{"id":17173,"date":"2022-01-28T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=17173"},"modified":"2022-01-28T15:44:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T10:14:26","slug":"over-one-third-of-commercial-pilots-still-grounded-as-pandemic-drags-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/28\/over-one-third-of-commercial-pilots-still-grounded-as-pandemic-drags-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Over one-third of commercial pilots still grounded as pandemic drags on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>Over one-third of commercial pilots are still not flying as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on airlines globally.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s according to a new survey by&nbsp;FlightGlobal&nbsp;and aviation recruitment agency Goose, published on January 27, 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"Over one-third of commercial pilots are still not flying as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on airlines globally.\u00a0\u00a0\" class=\"wp-image-17175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-750x423.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807-1140x642.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SAVE_20220128_144807.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The survey of 1,743 pilots across the world was carried out before the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. <\/li><li>According to the results, 62% of pilots said they were employed and currently flying, although this is up from just 43% one year ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li>However, the survey notes that there are big differences across the world to this picture. <\/li><li>In North America, where airlines have been cutting schedules and offering additional incentives to crews to combat staffing shortages, 81% of pilots said they were flying.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li>In Europe, that figure drops to 62% and in Asia-Pacific (excluding China), where many countries are effectively closed due to tough COVID-19 restrictions, only 53% of pilots said they were employed and flying.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><li>In the United States, domestic flying has remained strong throughout the pandemic and senior captains taking early retirement has added to the return of a flight crew shortage that was already in place back in 2019, with a lack of new first officers having come through since then.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Over one-third of commercial pilots are still not flying as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on airlines globally.\u00a0\u00a0\" class=\"wp-image-17180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813-1140x760.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/200930-delta-airlines-jm-0813.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark Charman, CEO and founder of Goose Recruitment, noted that first officer salaries in North America had risen by almost 20% in the last two years.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cThis can be explained to an extent by the shortage of this rank in the region and airlines having to pay a premium to recruit. With the high rates of pilots at retirement age, pilots are\u00a0a valuable asset\u00a0in Northern America right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But for many respondents, salary cuts and job insecurity are big concerns. Almost a quarter of the unemployed pilots in the survey also said they did not feel confident about returning to the flight deck.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cI don\u2019t think that anyone could blame an unemployed pilot for losing some confidence whilst facing unemployment,\u201d Sophie Wild,\u00a0FlightGlobal\u00a0divisional director, commented.\u00a0 <\/p><p>\u201cWhether it is temporary or permanent, unemployment can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. On top of this, uncertainty related to COVID-19 only adds to the angst. We hope that the sector and airlines are already planning on how they can make the transition from unemployment to flying again run smoothly and safely.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse has-text-align-center\">Meanwhile, 55% of respondents said they would not recommend the profession to young people. Before the pandemic, only 29% of those surveyed said they would not recommend becoming a pilot. \n\nFurthermore, 37% in the latest poll said if they could go back\u00a0in time,\u00a0they would not become pilots.\u00a0\u00a0<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-when-will-normal-levels-of-flying-return\">When will normal levels of flying return?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there are some spots of optimism in the survey results. 60% said they believed the sector would make a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels within one or two years, while another 23% said it would take a further five months. It should be noted, however, that the survey was carried out before the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which has knocked back recovery at airlines.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"380\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/picture_of_a_pilots_uniform_crop.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/picture_of_a_pilots_uniform_crop.jpg 380w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/picture_of_a_pilots_uniform_crop-300x182.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cDespite the downbeat mood of this latest survey, it is clear that pilots do look forward to aviation returning to the sort of activity we saw in 2019, sooner rather than later,\u201d Charman commented.<\/p><p> \u201cPilots have remained resilient throughout a crisis that has made them adapt to new economic realities and re-evaluate what is important to them in their careers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As for the ever-rumored&nbsp;pilot shortage, 57% believed there would be a shortage of experienced pilots again within five years, up from 43% in 2021. A smaller proportion, 28%, thought there would be a shortage of all pilots, both experienced and inexperienced, within five years.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse has-text-align-center\">\u201cWith 85% of pilots believing the sector will be facing a shortage of pilots in five years, despite the difficult time it has faced through the pandemic, airlines must look to acting now,\u201d commented Goose\u2019s\u00a0Charman.\u00a0\n\n\u201cWe must factor in the pilots we have lost to retirement, those who have taken early retirement as well as those who have left the profession for other occupations.\u201d\u00a0<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned and updated with Aviationa2z.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over one-third of commercial pilots are still not flying as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on airlines globally.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6761,34],"tags":[619,3446,2568,5221,92,317],"class_list":{"0":"post-17173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-pilot","9":"tag-commercial-pilots","10":"tag-covid-19-pandemic","11":"tag-grounded","12":"tag-mark-charman","13":"tag-pandemic","14":"tag-pilots"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17181,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17173\/revisions\/17181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}