Air travel has become more popular and prevalent than ever before. To keep up with increasing demand from the public, airlines will be expanding their fleets and flight offerings which means the need for key staff, especially trained pilots, is going to skyrocket.
Boeing alone is planning on adding 39,620 aircrafts to their global fleet by 2035, an initiative valued at $5.9 trillion. According to a forecast by Boeing Co., this will require recruiting some 617,000 pilots, or 30,850 pilots a year for the next two decades, to keep pace with these new planes on order.
On top of that, carriers will be working against the clock as they struggle to replace pilots entering retirement, staff up to comply with stricter federal limits on duty hours, and fulfill staff needs for new routes to Cuba and Latin America.
Boeing predicts there will be the need for 1,12,000 new pilots in North America over the next 20 years. Furthermore, they see some 1,04,000 aviators required for Europe as travel continues to grow between countries on the continent.
As China overtakes North American as the largest travel market, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to account for about 40% of total new hires. And the Middle East is forecasted to need 58,000 pilots over the two decades, about 2,000 fewer than Boeing forecast a year ago. Flying within the Middle East region is changing as countries shift away from very large aircraft likeAirbus’s A380 superjumbo towards smaller models.
The life of a pilot isn’t easy, but if you’re already in the field or looking to get into it in the coming years, it’s an especially good time for the industry.