“The ultimate loser is the consumer,” said Ornstein. The pilot shortage can be seen from coast to coast in reduced schedules and increased delays, cancellations and, of course, rising ticket prices. “We’re talking about the evaporation of the regional industry if we don’t do something quickly and I think the impact on the traveling public could be very, very significant.”
Ornstein predicts the trend will continue. In recent months United, American, and Delta have cited the pilot shortage as a reason for cutting regional service to smaller cities such as Iowa’s Des Moines and Dubuque, New York’s Ithaca and Islip, and Ohio’s Toledo. He pointed out the that European Union requires pilots acquire just 250 hours of training.“It’s kind of incredible that a big wide body aircraft flown by Air France or Lufthansa can fly into JFK with a pilot who has 400 hours and yet an American pilot is not deemed as capable somehow to fly a regional jet into Des Moines.” Ornstein says the FAA’s rules are exacerbating the pilot shortage. Republic Airways recently challenged this rule unsuccessfully, with the FAA citing safety concerns for shorter training periods. In 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required commercial pilots to have a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight training time, an increase from 250 hours. “These people coming into the industry now, make probably close to $100,000 a year in their first year coming to work at Mesa.”
Ornstein said the company plans to hire everyone that completes the program, with starting wages at $100 an hour. “There are 25,000 or more folks out there who want to fly in commercial aviation but cannot build the time quickly enough.” The response from eager pilots has been overwhelmingly positive, with nearly 70 new signups in one day, Ornstein said.
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