Pilot shortage ‘very real’ for US regional carriers struggling to keep aircraft flying

From the perspective of Dion Flannery, CE of Ohio-based PSA Airlines, there are signs that pilot-supply issues plaguing US regional carriers are becoming less severe. In April 2022, PSA lost 47 captains on top of the 10 that transition monthly to mainline partner American Airlines. “This April, we lost eight,” Flannery tells FlightGlobal. “So, far better this year than last year in terms of an unsustainable level of attrition… But it’s still too much.” Indeed, for the past 18 months, PSA has kept about 15 aircraft parked and waiting to fly for lack of pilots. Such was the sentiment at the Regional Airline Association’s annual Leaders Conference in Washington, DC, where industry analysts and executives met in late September to dissect a pilot shortage causing a broad contraction of air service to small and rural communities across the USA. “It’s not a debate about whether it’s real or not ,” Flannery says of the pilot shortage. “It’s very real.” Regional aviation remains a critical cog in the country’s transportation system, Martyn Holmes, CCO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, told conference attendees: “Even with factors like the pilot shortage and salary hikes, regional aviation remains the best way for mainline carriers to serve thinner markets effectively.” But the pilot shortfall is here to stay, according to Geoff Murray, a Chicago-based consultant at Oliver Wyman who says the effects of the shortage are likely to reverberate into the 2030s. The firm’s 10-year pilot forecast is less dire than one year ago, however. Last year, Oliver Wyman predicted North America would be short 17,286 pilots by 2032. Now, it expects a shortage of 13,305 pilots by 2032.<br/>