Market Intelligence: -Airline Hiring

US Major Airline to Reconsider Unsuccessful Pilot Applications After 3 Months Instead of 6

Delta Air Lines through its Pilot Recruiting page announced it now reconsiders unsuccessful pilot applications either through online assessment or interview after 3 months instead of 6.

Announcement is written as follows:

Effective Tuesday, May 24, 2022, if you were not successful with either the Online Assessment or Interview (dating back to August 2021), your application will now be able to be re-considered 3 months (previously 6) after completing your assessment or interview. To be reconsidered, you only need to keep your application up to date.

Your application will be considered along with all new applicants awaiting review, so be patient with our team if you do not get an invite immediately. If you are still competitive, you will receive an invitation to test or interview once again*.

*Note, if you were successful in the Online Assessment portion the first time but not the Interview you will not need to take the Online Assessment again.

Source: Delta Air Lines Pilot Recruiting

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US Pilots Association: “Raising Pilot Retirement Age is Ill-Advised on Multiple Fronts”

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), representing the 14,000 pilots of American Airlines, spoke out against changing the mandatory retirement age for professional airline pilots.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is reportedly soliciting cosponsors for legislation that proposes changing pilot retirement age from 65 to 68. Congress raised the retirement age from 60 to 65 in 2007 to align with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

“It’s not at all clear that raising pilot retirement age would actually increase the pilot supply. Moreover, while it might not be less safe, ‘might not’ must never be a rationale on which to base safety-sensitive decisions in our industry,” said APA President Capt. Eric Ferguson. “Further, it would likely create additional instability in airline schedules by displacing pilots age 65 and older from international routes due to ICAO’s age 65 limit for international flying. Pilots age 65 and older would then be assigned to domestic-only flying, in turn displacing less senior pilots from those routes.

“Airlines would also be faced with significantly more training cycles,” he said.

Ferguson also emphasized that raising pilot retirement age would introduce additional risk into commercial aviation.

“According to numerous studies, cognitive abilities decline with increasing age,” he said. “Flying longer would also result in prolonged exposure to solar radiation and the debilitating effects of circadian rhythm disruption. In addition, as we age, we become more susceptible to other health problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These facts are borne out by American Airlines’ own pilot disability demographics, which rise sharply with age.

“Despite what supporters of raising retirement age may claim, there is no shortage of qualified pilots,” Ferguson said. “FAA records indicate that nearly 16,000 new airline transport pilot licenses were issued between 2019 and 2021. During that same time, approximately 9,600 pilots retired, leaving a surplus of several thousand pilots.

“Raising pilot retirement age is ill-advised on multiple fronts, and we urge lawmakers to direct their focus elsewhere.”

Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association — the largest independent pilots union in the United States — is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. APA represents the 14,000 pilots of American Airlines, including several hundred pilots on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces.

Source: Allied Pilots Association Press Release

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US Airline Pilot Union Opposes Attempts to Increase Retirement Age for Airline Pilots

At the 130th Regular Executive Board of the US based Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), pilot leaders adopted a resolution opposing any attempts to increase the retirement age for professional airline pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), at the direction of Congress with the 2007 Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act (P.L. 110-135), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) currently mandate that airline pilots in multi-crew operations must retire at age 65.

“This discussion is yet another attempt to distract the conversation from the real issue which is the failure of airlines to deliver on a key goal of the multibillion-dollar relief plan Congress provided them during the pandemic which was to effectively manage air-service operations as travel resumes,” said Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA president. “ALPA strongly opposes this proposed legislation as there is no reason to change the retirement age today and doing so would only increase costs for airlines as well as introduce unnecessary risks to passengers and crew alike.”

Increasing the retirement age will have significant unintended consequences and will displace pilots. Those airline pilots over 65 will be forced to leave the most desirable international routes to bid for domestic ones because the international age limit set by ICAO is 65. When age 65+ airline pilots return to domestic-only flying, they will then displace more junior pilots and both cohorts may require training on different aircraft, adding to the training costs of air carriers. Furthermore, most regional airline pilots leave the regional industry long before age 65 for more lucrative jobs at mainline or low-cost carriers or other opportunities. Therefore, the pool of domestic-service pilots will not increase appreciably without additional training costs or disruptions.

“ALPA is prepared to collaborate with anyone who comes to the table, in good faith, and work together to help our industry navigate this challenging period. However, we will not allow anyone to exploit this current moment to divert attention away from their mismanagement of the pandemic relief, while attempting to weaken aviation safety,” added DePete.

Currently, many U.S. airlines are claiming they cannot hire pilots fast enough as the aviation industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and air travel demand rebounds. In a recent letter to the lobbying organizations for most U.S. carriers, ALPA highlighted the significant rise in recent flight delays and cancelations plaguing U.S. carriers despite receiving $63 billion in taxpayer subsidies. While a few airlines have rightly admitted that their failure to plan has resulted in pilot training backlogs and operational meltdowns, others are trying to use this crisis of their own making to weaken safety regulations that make certain pilots are properly qualified and trained.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 64,000 pilots at 39 U.S. and Canadian airlines.

Source: ALPA Press Release

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Latvia Flight School Announces Improvement of Payment Structure

airBaltic Pilot Academy announces that it has improved the payment structure for its commercial pilot study program. As of now, after successfully passing company’s assessment, airBaltic will finance a significant part of the studies.

Pauls Cālītis, airBaltic Chief Operations Officer: “The relatively high cost of studies was a significant obstacle for aspiring young students to join the airBaltic Pilot Academy to become future airline pilots. This new system demonstrates airBaltic’s commitment to Pilot Academy and will enable more students to reach their dream of becoming a pilot.”

Students of the airBaltic Pilot Academy will now have to cover the costs of studies until obtaining a private pilot licence level, costing approximately EUR 15 000. After passing airBaltic pilot assessment and becoming an employee of the company, the airline will provide financing for the rest of the studies.

Overall, there are now 90 active students at airBaltic Pilot Academy. Most of the students are from Baltic countries, however, there are students also from other EU countries such as Germany, France, Finland, Spain and Italy among others. More than 10% of airBaltic Pilot Academy students are female.

airBaltic
(Air Baltic Corporation AS) connects the Baltic region with over 70 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS. Over the last 25 years airBaltic has developed as a strong, profitable and internationally respected airline. airBaltic is by far the best known international brand of Latvia and responsible for more than 2.5% of the Latvian GDP. airBaltic operates 33 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. 

airBalticTraining
A subsidiary of airBaltic, is a training facility offering a wide range of aviation training services in its modern and purpose-built training centre in Riga, Latvia. It was established in 2010 and since then each year provides training to approximately 3 000 professionals from across the world – more than 1 500 pilots, almost 1 000 cabin crew members and several hundred of ground handlers, cargo agents, security personnel and others.

Source: airBaltic Press Release

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Major US Airline CEO Shares Video Message Outlining Hiring Plans as the Airline Gets Back on Track

US based Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci released a two-minute video message that outlines the airline’s efforts in combatting pilot shortage. Check out the video below.

Full video transcript is as follows:

“Hi everyone, I’m Ben Minicucci, CEO of Alaska Airlines. For many years we’ve taken pride in running a strong operation. However, we aren’t living up to that commitment right now, and for that, I’m deeply sorry.

I hear every day from friends, neighbors and guests about how disruptive our flight cancellations have been. Everybody wants to know, “What happened? And what are you doing about it?”

Simply put, we had 63 fewer pilots than what we planned for when we built our schedule. By the time we caught this error, April and May schedules were bid on by our pilots and flight attendants, making it impossible to sufficiently adjust schedules to avoid cancellations.

This error is having a continued ripple effect for May. Of the 1,200 flights that we operate every day, we’ve been canceling about 50 of them, that’s about 4%. A canceled flight is frustrating enough, but then you often face long hold times when you try to reach someone in Reservations. This is coming at a time when flights are already full, so rebooking options are limited.

Even though we made immediate changes, it takes some time for a complex operation to turn the corner. The month of May will continue to be choppy and we’re doing everything we can to minimize the impact on you.

For June and beyond, we’ve made significant changes to ensure a high degree of reliability.

This includes hiring and training: 150 new pilots, 200 additional reservations agents. And 1,100 new flight attendants.

This, along with the reductions we’ve made to our schedule, will ensure we run an operation that you can count on.

I’m grateful for the people at Alaska and Horizon who are working long hours to take care of you and make the best of this tough situation.

The foundation of our airline is strong. Long term, Alaska is a resilient airline with 90 years of history – and through it all, you’ve helped shape our airline and make us better.  I’m committed to you, to our people, and to our communities. We’ll get this right and return to being the Alaska you can count on. Thank you.”

Source: Alaska Airlines Press Release

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Airlines in Australia Seeing Signs of Pilot Shortage

Smaller Regional Airlines are staring to experience shortages and are ramping up hiring from the General Aviation Industry as well as re-activating their ab-initio programs.

The larger Australian Airlines in the country are in a good position and have a sustainable pilot pipeline, but the problem comes in when speaking with smaller regional airlines where they are at a disadvantage. Even major US airlines are increasing recruitment of Australian pilots by offering higher salaries and good amount of sign-on bonuses.

Global Aviation Media Publication, Simple Flying, in its recently published Analysis Article entitled “Is The Global Pilot Shortage Impacting Australian Aviation?” answers whether or not the Australian Aviation is impacted by the global pilot shortage. Check out their full article here – partial extract below:

“Like elsewhere, the Australian aviation industry is experiencing pilot shortages but it’s not necessarily the biggest airlines feeling the most pain.

The global pilot shortage is having repercussions everywhere, including in Australia. Airlines worldwide let their pilot numbers drop during the pandemic. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots, the country’s peak pilot body, says around 23% of its members were made redundant during COVID-19. As the airlines get back on track faster than anticipated, pilot shortages are causing some complications.

Australia’s two biggest passenger airlines, the Qantas Group (which includes Jetstar) and Virgin Australia, are both boosting their pilot numbers. Qantas runs its own pilot academies, and Virgin Australia is recruiting as it plans to increase its fleet numbers. Recently complicating matters in Australia were COVID close contact rules, which temporarily ground working pilots (and other airline workers). In one well-publicized case, Qantas sent out an urgent plea for pilots to put some overtime in to keep three long-haul international flights and several domestic flights flying the following day.

Like airlines elsewhere, Australia’s big airlines have enough pilots to operate their scheduled flights, but their reserve pilot ranks are thin, and when things go wrong, that thinness can become a problem.”

Source: Simple Flying

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