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Pilot Shortage May Hit Regional Airlines as U.S. Tightens Training Rules

Published Aug 2, 2010 on Pilot Jobs

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U.S. regional airlines may have a tougher time hiring pilots under legislation passed by Congress mandating at least 1,500 hours of flying, six times higher than now required.

Southwest

“It could stymie the growth and the income potential of some of the regional airlines,” said Jerry Glass, president of F&H Solutions Group, a labor-relations consulting firm in Washington. “If you can’t find pilots that meet this new, higher threshold, then you can’t grow your company.”

The U.S. Senate today cleared and sent to President Barack Obama the legislation boosting the minimum-experience requirement from the current 250 hours. The House acted yesterday, with lawmakers saying they were prompted by a crash of a plane operated by Pinnacle Airlines Corp.’s Colgan unit, which killed 50 people last year near Buffalo, New York.

The experience requirement, while boosting safety, may unintentionally make hiring more difficult during a transition, said Kit Darby, a retired United Airlines pilot who runs KitDarby.com Aviation Consulting LLC.

U.S. carriers have three years to meet the conditions. The Federal Aviation Administration can let pilots fly with less than 1,500 hours should it conclude that academic training “will enhance safety more” than flying experience, according to the legislation.

Regional Airline Association, which represents commuter carriers, looks “forward to continuing our efforts with the FAA” to build upon safety, Roger Cohen, the Washington group’s president, said today in a statement.

The group represents carriers such as Memphis, Tennessee- based Pinnacle, Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc. and SkyWest Inc.

The requirement may raise costs for carriers because experienced pilots generally earn higher wages, said William Swelbar, a research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who specializes in airline economics.

Pilot union advocates said the crash showed a need for higher experience requirements, and relatives of victims of the Colgan accident made more than 30 trips to Washington to push for a change.

If the pilots were more seasoned when they were hired, they may have avoided pitfalls that led to the crash, Paul Onorato, president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, has said. Onorato said neither pilot had 1,500 hours of experience when they were hired.

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