Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

Last year was a better than expected year for pilots entering the airline market or those moving up to larger airlines. Hiring numbers almost doubled last year, up from 4,743 in 2003 to 9,382 in 2004. As they have for the past seven years, the National sector hired the most pilots, 3,948, up 48% from 1,990 in 2003. The majors made a strong showing by adding 1,139 pilots to their flight decks, up 45.5% from 518. Non-jets definitely doubled their figures, increasing their hiring trend 47.4%. The Jet Operator division held their weight, hiring almost 51% more pilots than last year.

Kit Darby, President of AIR, Inc. is predicting a strong pilot movement away from the passenger carriers and into the cargo carrier market. With FedEx and UPS hiring a combined total of 300-plus in 2005, many pilots are scrambling for the select flight deck positions. Job security and one of the highest pay scales in the industry are helping to drive the movement toward cargo operators.

AIR, Inc. will kick-off its 2005 Airline Pilot Job Fair and Seminars In Dallas/Fort Worth this month with their a strong showing featuring 23 airlines and numerous vendors AirNet, AirTran, American Eagle, Ameriflight, ASTAR, FlexJet, Cape Air, CAE Simuflight, FedEx, FlexJet, Gulfstream, JetBlue, LA Air National Guard, NetJets, Skywest, Southwest, Trans States, and US Airways subsidiaries Piedmont and PSA, UPS, and USA Jet Airlines. New to the group is Cathay Pacific, a foreign carrier, and Parc Aviation a crew leasing company.

FMI: www.jet-jobs.com