m.aviationweek.com “The upcoming deliveries of Bombardier’s Global 7500 and Gulfstream’s G500 and G600 in significant numbers will be the point when our industry is going to have a very significant challenge finding qualified crew members.”
That’s the opinion of Don Haloburdo, senior vice president for flight services at Jet Aviation. Highly qualified flight crew are already in short supply as airlines around the world soak up the existing supply and fewer military pilots become available. That leaves the business aviation industry wondering how to attract corporate pilots.
Major forecasts recently released suggest the shortage has only just begun. Boeing’s 2018 Pilot & Technician Outlook says aviation is looking at an “unprecedented” demand for 790,000 pilots over the next two decades and 754,000 new maintenance technicians. It also forecast a combined demand in the business aviation and helicopter sectors alone for 155,000 pilots and 132,000 maintenance technicians over the next 20 years.