The often-forecast shortage of U.S. airline pilots may finally come to pass, fed by a “perfect storm” of increasing demand for new pilots, mounting retirements by baby-boomer pilots and declining interest among young people in airline careers, industry experts say.
A recent study by researchers from several U.S. universities reinforced the conclusions of Boeing’s 2012 projection that the next two decades will bring an unprecedented demand for new pilots. Filling those jobs may not be easy, the university study said.
The study forecast the hiring of more than 95,000 pilots in the United States over the next 20 years as a result of the combined effects of “new aircraft growth, pilot retirements and pilot attrition from the industry for reasons other than retirement,” as well as government regulations — especially rest and duty time requirements that will limit the number of hours pilots may work — that may lead to an increase in the number of required new pilots.1
