Airline Pilot Shortage to Impact Summer Travel
If you’re planning any summer travel and beyond, you will have to pack your patience because of an airplane pilot shortage. Yes, we’re looking at our fellow LGBTQ+ travelers, too! Even if you booked your summer travel months ago, airlines are still struggling with staffing and schedules.
Just last week, American Airlines announced that it grounded 100 regional jets because it doesn’t have the pilots to fly them. CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom, told NBC News that the airline had hired 2,000 pilots this year, but “getting them all through training is a real task.”
American Airlines isn’t alone. Delta, United, JetBlue, Southwest, and Alaska have grounded some of their planes or cut their schedules. However, it’s the smaller cities serviced by the regional airlines that are the most affected airports because those regional airlines have lost pilots to the big airline carriers.
Republic Airways, a regional airline, wants to lower the flight hour and training requirements for new pilots, but the big airline carriers and unions are opposed to it.
The pilot shortage stems from the pandemic when many pilots took early retirement, and the airlines didn’t expect a surge in passengers traveling again. In addition to the increase in travelers, pilots are required to retire when they are 65, regardless of their physical health, and even if they feel like they are physically and mentally capable. So, this only complicates the pilot shortage issue.
The U.S. Congress may consider raising the retirement age, but both the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulators require pilots to retire at 65. So, even if Congress were to change the retirement age to 67, for example, those pilots still may not be allowed to fly to Europe or Canada where 65 is the retirement age.
In most situations, you’d think that hiring more pilots would solve the issue, but this is not a quick fix. “It’s not going to get fixed in the next 12 months that’s for sure,” said Dennis Tajer, spokesperson for Allied Pilots Association. “Some CEOs at United are saying it’s 3 to 5 years of this type of issue.”
Some pilot unions say there are enough pilots out there, but they may not be certified on specific planes such as the 737 and the A320. So, that has created a bottleneck situation.
So what does that mean for travelers? Fewer pilots, fewer planes, and fewer seats could be a problem that lasts through Christmas and possibly years to come, according to NBC News.
Source: NBC News
