Five Ways Airlines of North America Are Dealing With Empty Cockpits

TORONTO, July 30, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Pilot shortage threatening global aviation is no news. However, the ratio it affects airlines differs from region to region, and so do measures taken to curb the dearth. Lack of pilots in North America is currently having the most negative impact on smaller regional airlines and Air Force, but still, North America takes a third position in the list of regions where the magnitude of the problem is the highest, trailing behind only Europe and Asia-Pacific. Alarm signs of shortage are reaching Canada as well, resulting in fiercer competition for pilots and forcing some regional airlines to cut back service. As the problem captivates new territories, discovering new pilot recruiting strategies becomes front and center.

Airlines launch broad hiring campaigns

Events like Pilot Career Show aim to make hiring procedure easier and more effective, saving a lot of time for pilots.

AeroTime Career Events

American companies are diligently making investments in the workforce. Delta Air Lines announced a hiring campaign on July 8, 2018, intending to bring in 8000 pilots over the next decade. Being the second largest US airline, Delta doesn’t just offer current crew a leave to attend flight school but has also launched several conditional work opportunities for students of certain flight schools. American Airlines also announced its own peculiar recruitment program this year. After opening Cadet Academy in 2018, they started providing loans to aspiring students as part of a strategy to help cadets finance their training.

Special events to boost networking opportunities

Roadshows are other means for airlines to meet candidates. However, they have limitations when looked at through the pilots’ perspective, as in a hunt for the job they need to wait for each airline to organize the roadshow. Therefore the process of a job search can become very time-consuming.

Events like Pilot Career Show aim to make hiring procedure easier and more effective, saving a lot of time for pilots. The show gathers leading employers together to introduce their terms, requirements, and benefits, and provide a number of opportunities for pilots to choose from. It is equally beneficial for airlines and recruitment agencies.

Focus on next generation: getting young people interested in flying

 Republic Airways, Delta Express, and US Airways are constantly sending their employees to universities, schools, flight schools and aviation events to present the perspectives of starting a career in aviation. The underlying reason for this is that glamour of the profession is wearing away, revealing bottlenecks of the industry, such as heavy schedules and instability. Airlines are challenged to invest more effort to attract new candidates and make the profession more appealing.

Discovering the potential of social media

Airlines’ marketing policies and advertising through social media has become one of the main steps taken to wangle pilots these days. Companies like Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue actively use Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube accounts to inform them about their newest recruitment opportunities.

Major airlines often prefer to invest in branding instead of raising pilots’ salaries. They have a point, as such a decision might help to attract a younger generation of candidates. Florida International University research suggests that young people, representing the Millennial generation, would rather work for an airline that is acknowledged and “meaningful” instead of a one that is less known but offers a larger wage^[1].

Reaching to minorities

In both North America and Canada, measures are taken to get women interested in flying. Events like “Girl in aviation day,” organized by Women in Aviation - a nonprofit organization based in Ohio, take place all over the world, aiming to bring information and spark a passion for all women and girls who are considering a flying career. A conceptually similar event “Girls Take Flights” has been held in Oshawa, Canada, for 5 years in a row. Apart from the educational and informational component, it offers flight training scholarships and free flight lessons.

Delta Air Lines works in partnership with professional associations including Women in Aviation International, the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, and the National Gay Pilots Association in attempts to develop better recruitment strategies, avoid workforce imbalance and conjointly reach a wider scope of potential candidates.

Pilot Career Show, which will take place in North America for the first time this year is to be held in Orlando and Toronto, on Aug. 7 and 9, 2018, respectively. The event will serve as a platform to bring together major airlines and professional pilots, searching for worthy job opportunities. Attendance is free but requires preliminary registration. More about the event: https://www.pilotcareershow.com.

^[1]D. Huyler, Y. Pierre, W. Ding, and A. Norelus. “Millennials in the Workplace: Positioning Companies for Future Success”. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1424&context=sferc

Source: AeroTime Career Events