USA Today regarding the future of Pilot Hiring. I'm guessing this is a good time to learn to fly in order to position yourself for this upcoming hiring frenzy.
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/06/Demand-for-airline-pilots-set-to-soar/48661596/1
After nearly a four-year drought of job openings, the airline industry is on the brink of what's predicted to be the biggest surge in pilot hiring in history. Aircraft maker Boeing has forecast a need for 466,650 more commercial pilots by 2029 — an average of 23,300 new pilots a year. Nearly 40% of the openings will be to meet the soaring travel market in the Asia-Pacific region, Boeing predicts, but more than 97,000 will be in North America.
"It is a dramatic turnaround," says Louis Smith, president of FltOps.com, a website that provides career and financial planning for pilots. "Pilot hiring was severely depressed in the last three years. The next 10 years will be the exact opposite, with the longest and largest pilot hiring boom in the history of the industry."
The demand for pilots will be so great that the industry could ultimately face a shortage, sparking fierce competition among airlines across the globe vying for candidates qualified to fill their cockpits.
"We're already seeing in some spots around the world a shortage of pilots … and if you were watching this a few years ago at the last peak, you had airlines stealing from other airlines," says Sherry Carbary, vice president of flight services for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle. "It's a global marketplace for pilots, and … we'll not have enough if that growth trend continues over the next few years. That's something the industry needs to come to grips with. Where is our pipeline of new pilots going to come from, and how are we going to finance them?"
The hiring surge is being fueled by several factors:
•The rapid growth of travel in Asia, which is on track to surpass North America as the largest air travel market in the world;
•A looming wave of pilot retirements in the USA;
•Proposed changes to rules that could increase the time pilots must train, rest and work;
•And increasing demand for air travel within the USA as the economy improves.
U.S. carriers had 4.9% more pilots in 2010 than in 2009, with much of the increase fueled by low-cost carriers that are continuing to expand, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Low-cost airlines such as Southwest, Virgin America and AirTran increased their pilot staffing 11.2% in 2010 over 2009, while regional carriers increased their pilot numbers by 4.9%. Major network airlines, however, saw their pilot workforce drop 1.3% last year, the bureau says.
"The cost of the fuel has spooked a few carriers," Smith says, noting that the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan have also had some impact. But, he says, the industry-wide hiring explosion is "still on track."
See Also
- USA Today
Nice article about airline pilot hiring.
Learn to fly in Eagle Colorado | USA TODAY: We are on the brink of the largest surge in pilot hiring in history...
The career outlook is positive. Now is a great time to learn to fly in Eagle Colorado and fulfill your dream of becoming a pilot.
From USA Today: http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/06/Demand-for-airline-pilots-set-to-soar/48661596/1
After nearly a four-year drought of job openings, the airline industry is on the brink of what’s predicted to be the biggest surge in pilot hiring in history. Aircraft maker Boeing has forecast a need for 466,650 more commercial pilots by 2029 — an average of 23,300 new pilots a year. Nearly 40% of the openings will be to meet the soaring travel market in the Asia-Pacific region, Boeing predicts, but more than 97,000 will be in North America.
“It is a dramatic turnaround,” says Louis Smith, president of FltOps.com, a website that provides career and financial planning for pilots. “Pilot hiring was severely depressed in the last three years. The next 10 years will be the exact opposite, with the longest and largest pilot hiring boom in the history of the industry.”
The demand for pilots will be so great that the industry could ultimately face a shortage, sparking fierce competition among airlines across the globe vying for candidates qualified to fill their cockpits.
“We’re already seeing in some spots around the world a shortage of pilots … and if you were watching this a few years ago at the last peak, you had airlines stealing from other airlines,” says Sherry Carbary, vice president of flight services for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle. “It’s a global marketplace for pilots, and … we’ll not have enough if that growth trend continues over the next few years. That’s something the industry needs to come to grips with. Where is our pipeline of new pilots going to come from, and how are we going to finance them?”
The hiring surge is being fueled by several factors:
•The rapid growth of travel in Asia, which is on track to surpass North America as the largest air travel market in the world;
•A looming wave of pilot retirements in the USA;
•Proposed changes to rules that could increase the time pilots must train, rest and work;
•And increasing demand for air travel within the USA as the economy improves.
U.S. carriers had 4.9% more pilots in 2010 than in 2009, with much of the increase fueled by low-cost carriers that are continuing to expand, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Low-cost airlines such as Southwest, Virgin America and AirTran increased their pilot staffing 11.2% in 2010 over 2009, while regional carriers increased their pilot numbers by 4.9%. Major network airlines, however, saw their pilot workforce drop 1.3% last year, the bureau says.
“The cost of the fuel has spooked a few carriers,” Smith says, noting that the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan have also had some impact. But, he says, the industry-wide hiring explosion is “still on track.”
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Aircraft Checklists
The importance of learning to use and using checklists.
One element of inital flight training that new pilots often rebel against is the use of checklists. Over and over I hear brand new students pilots ask the same questions. Why do I need to use a checklist, why not just memorize the items and operate the aircraft without the checklist.
To a certain extent this attitude makes sense. After all, in what other area of our everyday lives do we use checklists?
I usually explain checklist use by telling pilots that the point of using checklists as a student pilot is is to form a habit pattern that will hopefully stay with them for the rest of their flying days.
Why is that important? Well, student pilots don't stay student pilots for long. Some become private, commercial, ATP, and multi-engine pilots. Most will transition out of the 172. While it may seem meaningles to have an in range checklist on a 172, it's not on a 737.
By drilling the use of checklists into student pilots, we form habits that aid them in later endeavors. Whether the student is transitioning to larger more complex aircraft, flying unfamiliar aircraft, or dealing with an emergency or unusual situation, the response will be the same - turn to the checklist.
Besides the simple directive of "use the checklist," the pilot also needs to be taught just how to use the checklist to make it as useful a tool as possible. For example, when I train private pilots I usually tell them to use a flow pattern and then recheck their work using the checklist. If there are two pilots then a PF/PNF challenge/reaponse structure is excellent practice to prepare them for airlines, corporate flying, and CRM concepts.
My final thought... students need to also be taught to challenge the contents of checklists. As we've all seen there are many after-market checklists. Often these checklists are missing items, have incorrect order, or bad parameters. Sometimes the best practice is to consult several checklists and compile your own. Just today I was instructing in a 182. The checklist was missing any form of check for the fuel tank selector. Go figure?