Expert Says 'We're Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel' in Pilot Shortage

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:35 PM ET, Wed July 10, 2024

Over the coming four years, Congress is set to distribute some $80 million to help ease the pilot workforce shortage that’s been plaguing the country’s airline industry.

The money, which was included in the FAA Reauthorization Act is far more than the $25 million allocated by Congress for such expenses back in 2018 and is earmarked to provide support for aviation-related education programs.

While it has been reported that the largest carriers have recovered from the pilot shortage, smaller, regional airlines continue to struggle with staffing challenges and some are still offering substantial sign-up bonuses to lure new pilots, according to Flying Magazine.

This nuanced challenge is compounded by the fact that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to report record passenger volumes at airports. In May, ahead of Memorial Day weekend for instance, the government agency said it was preparing for “the highest passenger volumes the agency has seen at airport security checkpoints nationwide.”

The agency forecasted 18 million passengers and crew would be screened over the busy holiday weekend, which was an increase of 6.4 percent over the same weekend one year earlier.

Meanwhile, Cory Bengtzen, CEO and founder of the private jet operator and fractional share company SkyShare, says he thinks that the tide is finally turning with this complex issue and that the industry has nearly recovered.

“I do believe it has peaked and we’re going to see that it is not affecting us as much as it has over the last couple of years," Bengtzen told TravelPulse. “We are still feeling some of the pain, but I do think that will lessen as times goes on.”

During an interview with TravelPulse, Bengtzen talked about what he believes triggered the pilot shortage crisis, where things stand now and why.

Root causes of pilot shortage 

As has been well reported and documented, the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the travel industry worldwide.

The pandemic also influenced how people viewed life and their priorities. Once the COVID-19 global lockdown eased, those shifting priorities became increasingly apparent and caused major challenges for the airline industry.

“People said ‘I am going to change my outlook on life and how I am going to travel and I’m willing to spend the extra money to fly privately’,” Bengtzen explained. “And so there was this massive surge on the private side [of aviation] that then affected the pilots all over.”

In other words, suddenly far more pilots were needed to fly private planes in order to accommodate all the individuals who were now willing to shell out big bucks for a more exclusive flying experience in a post-pandemic world.

With private aviation companies hiring pilots as quickly as they could as the pandemic waned, the industrywide shortage was exacerbated.

This issue was compounded by the fact that commercial airline passengers wanted to travel far more than they did prior to the pandemic. Big carriers scrambled to add more flights and staffing those flights required more pilots.

“The other part is, a lot of people with the Covid scare, just wanted to experience life more,” continued Bengtzen. “And so, as soon as travel restrictions were lifted, everyone just wanted to go somewhere.”

“It was almost a double effect, because the airlines, their flights were increasing so much that they just needed more pilots to fill those seats,” Bengtzen added.

Failure to prioritize staffing among regional carriers

The dynamics of a global pandemic and the realities after the pandemic were further exacerbated by a failure to plan appropriately for staffing needs, particularly among smaller regional airlines.

“A few of these smaller airlines were just a little bit behind in [providing] pay increases and increasing benefits during the surge back in 2022 and 2021 and so they got hurt very quickly because pilots were leaving to go to other airlines or to come to the private side where there were large sign-on bonuses and a much better compensation structure,” said Bengtzen.

While the bigger commercial airlines saw the pilot shortage and compensation demands coming to some degree, says Bengtzen, the smaller carriers were largely caught off guard. That reality had a profound impact on their operations.

“A lot of the smaller regional airlines just sat back and waited and that put them in a bad position to the point where they had planes that were just grounded because they didn’t have pilots to crew them and fly them,” said Bengtzen.

Per an October 2023 report from the Regional Airline Association (RAA) the pilot shortage for regional airlines continues to be an issue, one that is resulting in “air service collapse.” That includes some 500 aircraft parked and remaining aircraft being underutilized. In addition 39 of 50 U.S. states have less air service than pre-pandemic.

At the same time, carriers have exited 131 markets. What’s more, carriers that partner with regional airlines have exited 77 markets.

The same report points out that in 2019 there were 2018 regional aircraft in service. As of 2023, that figure stood at 1,701.

Where things stand now

While regional carriers continue to struggle, the airline industry as a whole, including the major carriers, has made significant progress since the height of the challenges described by Bengtzen.

In March the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the main union representing airplane pilots, and industry executives said that the pilot shortage is stabilizing.

In fact, far from a shortage, some major airlines “have put hiring on pause throughout the end of this year,” Bengtzen says.

“I do think the trend is changing right now,” said Bengtzen. “Some of the big operators like Wheels Up, for example, have just announced that they are letting go of 10 percent of their pilot staff. And they are one of the top five largest private operators."

“We are starting to see with economy changing and [those who] started flying a lot during the surge are now starting to sell their [private] airplanes or are starting to fly less. They may have had three or four pilots at one point in time and are now going to just two or three pilots,” Bengtzen explained.

Even his own company has experienced a turning of the tides. While for the last few years it was difficult for SkyShare to find new pilot hires, over the past six months the company’s resume count is up at least 50 percent. And instead of SkyShare having to search for talent, the talent is reaching out to SkyShare looking for job opportunities.

“Things are definitely shifting,” says Bengtzen. “I think we’re seeing light at end of tunnel.”