I've been reading these forums forever and I've seen this thread like 1000 times. I'll tell you why I think there will be some type of "pilot shortage"
1. There simply is not as many people wanting to be pilots.
With the continually reduced pay and increased training costs, more and more people are not looking for this career.
2. The number of Commercial pilot certificates issued to AMERICAN pilots has declined every single year. I taught Chinese nationals and I can tell you that the FAA numbers for commercial pilot certificates has a significantly large number of Issuance to Chinese pilots.
3. Financing: what bank is financing a 60k-120k loan for. Job that pays 18k? There are university options but those are limited options.
4. Retirements: This will be one of the largest contributors in pilot hiring. The projected numbers for the next 10 years is significant.
5. 1500 hour rule: although there are some "advanced training " type loop holes in the law the fact is that for most people the mins will be much higher than they are now.
6. Capacity: even if the regionals are taking more mainline flying the fact is that the majors have done a good job in controlling capacity these last few years. It is no secret that the economy has never been worse. so the fact that airlines are still hiring in a down economy should say something. I'm not talking about mainline jobs here. But we are hiring with no growth and a crap economy. What happes when the economy improves? Just like anything else, pent up demand is not just for commercial goods. It will also Improve travel demand.
7. Foreign Airlines: growth internationally will see a huge need for pilots in the coming years. The increased pay potential will lure at least a few people to give up the dream of an US mainline job to be an ex Pat. It's happening already. Just flew with a captain last week who is going to China flying a airbus making $18,500 per month.
8. Supply and demand. In the past the supply of pilots was always more than the demand. As long as that continues there will never be a shortage. With that said where are these pilots going to come from? ATP, Riddle, UND? There is no zero to hero here guys. It's zero to 2 years flight instructing if not more. Where are these flight instructors going to get students?
I realize that there are variables like oil, economy, recession, but for most people to just blindly say that it is not even possible? Just imagine for a second that it's not Kit Darby trying to sell you something
