Ryanair crisis exposes low-cost scramble for senior pilots

Ryanair blames an internal “cock up”, but its cancellation of 2,000 flights exposes the struggle that low-cost carriers face as they risk growing faster than their ability to recruit experienced pilots. Junior pilots are readily available, with hundreds unemployed in Britain alone, but Europe’s budget airlines require many extra captains who can take flights without needing lengthy and expensive training, or to accumulate flying hours. Ireland’s Ryanair, which has overtaken established carriers to become Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers, is hiring around 600 pilots this year, as is Norwegian Air Shuttle. For British-based easyJet the figure is 450 and in all cases these are their highest ever levels of pilot recruitment. “The low cost airlines are arguably more vulnerable to a pilot shortage because of their growth, which is now compounded by their size,” said Gerald Khoo, an analyst with Liberum. “Normally, in a tight labor market I would assume slightly higher staff costs or the airline could trim its capacity growth,” he said. “Not getting the balance right results in the situation we have seen at Ryanair in the past week.”<br/>