I hate to keep beating the same drum, but there is one issue on which I will make an exception. We are still running out of people to run this business, and we still have not figured out how to ensure safety while dealing with a shortage of qualified personnel. I started talking about this back in 2006, and I need to bring it up every now and then to remind everyone that the economic downturn is transient and the personnel shortfall is structural. I know people in the United States looking for a job are going to call me crazy, but the fundamentals have not changed.
Boeing ran the numbers again, and in mid-September reminded us that the industry will need to produce more than 1 million pilots and maintenance personnel over the next 20 years. That breaks down to 466,650 pilots and 596,500 maintenance personnel. Almost 40 percent of that number will be needed to handle growth in the Asia Pacific Region. Growth in other developing economies will account for another 20 percent of the deman…
