Originally Posted by
BoilerUP
*Large regional airlines (like Skywest, American Eagle, ASA/Expressjet, and Republic) actually qualify as national airlines, and are not included in the APC regional airline list. They have an additional 12,500+ pilots between them.
*Pilots currently flying in other segments of industry (corporate, charter, fractional, cargo, etc.)
*Pilots currently employed in other industries (ie. not currently flying)
*Military pilots will start 'trusting the airlines' when they see mass hiring, vs. the last decade which consisted largely of furloughs & stagnation. Wars winding down and budget cuts leading to a reduction in voluntary deployments & man-days, if not headcount, changing perspectives
*Industry consolidation & economic issues reducing need for pilots
You are correct. I totally forgot about Skywest and Eagle. They have 6,300 pilots between them for a total of about 16,000 regional pilots. It looks as though the majors will have plenty of pilots to pull from the regionals but how do the regionals replace these guys and girls?
I doubt there will be "shortage" as we pilots would define it (and love to see) but there's gonna be a big sucking sound!
S.B.