Airlines, unions in rare unity on US pilot diversity drive

Airlines and unions disagree on many aspects relating to today's tight labour market, but concur on at least one thing: The need to diversify the pilot workforce pool. At a recent congressional hearing, Regional Airline Association (RAA) President Faye Malarkey Black rued the "very limited diversity" within airline cockpits, echoing remarks from the Air Line Pilots Association's (ALPA) Jason Ambrosi who noted a dearth of pilots who are women and people of color, saying "that must change". The alignment stood out because Ambrosi and Black disagreed about key elements in today's employment market, including whether a pilot shortage exists. The population of US airline pilots and engineers is currently 95.7% white and 9.2% female, according to US data. Tapping into underrepresented populations has emerged as a solution to the industry's workforce stresses from the surge in travel demand following the COVID-19 downturn, issues that have also affected other corners of aviation. Over the last 18 months, there has been a scramble for seasoned pilots after thousands of pilots accepted early retirement while airlines cut costs during the pandemic. Whereas major US airlines drew 50% of their pilots from the military in the year 2000, that share has dropped to just 15 per cent due to the military's shift to unmanned aircraft. Today, three-quarters of major airline recruits come from regional airlines, according to consultancy Oliver Wyman.<br/>