Pilots Union Says There Wouldn't Be a Pilot Shortage if Pay Was Higher
Skift Take
You say tomatoe and I say tomahto. Whether ALPA wants to admit there is a pilot shortage or merely cast it as a question of attractive pay scales, the end result is that there aren't enough qualified pilots to fill job openings at U.S. regional and major airlines.
The largest pilots union in the U.S. wants to refute the supposed myth that there is an airline pilot shortage, and in the process of doing so the Air Line Pilots Association conceded that there is a pilot shortage.
In a press release, ALPA made its case for the absence of a pilot shortage by pointing out:
1,154 of its member pilots are currently furloughed from jobs with their former airline employers.
Nearly all of the 850 experienced pilots who got their walking papers when Comair Airlines ceased operating in 2012 are seeking employment.
800 pilots became jobless when ASTAR, Evergreen and Ryan airlines recently shut down.
So that means some 2,800 formerly employed U.S. pilots are seeking to pick up a paycheck somewhere.
ALPA's real point is that many U.S. pilots just aren't interested in available job openings because the pay is too low, that European and Gulf airlines pay much more than their U.S. counterparts, and the U.S. aviation industry is too unstable.
“There may be a shortage of qualified pilots who are willing to fly for U.S. airlines because of the industry’s recent history of instability, poor pay, an
