US: Airlines on a pilot-hiring spree
After a decade of instability and bankruptcies during which hiring slowed to a crawl, US airlines have been adding pilots at a breakneck pace over the past three years. Major US commercial and cargo airlines have hired more than 3,000 pilots in each of the past three years and have hired 4,353 more through October this year, surpassing the total hires in 2016. Regional airlines are raising entry-level pay and adding bonuses in hopes of attracting more new pilots to fend off a looming pilot shortage. Add in continued waves of departures as more pilots reach the federally mandated retirement age of 65, and arguably there's never been a better time to become a pilot. "Right now, the demand is so strong, when you qualify, you're going to get multiple job offers," said Louis Smith, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot and president of career-counseling company Future & Active Pilot Advisors. "It's a sellers market." It's a career Smith said that can yield $10 million dollars in lifetime earnings and benefits at a major airline, with a job description that's unlike any other. But getting there means investing hundreds of thousands of dollars, thousands of hours of training and years working up the airline food chain. During the depths of the recession, major airlines hired just 30 pilots in 2009 and 408 in 2010, according to data from Future & Active Pilot Advisors. Now, the industry averages more than that in a month, a reflection of a changed and consolidated airline industry whose profits have soared. That bodes well for the long-term stability of a career that in the past was often marked by uncertainty and the looming threat of layoffs or furloughs.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2017-12-08/general/us-airlines-on-a-pilot-hiring-spree
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US: Airlines on a pilot-hiring spree
After a decade of instability and bankruptcies during which hiring slowed to a crawl, US airlines have been adding pilots at a breakneck pace over the past three years. Major US commercial and cargo airlines have hired more than 3,000 pilots in each of the past three years and have hired 4,353 more through October this year, surpassing the total hires in 2016. Regional airlines are raising entry-level pay and adding bonuses in hopes of attracting more new pilots to fend off a looming pilot shortage. Add in continued waves of departures as more pilots reach the federally mandated retirement age of 65, and arguably there's never been a better time to become a pilot. "Right now, the demand is so strong, when you qualify, you're going to get multiple job offers," said Louis Smith, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot and president of career-counseling company Future & Active Pilot Advisors. "It's a sellers market." It's a career Smith said that can yield $10 million dollars in lifetime earnings and benefits at a major airline, with a job description that's unlike any other. But getting there means investing hundreds of thousands of dollars, thousands of hours of training and years working up the airline food chain. During the depths of the recession, major airlines hired just 30 pilots in 2009 and 408 in 2010, according to data from Future & Active Pilot Advisors. Now, the industry averages more than that in a month, a reflection of a changed and consolidated airline industry whose profits have soared. That bodes well for the long-term stability of a career that in the past was often marked by uncertainty and the looming threat of layoffs or furloughs.<br/>
