Pilot Shortage
 

You would think that for the way they are talking this pilot shortage up, they would be willing to invest into and training the next group who wants to be a pilot.

It's been nearly 10 years since I went to flight school and all you heard about back then was how bad the state of the industry was, how long it would be to upgrade, and how awful the pay was.
Now here we are 10 years later and it seems like everything has taken the opposite direction, pay is good, the need for pilots is great, but why would career that is paying so well have a shortage?

Instructors are short, airline pilots are short, cargo pilots are short, pretty much the bulk of the industry can't fill it's ranks. Let's get them all to invest in the pilots of the future, with great flow through guarantees, it would be a small investment to maintaining a sufficient supply for their needs?

The cost to train a possible CFI is not that great, for companies to pay for the training, have an hourly requirement before leaving and have a company trained CFI to train future students the way you want.

Maybe this is a crazy thought but as someone who wants to get back in, trying to see the future of the industry and where it is going

Airline surplus.

I’ve heard flight schools are starting to see a rapid rise in applicants. Not sure how to fact check that but I will say that my flight school(a two year program) that cost 65k in 2012 now costs 97k. Not sure what is justifying the rising costs. With that being said, someone I talk to frequently said they are having to reject applicants or delay the process because of CFI availability but the school hasn’t seen this many applicants in years.

I think it is a good step in making flight schools solvent and instructing a career choice.
If the price to entry normalizes higher (professionals making what Joe Blow off the street wouldn’t blink and eye at) the industry wages would never go back to $18/hour because the pilot well would dry up again if they did.

The word is definitely out and supply is ticking higher.

This^^^

Of course, the career will always be subject to the ups and downs of oil prices, at least until we can develop cheap and reliable synthetic fuel sources, and if that were easy it woukd have already been done.

They turned off the propaganda machine after 911 and just recently got behind the supply curve. I see flight schools popping up with professional salesman telling kids that they will recoup their 125K training bill in a few years and be millionaires by 40 . This always happens late in an economic cycle, this one has lingered far too long by historical standards. The music will eventually stop and the trend will reverse. Just like it always has.

Not sure where you have been, but some regionals already are and some larger carriers have started experimenting with zero to hero programs.

I've been out of the game for about ten years, finished everything up but never finished instructor ratings, and at that time the state of the industry was awful and I couldn't figure see myself working for an airline with terrible pay and constant threat of furlough, so I ventured into another career.

Time to get back in I suppose, anyone seen anything that would cover the cost of instructor ratings, with a flow to a regional?
Something similar to the zero to hero that you're talking about but I am not at zero

Your expectations are too high. Opportunities are better but you still must be willing to sell your soul for the privilage of being a pilot.

A lot of people aren’t using their souls anyway, so might as well get something for ‘em while market prices are good. :D