1) Retirements – Many Pilots, particularly in the US, are being forced to retire as they hit the retirement age of 65 in US Airlines.
2) Growth – Enormous growth worldwide is creating a demand for new pilots above and beyond those simply retiring.
We used to operate under the mindset that the military will create most of the pilots needed to fill the needs of the commercial airlines, but that is no longer the case. In fact, the military is experiencing a shortage of pilots themselves and has been creating incentives to keep their exceptionally skilled pilots onboard longer. The majority of professional pilots in the U.S. now comes from the civilian population.
So who needs all these pilots? According to the 2017 Boeing Pilot Outlook, the Asia Pacific Region will lead the pack of pilot demand, followed by North America. In fact, over the next 20 years, North America is expected to require 117,000 new pilots. https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/2017-pilot-outlook/
What does this mean to you? It means that if you are thinking about becoming a professional pilot, you’ve got great timing! Pay is continuously going up, and jobs are all but guaranteed to people who are qualified, can pass the background check and have a can do attitude. In fact, many regional airlines are paying over $60,000 to new first officers year one. That means you can go from Student to well-paid Flight Instructor to Airline pilot making a handsome wage all inside of a couple years….but it doesn’t end there.
Ask anyone who’s been flying for the airlines for a while what they feel is one of the most important things they have in their company is, and you’ll likely hear the same thing – it’s their seniority number. When you go to an airline, you are given a seniority number based on your date of hire. The longer you are with the airline, the higher your seniority number gets relative to everyone who’s been hired after you. Higher seniority is the key to getting the better schedules, the crew base and aircraft type of your choice. It’s the difference between flying the Tulsa – Detroit red eye flight twice a day 4 days a week verses a prime NY to Paris flight twice a week. It’s also how airlines determine your pay within the pay scale assigned to the aircraft type you fly. It’s also how you go from being a First Officer to being a Captain…and lately, that’s happening quite fast. Think of it this way: seniority is the key to having higher pay and a better quality of life at an airline.
For those thinking about a career flying corporate jets, your career isn’t seniority based so much as it’s based on flight hours and experience – but the story is the same: You have to get started to get where you’re going.
Those who want to take advantage of this tremendous pilot market want to get in there fast and get that all important seniority number to max our their earnings. Take Flight Aviation is here and ready to help you prepare for a high paying and personally rewarding career as an aviator. The faster you get started in Take Flight Aviation’s professional training programs and the faster you progress to the airlines, the more you will earn over the course of your career…it’s just that simple.
Your future is waiting…and it’s better than ever!
