A new report from AIR Inc. shows that pilot hiring last month hit its lowest point since just after Sept. 11, 2001. The consulting firm reported that just 133 pilot jobs were added nationwide in November, none at the major carriers. Meanwhile, the number of pilot on furlough increased by 414 to 4,466.
A year earlier, the industry added 1,084 jobs, and just 2,715 pilots were listed as furloughed.
The Allied Pilots Association recently asked American Airlines pilots to talk about second jobs they had started to make ends meet after wages were cut sharply in 2003. Here's my favorite response, from an MD-80 captain based in Chicago:
“Five years ago when this place started to go down the tubes I got an idea to start a residential and commercial dog waste removal business. My wife was not happy to say the least, but now that it is a growing concern (business is picking up you might say) she is impressed with the concept and well rewarded as the part time bookkeeper.”
Keep reading for more career adventures from American pilots.
Sen. John McCain may have the Republican party nomination wrapped up, but he still has some convincing to do with one group of traditionally Republican voters. No, I'm not talking about evangelical Christians - I'm talking about commercial airline pilots.
McCain co-sponsored legislation in 2003 that would have changed the Railway Labor Act to include mandatory "baseball-style" arbitration in airline contract negotiations. That's a method whereby a mediator makes the final decision on disputed issues, and there is no appeal. Unions have long opposed any attempts to force that type of arbitration, because it removes their greatest form of leverage - the ability to strike.
McCain's 2003 effort failed, but lots of pilots still remember it. One told me recently that he will never vote for the Arizona senator, and he believes many of his colleagues feel the same way.
"Look, most pilots are ex-military, they're professionals, most of them vote Republican and have all their lives," the pilot said. "But when it comes to McCain, most of us all remember how he backed airline management and tried to screw the pilots. That's going to cost him some votes."
- Trebor
We've written a lot lately about the pilot shortage and some of the impact on pilot hiring, particularly at regional airlines. Now, the International Air Transport Association is warning that a severe global shortage is looming unless airlines and governments work together to address pilot training and qualifications.
The trade group estimated that the industry will need 17,000 new pilots annually thanks to growth and retirements. Here's what the association said in a news release:
“Increasing the retirement age to 65 will help but it can’t be the only solution. It’s time to ring the warning bell. We must re-think pilot training and qualification to further improve safety and increase training capacity,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO. He told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) International Safety Forum that industry is concerned that “there are no global standards for training concepts or regulation. Pilot training has not changed in 60 years -- we are still ticking boxes with an emphasis on flight hours.”
- Trebor
On a recent flight from St. Louis, Star-Telegram business editor and Sky Talk contributor Scott Nishimura noticed that the pilots of his regional jet seemed awfully young. That observation led us to look into the hiring practices at regional airlines, and we learned that the industry is slashing the minimum flight hours needed to apply for a piloting job because of a growing pilot shortage.
The full story is in this morning's Star-Telegram, and you can read it online here.
- Trebor
Good news for pilots looking for work - 3,338 new pilot jobs were created during the second quarter, according to AIR Inc., an Atlanta firm that tracks pilot hiring. And while most of those jobs are at lower-paying regional airlines like American Eagle and ExpressJet, nearly 600 pilots were hired by major carriers, according to the firm.
AIR Inc. estimates that more than 12,000 new pilot jobs will be created this year.
- Trebor
