Massive Pilot Shortage

[Axtremus]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/airline-pilot-shortage-real-cost-us-brace-impact/story

Story on the USA facing massive airline pilot shortage.

@Copper, is your flight school going gangbuster these days?

Are most pilots ex-air force (military) personnel, or are there realistic avenues for civilians to become airline pilots without ever serving in the military?

[George K]

@Axtremus said in Massive Pilot Shortage:

are there realistic avenues for civilians to become airline pilots without ever serving in the military?

One of the OBs I used to work with had a son who went to a flight school at the U of I Champaign where he was trained for commercial aviation. He did that after graduating from DePaul.

He was flying short-haul United last I heard.

Edit - found him on FB. He flies for American Eagle.

[Copper]

Massive pilots are actually a problem, they don’t fit in the seats.

[Copper]

I stopped working as an instructor a few years ago, but I keep my instructor certificate active by taking review courses.

The pilot shortage has been a regular story inside the industry for at least the last 15 years.

That was part of the reason that the FAA changed the mandatory pilot retirement age to 65 from 60, 15 years ago. There is talk now about possibly raising it again.

The mandatory retirement is only for commercial flying, there is no age limit on private pilots. I have seen over age 80 guys flying that should have stopped flying. I have seen guys over 90 that were solid, good pilots.

A friend that piloted for Nixon, Ford and Carter on Air Force 1 promised his family he would stop flying at age 60, which he did. When I met him he was over 80 and probably one of the top 2 or 3 pilots I ever met. He was more than competent, but he made the decision and stuck with it.