Aero-News: Quote of the Day

ANN's Quote of the Day usually derives from current news, though we reserve the right to pick quotes out of history that have a bearing on the day's events and issues.

Sometimes, you'll find them timely and in keeping with the content of the day's news... and sometimes, they'll just be thought-provoking.

Reader suggestions and comments are welcome... and if particularly intriguing, timely, or poignant, may themselves become future Quotes of the Day.

Let us hear from you, folks!

Aero-News Quote of the Day

"Everybody who has a pilot today is in this game. Because the reality is, if you look at the numbers, the airlines require 3,500 pilots every year through 2025. I produce about 1,200 a year. So what we have is actually a national shortage of pilots.”

Source: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, deiscussing the shortage of military pilots created when the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 became law. Gen. Goldfein notes that it set a standard of 1,500 hour for a civilian pilot to qualify to become an airline pilot, while the standard for military pilots is 750 hours. He is now calling on Congress to change those rules and lower the minimum hours for civilian pilots because airlines are poaching pilots from the Air Force.

FMI: www.af.mil