Airlines across the country are trying to come up with creative ways to address a massive pilot shortage. JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, and Alaska Air Group are reducing flights this summer to focus on hiring and training new pilots. Others are trying to recruit foreign pilots. In some cases, plane rides have been replaced with bus trips.
“You have United Airlines buying their own flight school, other airlines are offering as many early incentives as they can,” Aviation expert Jay Ratliff said.
He notes that the airlines are scrambling to do what they can ahead of the busy summer travel season.
“Right now, they don’t have much. Yes, you can offer some of these packages, incentives, and things like this to try to get people on board, but I’m telling you it gets more and more of an issue the further along we go,” Ratliff explained.
He adds the industry needs to hire an average of 14,500 new pilots each year for the next decade just to keep up. Since that's unlikely, he says travelers should expect to see higher prices and more canceled flights this summer.