Good Read
 

I won't believe it until I see it, but this article is worth reading. Training: jobs for tomorrow

Europe is and has always been more proactive about things they need to be proactive about. In the states, we will continue to operate behind the rest of the world....I see no change in the way US carriers approach their business / staffing problems.

In the minds of many, Europe remains the center of the universe.

What staffing problems? Last time I checked, this industry has about 4,000 extremely highly experienced furloughed pilots, with multiple type ratings in A-320s, 737s, and others. That's enough to start an airline the size of CAL, UAL, or US Airways.

Read the whole story... RyanAir has never experienced a shortage of pilots in their 23 year history. Period. How many similar articles have predicted pilot shortages in the past 23 years?

There is a huge glut of experienced pilots on the street today (as stated in the article) but the troubling thing is the future prospective pilots are decreasing. The military isnt pumping out trained pilots like they did in the post WWII and Vietnam era. Military flying has contracted (even though there have been wars) and there isnt a demand for as many military pilots.)

The payoff for a career as an airline pilot isnt as lucrative as it once was, while the training costs have skyrocketed...

True, the military isn't pumping out pilots like it used to. But I'm willing to bet that the explosive growth of "pilot mills" like Embry-Riddle, Gulfstream and the like has more than compensated for the lack of military guys.

I have been hearing about this pending pilot shortage since starting 13 years ago. It has not even come close to becoming reality (except for a non-sustainable short stint 2006 to 2007). So, like I said above I will not believe it until I see it.

However, this article is worth reading for career pilots. It might just ultimately be more propaganda from the puppy mills. But, this website usually does a very good job with content.

I can't think of any thing better for our profession than an actual shortage of qualified pilots.:rolleyes: Unfortunately I doubt this will happen as the requirements to be considered "qualified" will simply be adjusted as required to fill the two front seats at the cheapest cost.:eek:

Very well said.

Enrollment numbers at Riddle have been wayyy down. As I am sure some CFIs can chime in that business in the smaller flight schools is slow as well. Im not saying we will have a pilot shortage tomorrow, but there are less newbie pilots than in previous years.