Remember the scene in the film “Catch Me If You Can” when the airline pilots, dressed in their crisp, blue Pan Am uniforms, emerge from the cab, & stride slow motion into the New York City hotel, gorgeous flight attendants in tow? That golden age of air travel image of the pilot-high pay, great benefits, free travel, public respect-has somewhat faded over time, & many in the aviation industry are concerned that there won’t be enough pilots to meet future demands. Over the past several years, some numbers & statistics have been released indicating that a so-called pilot shortage is indeed happening. Is there really a pilot shortage? And if so, what does it mean to the industry? A Look at Some Numbers According to the Federal.
Aviation Administration’s U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics, the FAA issued a little over 55,000 student pilot certificates in 2011. That’s up over 100 from last year, but still falls short of the almost 67,000 student licenses in 2001. In 2011, the FAA issued just over 8,500 commercial pilot certificates, down from a high of 12,299 in 2002. Boeing recently published its “2012 Pilot & Technician Outlook,” an industry go-to guide for accurate predictions of future air traffic volumes & demand. Boeing projects a need for approximately one million new commercial airline pilots & maintenance technicians by 2031, including 460,000 new commercial airline pilots & 601,000 maintenance technicians. In their “pilot outlook,” Boeing stated that a pilot shortage has already arisen in many regions of the world. Airlines around the world are expanding their fleets & flight schedules to meet growing demand in emerging markets, & Asia in particular is experiencing delays & operational interruptions due to pilot scheduling constraints. Regulatory Reasons for the Decline? Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7313092
