Pilot Shortage Research Articles

Assessing an Aviation Out-of-School Time Program: A Collective Case Study

Recent hiring trends fueled by a growing shortage of qualified pilots and aircraft mechanics serve to increase the pressure on the aviation community to attract young people to the profession. Given the historical reality that the industry is predominantly white and male, this dynamic supports efforts to increase access to underrepresented populations, including women and people of color. This collective instrumental case study sought to contribute insights and outcomes from providing an aviation module during an Out-of-School Time (OST) program in an underserved, primarily African American neighborhood. Thirty-one youth campers and 12 adult camp counselors participated. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were conducted to explore data collected via surveys, worksheets, reflections, and observations. The perspectives and attitudes of the youth and counselors who participated in the program were decidedly positive. The results suggested that the campers were connected, engaged, and motivated, even as they seemed at times to be distracted in the program. Games, worksheets, age-appropriate challenges, and one-on-one supervision were effective in supporting lecture and simulator activities. The outcomes recommend the development of aviation programs with activities closely tailored to age-appropriate academic objectives. Additionally, studies to further understand their value may provide insight into the long-term benefits of youth engaged in such programs.

Training Capacity of the Fixed Wing FAA Part 141 Flight Schools within the United States

Discussions have been held in classrooms, industry forums and in the media about the looming pilot shortage. Discussion to date has primarily focused on causal factors, and forecasting industry need for pilots; there is little research on where those pilots are going to come from. A study was conducted to quantify the pilot training capacity in the United States, focusing on FAA Part 141 certified flight schools associated with University degree programs. This information will be used to help the FAA and industry members make informed decisions and plan for the future. In total, 33 schools participated in a survey, ranging in size from 1700 students to 11. Lack of CFI’s was the most common limiting factor, followed by lack of aircraft. 14 of the 33 schools were at or above 100 percent capacity. Several other metrics were surveyed, including costs, total pilot output, training duration, and CFI attrition, in order to build a broad picture of the state of pilot training within the United States.

A Looming Pilot Shortage: It is Time to Revisit Regulations

A Looming Pilot Shortage: It is Time to Revisit Regulations

Effects of the Pilot Shortage on the Regional Airline Industry: A 2023 Forecast

Effects of the Pilot Shortage on the Regional Airline Industry: A 2023 Forecast

Effects of Airline Industry Growth on Pilot Training

<p>The rapid airline growth in recent years sparked debates about global pilot shortage. Interest of talented individuals to join the aviation industry may be affected by unstable remuneration and rising cost of training. This article evaluates pilots supply and demand. The cost of initial pilot training is compared between 2007 and 2017. The airline industry growth in the last decade is described and collated with evolution of labor cost and pilots’ pay. Increasing pilot demand puts pressure on efficiency of training. Current training methods are reviewed. A development of new strategies is suggested in order to meet airline industry needs.</p>

Commercial airline single-pilot operations: System design and pathways to certification

Global air transport demand is increasing steadily, with the global revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growing at an annual rate of 4% [1] and the number of passengers rising at an average annual rate of 10.6% [2]. By the end of 2016, it is estimated that 1,420 large commercial airliners will be produced, 40.5% more than was produced five years ago [2]. A consequence of this growth is an exacerbation of the existing global shortage of qualified pilots. Airlines have to hire more than 500,000 new commercial pilots until 2034 in order to meet this unprecedented air transport demand [3]. Additionally, the high costs associated with training and remuneration of pilots has been a substantial economic burden on air carriers, prompting active research into the concept of single-pilot operations (SPO) as an option for the future evolution of commercial airliners. SPO cockpits have already been developed for military fighters as well as general aviation (GA) aircraft, with small business jets like the Cessna Citation I obtaining approval for SPO as early as 1977 [4], however, the last decade has seen considerable interest in the implementation of SPO in commercial aviation. NASA has been conducting SPO-related studies since the mid-2000s [5], [6], while some recent research in Europe has focused on the technical [7] and operational [8] challenges of SPO. In the SPO concept of operations (Figure 1), a single pilot operates the flight deck with increased ground support from a dedicated ground human flight crew. The ground operators (GO) fulfil a role similar to that of a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) operator, providing a combination of strategic and tactical support to the single pilot in collaboration with the air traffic controllers (ATCo).

Employment motivation of airline pilots in the USA

The airline industry is currently experiencing a high volume of airline pilot retirements. As a result, there is a large demand for new airline pilots. Many regional airlines are reporting that there is a pilot shortage in the airline industry since they are having difficulty hiring enough qualified pilots to meet their demand. Conversely, research has shown that there is a sufficient number of qualified pilots in the USA to meet the current and future demand. The purpose of this descriptive study was to quantify the motivations of the entire ATP/commercial pilot population and to specifically identify the reasons why two-thirds of the ATP/commercial pilot population have decided not to seek airline employment. The results suggest that insufficient pay is the primary reason that pilots choose non-aviation careers and that an increase in starting salary would motivate many qualified pilots to seek employment at regional airlines.

Employment motivation of airline pilots in the USA

The airline industry is currently experiencing a high volume of airline pilot retirements. As a result, there is a large demand for new airline pilots. Many regional airlines are reporting that there is a pilot shortage in the airline industry since they are having difficulty hiring enough qualified pilots to meet their demand. Conversely, research has shown that there is a sufficient number of qualified pilots in the USA to meet the current and future demand. The purpose of this descriptive study was to quantify the motivations of the entire ATP/commercial pilot population and to specifically identify the reasons why two-thirds of the ATP/commercial pilot population have decided not to seek airline employment. The results suggest that insufficient pay is the primary reason that pilots choose non-aviation careers and that an increase in starting salary would motivate many qualified pilots to seek employment at regional airlines.

항공전문인력 양성을 위한 교육 시스템 개선에 관한 연구

Recently due to shortage of pilots from aviation developed countries such as America, Japan and etc, not even regional airlines but also major airlines are facing difficulties of pilot shortage. Through statistic data, ICAO and Boeing Company are predicting that roughly 8 thousands of new pilots will be short per year. Therefore, to solve this pilot shortage, countries are searching solutions like reducing air route, and extending regular retirement. This study analyzes domestic pilot supply market and compares systems of pilot training between the domestic system and the system of America and Japan. From the comparison, the study has deducted improvements for the role of domestic certification system, ATO(Approval of Training Organizations) operation, and related organizations including the government.

Iterative Channel Estimation Using Virtual Pilot Signals for MIMO-OFDM Systems

The number of transmit and receive antennas in multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems is increasing rapidly to enhance the throughput and reliability of next-generation wireless systems. Benefits of large size MIMO systems, however, can be realized only when the quality of estimated channels is ensured at the transmitter and receiver side alike. In this paper, we introduce a new decision-directed channel estimation technique dealing with pilot shortage in the MIMO-OFDM systems. The proposed channel estimator uses soft symbol decisions obtained by iterative detection and decoding (IDD) scheme to enhance the quality of channel estimate. Using the soft information from the decoders, the proposed channel estimator selects reliable data tones, subtracts interstream interferences, and performs re-estimation of the channels. We analyze the optimal data tone selection criterion, which accounts for the reliability of symbol decisions and correlation of channels between the data tones and pilot tones. From numerical simulations, we show that the proposed channel estimator achieves considerable improvement in system performance over the conventional channel estimators in realistic MIMO-OFDM scenarios.

Women airforce service pilots part II: Cancellation

To be a woman and a pilot was highly unusual in 1942 and represented a paradigm shift for American culture (Photo 1). World War II enabled America to try something new in 1942 : to train and utilize women pilots to support the war effort because of a shortage of male pilots. The desperate need did not mean all parties were supportive of the trial.

Colgan Air Accident-Driven Changes to Part 121 Flight Operations: It is Time for Phase Two (Editorial)

It has been just one year since the FAA mandated a minimum of 1500 total flight hours for all part 121 pilots and the implementation of the corresponding 3-tier restricted ATP program based on reduced flight hours. It is time to consider alternatives that meet both the concerns of congress and the concerns of the Colgan Air mishap families, while simultaneously being sensitive to the industry pilot shortage. How did we get here and are there any off-the-shelf alternatives to the three tiers to help get pilots into the left seat sooner?

Improving the Pilot Selection System: Statistical Approaches and Selection Processes

Pilot selection systems traditionally use one of three statistical approaches to model candidate performance: multiple linear regression, linear discriminant analysis, and logistic regression. This article reviews the literature comparing selection decisions using these three approaches and compares the classification accuracy of linear discriminant analysis and logistic regression to the results from two Monte Carlo simulations. Methods for adjusting to a pilot shortage are described for each statistical approach. In the second half of the article, we describe a selection system using a progressive process, rather than the traditional single- or multistage process. We discuss how system operators can adjust each of the processes to deal with a pilot shortage.

Predictive Power of English Testing: Training International Flight Students

Due to the impending pilot shortage in Asian countries many prospective students are being sent to the United States to receive their initial flight training. The purpose of this study was to determine if Chinese students entering an American flight program with higher English testing scores are more successful in completing their private pilot certification. A sample size of 141 Chinese students was used for this study. T-test analyses was conducted to determine if students who had higher English scores were more successful in completing private pilot training. Significant relationships were found between oral scores, Versant scores and private pilot completion. Multiple regression was used to determine if a relationship existed between a student's English score and his or her academic and flight performance. Significant relationships were found between the student's English screening scores, academic grades, and flight performance.

Hangar Talk Survey

The current study developed an online hangar talk survey (HTS) to solicit narratives describing challenging scenarios that professional pilots encountered during the hours-building phase of their career. The predicted pilot shortage will effectively reduce the minimum flying hours required for pilots to be hired at an airline, resulting in less opportunity to develop nontechnical skills naturalistically. To compensate, threat and error data from the hours-building phase of a pilot's career are required to inform training development. Pilots often share stories of such experiences, colloquially termed "hangar talk". The HTS gathered 132 narrative descriptions of general aviation (GA) events from pilots along with the event's impact and whether the pilots would react differently if the scenario were encountered again. The distribution of threats reported by GA pilots was similar to that reported at the airline level. Logistic regression analysis revealed that decision-making errors were associated with recognition of the need to react differently in the future, and decision-making errors and proficiency errors were associated with greater perceived impact on skill development. The current HTS solicited an array of data similar to the findings of airline-based threat and error observations. Pilots perceive decision-making and proficiency errors as impactful on skill development. An HTS can be used to gather naturalistic threat and error data and to create a database of operational stories that can be used to develop nontechnical training based on narrative thought.

Retaining Women in Collegiate Aviation by Implementing Learning Style Considerations

Women are clearly underrepresented in aviation. Research must be accomplished to determine which factors influence women, once they have indicated a serious interest in an aviation career, to stay in collegiate aviation programs or to leave. Addressing the issue of women’s retention in aviation is one way to help address the growing commercial pilot shortage, while moving toward gender equity in this critical, national industry. Projected shortages in the commercial pilot population, coupled with the low representation of women in career pilot positions, suggest that aviation education and training institutions should re-examine the structure and organization of the aviation knowledge transfer process. Classroom enhancements could improve education methods to make them more efficient from the perspectives of increased knowledge retention, improved application to broader subjects, and reduced loss to attrition of viable pilot candidates to enter the commercial pilot workforce. This study examines how aviation education can best serve the aviation student’s learning style needs. The study looks at learning style theory, from the viewpoint of the wide diversity of aviation learners who are dominantly visual, auditory, or hands-on, tactile, or kinesthetic learners, and how women’s learning styles are pivotal to their success and retention in collegiate aviation. By exploring how people learn best, and then providing those learners with the tools to maximize their dominant learning styles, the next generation of pilots, both women and men, should be better prepared to enter the aviation industry and help reduce the projected commercial pilot shortages.

University Aviation Education: An Integrated Model

As indicated at the Regional Air Transport Training Convention and Tradeshow (RATS 2000) at Daytona Beach, FL, on February 8-9, 2000, the United States regional airlines fully recognize that the frequently-discussed shortage of regional airline pilots is now a fact rather than a forecast. The regional airline conference attendees also felt that potential pilot shortages in the major airlines are probably not far behind. Over the past few decades, the airline industry has relied upon the military for its primary source of experienced pilots. However, with increased commercial airline expansion, coupled with the Vietnam era trained pilots approaching retirement age and the recent low military pilot training production, the United States now faces a shortage of highly experienced pilots in both the military and the commercial airline industry. While flight programs have been developed to meet these shortfalls with increased training, consideration should also be given to improving the aviation education process itself, which is the foundation of flight training. University aviation training programs, because of their comprehensive academic environments, offer excellent opportunities to develop and deliver state-of-the-art aviation curricula and become the new primary resource for commercial airline pilots. A key question to help resolve the impact of the commercial pilot shortage should be: Can an enhanced aviation academic education and flight training program help accelerate university-trained pilots into airline cockpits. This paper draws upon research conducted in the Aeronautical Management Technology Department at Arizona State University (Karp, 1996) and addresses potential educational enhancements through the implementation of an integrated aviation learning model, the Aviation Education Reinforcement Option (AERO). The AERO model is a learning strategy that incorporates elements of the adult education paradigm, learning style theory, cooperative and collaborative learning techniques, and personal computer-based aviation training devices (PCATDs), to span the long-term retention and application gap that can occur between the classroom and the flight line. This paper suggests that the AERO model, when combined with flight training that emphasizes airline procedures from the very beginning, has the potential to reduce the pilot training time required between the universities’ academic classrooms and flight training environments, and the commercial airline cockpit.

Corporate Perceptions of Job Satisfaction And Educational Needs

During the winter of 1986, The Ohio State University Department of Avi,ation conducted a survey of randomly selected National Business Aircraft Association members. The survey served two explicit purposes (1) addressing the need for information to be used in the design of a course at OSU in corporate flight operations; and (2) assessing the needs of the industry for workshops and seminars in communication and management. Direct information from corporate flight departments was sought to insure that the practical concerns of the corporate pilot or flight department manager be combined with organizational communication and management strategies tailored to the specific needs of the industry. This information was gathered through a series of scaled responses, and through closed and open ended questions. Industry cooperation and support has been excellent. The questionnaire's design provides insight into the perceptions of corporate pilots and managers regarding a number of factors that pertain to their degree of job satisfaction. Public attention regarding aviation continues to focus on the airlines. Expansion, collapse, takeovers, hires, furloughs, unions, and routes all receive media attention. Primarily through the media, the general public and many prospective aviation professionals have become aware of the pilot shortage and the projected continued hires by major lines. Even among many commercial pilots the traditional goal continues to be attaining a major airlines captain slot despite the two-tier pay scales and changing benefits. The rites of passage for a non-military pilot to build experience traditionally consisted of a progression from flight instructor to Part 135 then to corporate or to regionals then to majors. Those entering the corporate market have tended to remain in it. The corporate market on the surface seems healthy. The NBAA reports an increase in member aircraft (5,547) and corporate membership (2,941) in 1985. Except for 1983, membership shows an approximate growth of 10% per year. Company loyalty is often high, although conditions in corporate flight departments are known to vary greatly. What is there about the corporate arena that allows it to retain high time experienced professionals who have one of the best safety records in the business? Is it in the best interest of the industry that corporate aviation be such a well kept secret? This study only provides an introduction to such questions. The paper examines those aspects of the OSU survey results which indicate the degree of satisfaction that survey respondent corporate managers and pilots exhibit regarding their perceptions of (1) their own company compared with other corporate flight operations; and (2) their position in their own company compared with a similar position with a major airlines. Those educational needs identified by the NBAA members as beneficial to either students soon to be operating in the corporate environment or to individuals already in the field are briefly addressed as well.