North American Regional Airlines Fear Pilot Shortage

May 5, 2015
Aviation Week & Space Technology

To preview an annual gathering of the North American regional airline community, the Regional Airline Association (RAA) asked top executives at 15 carriers to name the three most pressing issues facing the industry. All but three cited a possible pilot shortage, which remains one of their most vexing problems.

“The continued flow of future aviators—both pilots and mechanics—is a big focus for RAA,” says Kelly Murphy, the group’s spokeswoman. But there likely will not be any panaceas at the RAA’s Convention May 11-14 in Cleveland. By now, regional airlines know how to cope, with many taking a two-pronged approach. One is to be more aggressive in recruiting and paying pilots. The second is to work with legacy carriers to make sure they have reasonable expectations about the schedules the regionals can fly.

Major airlines are also aware of this problem. United Airlines, for example, told analysts in April that it was drawing down its 50-seat fleet in part because its partners were having difficulty staffing the jets. “The reduction in availability of pilots for smaller airplanes is clearly affecting us, as it’s affecting all of our competitors,” United CEO Jeff Smisek said.

On an April 30 earnings call, SkyWest Airlines President Chip Childs said his carrier is “fortunate” to have enough pilots for its 2015 plan. But SkyWest is also shrinking slightly, going from a total fleet of 717 aircraft at the end of 2014, to 693 at the end of the first quarter. By year-end, it will have 633 aircraft.

“It’s not as easy as it has been in the past,” Childs said. “We fundamentally believe that with an issue as big as this pilot shortage you have to be very proactive and plan with the partners so we can make sure we can deliver what the partners want to deliver to their customers.”
SkyWest is generally in good shape —the carrier was named one of “America’s Best Employers” by Forbes earlier in April—but attracting qualified pilots is a problem elsewhere.

Pay remains a major issue, and while it has improved—many carriers offer lucrative signing bonuses—it is not yet high enough across the board to alleviate concerns. Airlines also continue to complain about the FAA’s rules requiring 1,500 flight hours and an Airline Transport Pilot certificate for most new first officers.

In his pre-conference note to the RAA, PSA Airlines President Dion Flannery blames the new rules for resulting “in a multitude of unintended consequences throughout the industry.” He calls on regional carriers to lobby for changes to make it easier for smaller airlines to attract pilots. In his note, Horizon Air President David Campbell states that “other challenges pale in comparison” to the pilot problem.

At the conference, industry leaders will hear from Kent Lovelace, a professor in the University of North Dakota’s Department of Aviation. Lovelace tells Aviation Week...

“We did one qualitative study, and all but one of the students said they wanted a salary that is comparable to another college graduate,” Lovelace says. “If a social worker is making $38,000 or a nurse is making $42,000, students want to earn that much. They are not asking for the Moon.”

U.S. Regional Airlines Struggle To Attract Pilots | Commercial Aviation content from Aviation Week

Pay remains a major issue, and while it has improved—many carriers offer lucrative signing bonuses—it is not yet high enough across the board to alleviate concerns.

“We did one qualitative study, and all but one of the students said they wanted a salary that is comparable to another college graduate,” Lovelace says. “If a (college grad) social worker is making $38,000 or a licensed RN is making $42,000, students want to earn that much. They are not asking for the Moon.”