The Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) says the training pipeline is producing more than enough pilots to meet current and future needs and airlines are falsely blaming a pilot and instructor shortage for their operations problems. It’s not the first time ALPA has made the claim, and this time it used FAA stats that show that 8805 ATP-MELs were issued in the first 11 months of 2022, “once again exceeding analyst forecasts and airline demand for new aviators—and putting the U.S. on pace to break pilot production records this year.”
The union said there are now almost 87,000 CFIs in the U.S., about 10 percent more than at the end of 2019, “further demonstrating that the commercial airline pilot pipeline remains strong and robust.” According to the union, that proves that a pilot shortage is not to blame for what it calls “profit-driven service cuts” and efforts to reduce the number of hours required to get into the right seat of an airliner.
What the news release doesn’t reconcile is the massive pay increases airlines have been offering to recruit and retain pilots and how that squares with the surplus it says the statistics demonstrate. Nevertheless, outgoing ALPA President Joe DePete says it’s a great time to be an airline pilot, especially considering the pay hikes. “Many regional carriers are raising wages and offering viable career paths; mainline airlines are hiring; and lawmakers have resisted efforts by the special interests to weaken pilot safety training standards,” he said in the news release.
