Aviation is facing a serious pilot shortage, due to the mass job struggle, early retirement and fewer joinees. Under the unavoidable circumstances of covid 19, the world’s major airline companies struggled in securing the pipeline of hiring new pilots. This directly affected the summer season travel worldwide.
Hundreds of flights are reported to be cancelled amidst the shortage. After the restrictions on coronavirus were lifted, people started planning their long-awaited summer holidays. However, due to a sudden shortage of pilots, many flights were cancelled, disturbing the vacation mode of individuals.
Air Line Pilots Association points out that there is a 4% decline in the pilot numbers since2019. The Bureau of Labour Statistics reports that around 14,500 pilots are required to be hired every year. This is a necessity to avoid any shortage of pilots in the aviation industry.
United States Airlines CEO, Scott Kirby made a clear statement about the current situation. He said, “The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realise their capacity plans because there simply aren’t enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years.”
The most pressing concern is the resurfacing of the pilot shortage. As this condition would lead to a wide gap between demand and supply in the current aviation industry. If not sooner, the predictions suggest that the global pilot shortage will occur in certain places until 2023. However, with faster recovery and further supply shocks, this may also happen as soon as the end of this year.