Watch the video. It’s a shortage across multiple job functions, not just pilots.
Why the U.S. is running out of pilots (cnbc.com)
Pilot training is time-consuming and very expensive. But the shortage extends to many positions in the aviation industry.
The “baby boom” bulge has and is retiring out, or left due to Covid era furloughs and layoffs. At this time, 1/3d of pilots are over age 50 (and medical requirements tend to drive many older pilots out before reaching mandatory retirement age). Simultaneously, pandemic shutdowns may have impacted the training pipeline. Of course, the incoming young cohort is smaller than what we had in the past – and all industries are competing for this supply of new workers. Most airlines only hire relatively young new pilots – in the past, hiring cutoffs have been as young as age 30 to age 35, this in part due to the high costs of training once hired.
Another example: School Districts Facing Shortages Lure Teachers with Four-Day Weeks (msn.com)
Obviously, these explanations for pilot shortages do not apply to teacher shortages – demographics are component of this. Teachers haven’t been quitting in droves, but instead:
Hiring has been so difficult largely because of an increase in the number of open positions. Many schools indicated plans to use federal relief money to create new jobs, in some cases looking to hire even more people than they had pre-pandemic. Some neighboring schools are competing for fewer applicants, as enrollment in teacher prep program colleges has declined.
Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard (msn.com)
Thought – then there are those advocating “Green taxes” on aviation, to discourage air travel. This would lead to lower demand for pilots and crews, of course, and increasingly restrict air travel to the elite.
