Washington Times:
Airlines brace for shortage of pilots
By Bryce Baschuk
August 20, 2007
Airlines are preparing for a major shortage of pilots and are trying to hire more of them to meet the demands of the next decade.
The airline industry is looking to hire 65,000 pilots by 2012 — including 12,000 this year — but is fighting a slew of retirements, a dearth of new recruits and competition from overseas carriers and the U.S. military.
Commercial air travel has grown 8 percent in the past five years, from 683 million passengers per year in 2001 to 740 million in 2006, and the Federal Aviation Administration expects that number to jump to 1.2 billion passengers by 2020.
The industry is concerned that there will be a void left when the current group of pilots is forced into mandatory retirement at age 60. More...
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