Airlines struggle with global pilot shortage
A growing shortage of airline pilots is putting the industry’s recent growth at risk as planes sit idle, higher salaries cut into profits and unions across the globe push for more benefits.
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The surge in employee costs, which rival fuel as the biggest strain on an airline’s finances, comes as higher oil prices are already squeezing margins. Airlines say ticket prices have not kept pace with costs.
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The high cost of pilot training and several years of earlier hiring freezes in markets like the United States and Australia have deterred potential aviators from entering an industry that Boeing says will need 637,000 more pilots over the next 20 years.
IATA estimates airline traffic will nearly double during that period, so companies like Canadian training group CAE Inc (CAE.TO) and L3 Technologies (LLL.N) are building new flight simulators to cash in on training demand.