You may have heard somewhere that a pilot shortage is looming. Personally, I believe that rumor to be true. I also believe there will be challenges in finding qualified people to fill skilled positions as aircraft mechanics, engineers, designers, administrators, and maybe even line personnel. The future is a blank slate. However, we can affect it if we choose to.
By the way, just to dispel any sense you might harbor that I could be a kook, or a nut, or a fervent supporter of Daylight Savings Time, let me be clear: I do not believe in the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, the jackalope, or whoever that space-alien guy on the History Channel is. You know, the one with the huge poofy hair who thinks every unknown question in the world can be answered with an imbecilic grin and the statement, “Aliens did it.”
Yeah, I’m a bit weird. But I’m not that weird.
Now, back to my original premise. I assert that our future will be in question if we do not find and nurture the next generation of aviation professionals. That’s just logical. If an insufficient number of replacement crewmen (and women) step up to fill the seats of the current crop, then we will indeed suffer a shortage in the coming years.
Furthering that logical progression, it doesn’t take Sheldon Cooper to figure out that many of the future aviation professionals we seek will find their way to that vocational destination via the astoundingly varied and oh-so accessible world of general aviation.
Yes, general aviation will be the key to continuing the progress we’ve seen in aerospace over the course of the past century. I have no doubt of that. Here’s something else I’m pretty rock solid on, and I’m willing to bet it’s a nuance of the shortage question you’ve never considered. We’re going to face a teacher shortage, too. In fact, we already are.
Think about it. Where are the teachers we’ll need to educate this next crop? Seriously. Where are they? Right now, nobody knows. There is no database that tracks the whereabouts of well educated, highly experienced aerospace professionals who are interested in teaching their replacements to step in and fill the coming void.
Understand, I’m not talking about flight instructors here — although some flight instructors may certainly fill the bill. No, I’m talking about a broad category of aviation and aerospace professionals who have the credentials to teach in high school and college environments.
And should it have escaped your attention, as it has with so many of our peers, high schools are increasingly seeing the benefit of providing their students with a clear path to a career in aerospace. The limiting factor is often the availability of qualified teachers.
There are a handful of colleges and universities that facilitate dual enrollment opportunities for high school students. That allows high schoolers with a strong sense of purpose and drive to take classes at their high school that count for college credit. These kids have an enormous leg-up on their peers, as you can imagine. But that opportunity disappears if a qualified teacher isn’t available.
So let me ask you, do you have a masters degree or better, and a desire to pass on the knowledge you’ve attained over the course of your career? Do you have 30 years in the cockpit, or crawling around in the belly of an aircraft making repairs? If so, it’s at least possible you may have earned a masters degree through the experience and insight you’ve gained over the decades.
Believe it or not, there are institutions of higher learning that are not only willing to talk to you about how you might put your experience to work training the next generation, they’re actively seeking you out. They just don’t know where to find you.
The upside of all this shortage talk is that you might find a way to put your own experience to work in a productive and profitable manner. The upside to the student body comes in the form of a living, breathing individual who can share real insight rather than just book learnin’ to a class that desperately wants to know what the job is really like.
Your involvement may also lead some of those next generation pilots, mechanics, engineers, designers, and administrators to a career they never would have been able to attain. Consider cost. Those students do, you can bet on that. So do their parents. For a kid of limited means, the idea of pursuing a career in aerospace is a virtual impossibility because of the cost of gaining the required education. Yet dual credit course opportunities at the high school level cost those students nothing. The school system and private donors are picking up that cost — in effect, opening doors to an otherwise unattainable future for some students.
Imagine, a student from a low-income background entering a college aerospace program with a bunch of credits already in the bank. That student doesn’t have to take as many classes. They don’t have to pay for as many classes. Their college education becomes less expensive and, therefore, more attainable because someone — maybe someone like you — decided to turn their retirement into a semi-retirement by teaching a class or two in the local high school’s dual-enrollment aerospace program.
It’s something to think about. It’s something to do. And it just might help fill those empty slots that you’ve been reading about so much. Heck, if you’re not sure who to call to see if you qualify, write me. There’s a link right there at the bottom of the page.
You make some very valid points and I think there would be a lot of merit to experienced aviators providing the type of classroom instruction you suggested as well as flight instruction. I have always believed that we have the wrong people teaching others to fly. My private instructor in college was an experienced pilot and all of my Navy flight instructors had at least one tour in a fleet squadron. I never got instruction from aviator who got his wings last week. Our entire general aviation structure is upside down. Our instructors should be experienced pilots who come to instruction wanting to do so not young pups who have to because there is nothing else available to them. How to fix this problem, Lord, I wish I had a red hot idea.
Jeff, I agree with you regarding pay. It is absolutely shameful that our regional airlines and others are offering starting salaries as low as $18,000 or so I have heard. I get the feeling that there are at least 3 applicants for every airline job available. So there is no upward pressure on a starting salary. Embry-Riddle, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and all the others offering aviation degrees might be able to help by requiring interviewing companies to be offering 30+ starting salaries or something along that line.
To the gentlemen who responded to and some of the others reading this article, you are part of that group I refer to as the “Nattering Nabob’s of Negativity”. It seems you are hard pressed to have anything positive to say about aviation. You come into my FBO, drink my coffee (for FREE of course), pontificate on how expensive flying is today vs the good old days (whenever that was) and on and on. If you are still an aircraft owner, you probably fly less than 10 hours a year and complain bitterly about the cost of fuel, parts and how much you got screwed on your last annual. While all I can do is smile and make nice when you are going on, a new prospect walks in and hears this nonsense and they all but run screaming out the door never to be seen again. Flying has never been cheap and never will be. The point of this is we need to be encouraging young people to see aviation as a very good career path rather than scaring the hell out of them. Is there improvement to be made? Absolutely! It is my goal to imbue all the young future pilots I meet with the same enthusiasm I still have even at the ripe old age of 65. There is nothing I would rather be doing.
Where I live near Savannah, GA, Gulfstream is probably the largest employer with over 10,000 employees. They tend to get their experienced technicians as they come out of the military or one of the Army contracts at Hunter Army Airfield.
They also have partnered with local schools to provide education to anyone interested, even if it is just to learn how to buck rivets and jump on the production line for starting pay.
Companies that have similar programs should see no problem with finding new talent but having the Hunter Army Airfield nearby is certainly a bonus for Gulfstream.
I suspect it is one of the reasons Boeing opted to put their new MFG plant outside of Charleston, SC, where they can pull from a number of military bases in the area for experienced mechanics and pilots.
Regards,
The pilot education process became a shame when MBC’s ( Make Believe Colleges) found opportunity to recruit “Free Money” into their education policy?? Same thing happened with the Veterans Benefit (FAA Part 141) flight schools… “free money!” Some of us went on to use the training and skills and become career pilots. CFI’s are young “time builder’s” with little to no ability to teach, doing the training? What result can anyone expect from the “Monkey see, Monkey do” education process? To teach a elementary class it requires a college degree and certification. Not so with Flight Instruction! We need educators, who have been career pilots doing most of the teaching at a reasonable compensation. Not so in our system, 27 years and 11,500+ hours of in-flight experience, plus a history of teaching get us a place out in the back pasture since we no longer meet FAA Aeromedical criteria for Class II certification. You want experienced, quality flight instruction? Find a 1 year CFI of age 20 to do the job? OR change the rules and let those of us who would love to TEACH a subject we know and have experienced for many years would do. In the long run, the investment would yield higher quality, better prepared pilot’s for the future.
From what my corporate friends tell me the previous comment is spot on. They want to pay squat so there are lot’s of openings…..Many pilots looking for work that pays reasonable.
My one friend that got into teaching to live his dream in aviation lasted a couple years and burnt out on the boredom and low pay.
Hi Jamie,
I disagree that there is a pilot shortage.
Here are my reasons why I disagree.
First, there is a pay shortage. Not a pilot shortage.
It is very hard to understand why someone would want to work for substantially less than a personal trainer gets just to say I’m a pilot or CFI. Their is a whole lot more risk of injury and/or death associated with aviation than personal training. Also, not to mention the education, training, certification, and medical condition required to be and maintaining to be a pilot.
Second, It appears, that the airlines have taken advantage of a huge excess number of trained and qualified pilots since WWII. They have become so spoiled because they could pick and choose who they want without investing large sums of money for training. Now they cry foul because no one wants to work for lousy wages whether it starting out as a first officer that may or not get to upgrade to captain because of age or because of the bean counters say they can save so much more money by doing this or that. All the while, the CEO’s and executives continue to receive huge compensation packages. Yes, they do.
In todays world of the instant communications and the internet this brings me to my third and final point.
The Personal Computer and Internet is what really killed the aviation/pilot industry. Why, because of Flight Simulator games. Anyone can now fly their favorite aircraft and be a Top Gun or Joe Cool without leaving home. You don’t have to go to the airport, watch planes, ask questions, take flight lessons, medical exams, etc. It’s all now at your finger tips. Just like this comment I am writing. You will see it almost instantly.
Many people don’t want to get into this industry because it is over burdened with regulations, costs, low pay but mostly NO job security.
Yes, I have considered teaching and having been a rated CFI for over 25 years. I can tell you one thing. There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Teaching will always be a stepping stone and/or second class way to be a pilot. The aviation programs you talk about in my opinion are just feel good ideas schools try to instill. This industry is no longer a growing industry. It is one that has leveled out and matured. Todays world of getting someplace faster than the next guy is gone. Faster is now at the touch of a button with an internet connection. Going places for business is just merely a formality to make sure you get what your paying for.
Speed is no longer an issue with the airlines. Look at the speeds and times the airlines are giving. It is slower than the 1960’s when speed was the thing. The Concord has been retired for what other aircraft ? I can go on.
Thank you.