I hope you don't think that 2012 is some kind of magic bullet or something for your career. There are plenty of guys on the street that are underemployed, flying for a foreign operator, back in the military or just taking a break from flying. Its gonna be several yrs before all of the recalls and the highly qualified guys are back in the saddle at the majors. The only place the (perceived) shortage is gonna be is at the commuters because of the increased TT requirements. Hopefully that will translate into a pay raise for the commuter guys to attract candidates. I think its gonna be along time before we are back in the proverbial driver's seat again

That you had to throw experts in quotation marks says it all ;)

While I admire those who were good CFI's, I agree with Convairator on this issue. Before my airline life I was a CFI and then had a 135 gig so I've done both. The skills I learned flying flying single pilot for a 135 operator were far more valuable than the teaching skills I learned as a CFI. If you have the chance, take a flying job over a teaching job.

Back in the day that was the normal progression. Instruct till you meet 135 IFR mins, go fly 135, go on to the regionals. I just instructed, and didn't seem to have any problems, but the industry was in a hiring cycle. But I also didn't hire on with 500hrs either. When hiring resumes, the CFI, 135, or fuloughed guys will be getting the calls for the interviews?

Lol. Is that the same pilot shortage I've been hearing about for the last ten years.... or more?

The last ten years have been quite atypical, even for aviation. Its short sighted to base opinion only on what you've seen rather than the big picture. Things will change...hopefully for the better, but rest assured, they will change. Good luck to you :)

Hi!

I think if UAL/AA, etc. comes to your high school, and hires you with a private and/or Commercial, I think that qualifies as a pilot shortage.

cliff
Mafikeng, SA

I think the last "true" pilot shortage was the 1960's. Major airlines were going to colleges and recruiting people to be pilots, ab initio.

But, that was long before pilot puppy mills.

"Louis Smith, president of FLTops.com, has been covering pilot hiring for more than 30 years. According to Smith, pilot shortages have been incorrectly predicted by experts every decade since the last true shortage in the 1960s. Airline industry veterans will remember airlines advertising for pilots in the 1960s and paying for primary flight training to entice new pilots into the industry. That may seem mind-boggling today, but it happened. "