Originally Posted by Aero1900

I was curious what percentage of the regional airline pilot workforce would be required to cover the upcoming mandatory retirements at the majors. To do this, I did my best to estimate the total number of regional airline pilots and the number of mandatory age 65 retirements in the next five years.

I came up with approximately 21,000 reqional pilots and 6,500 age 65 retirements. Obviously these numbers can only be so accurate, but I did the best I could with what is available. When you crunch the numbers you get about 30%. So, less than 1/3 of the current regional pilots could cover all of the jobs at the majors for the next five years.

This does not account for military, corporate and charter pilots who will also be applying for the major airline jobs. There are many variables at play here, however I think this provides at least a glimps at what the future holds for regional pilots trying to get on at the majors.

Thoughts?