Originally Posted by
SilverBullet
I am in the Air Force Reserves and at last weekends drill during commanders call our squadron commander announced that the Air Force was having difficulty filling pilot and navigator positions and that anyone who is under 30 years of age along with a college degree and is interested in becoming a pilot can submit a package for an active duty assignment.
He said that the recruiter that reached out to him requesting that he make the announcement to the members of our unit told him that in his 30 years of recruiting he has never known the Air Force to have such difficulty filling pilot positions and that this program was a very unique opportunity.
This thread was intended for this the kind of information. Very interesting. Whenever we have a current regional pilot in the jumpseat I ask them the question this thread is asking. I get the same answer from pilots at all regional airlines that they are chronically short on pilots, lines are built to the FAR max and reserves are little to nonexistent. A Skywest FO told me they are essentially operating with no FO reserves and Captains are covering FO trips in many cases. Can anyone backup any of these claims or add your experience at your company?
All I can offer from SWA is that the 737 type rating requirement went away and there have been no shows in several new hire classes. I received confirmation that there were 8 no shows in one class at the end of last year. I suspect the 1,000 TPIC requirement will go away but that's just speculation at this point. Trips are still being covered but summer is always a premium time bonanza with the seasonal increase in flying.