Quote:
Originally Posted by NoValueAviator
No, they made the right call by holding off on raises when everyone else was getting them. Applicants are responding to the perception that regional scene is improving and totally unprecedented numbers of new commercial pilots are being minted every year at big pilot mills like ATP, Riddle and UND. These people live w/ their parents, have no expenses, and would compete aggressively to fly for FREE at Envoy if they get to take selfies in the 175 and get a 10 year flow date. Welcome to the pilot glut.
I sort of agree. But I think the caveat is that even with the current numbers of prospective pilots there still won’t be enough fresh blood entering the industry to satiate the coming retirements.
But generally speaking I no longer believe there was/is a pilot shortage. There was a temporary squeeze around 2016. And some airlines threw money at the squeeze while others got creative with RTP and pipeline cadet programs etc which have been and are starting to pay off.
I think the future challenge will be keeping up with having enough qualified Captains to staff your flying. You can hire an FO, but nothing changes the fact that it takes roughly 2-2.5 years to get them the qualifications to legally become a 121 Captain. Within about 3 years the sucking sound coming from the legacy airlines draining the pool dry of qualified regional CA candidates will be hard to ignore.