‘I’ve never seen anything this bad’: With a pilot shortage causing havoc, a Philly job fair tried to lure more to the cockpit

Chad Cumberland, 21, walked up to the Republic Airways booth where a sign said: “Immediate Captain Openings.”

The Mount Pocono-area resident doesn’t have enough hours to fly for a big airline yet (he has 350), but he wants to some day.

“Right now, it’s a big hiring boom,” said Cumberland, one of dozens to attend a pilot job fair in Center City Saturday. “Hopefully, it holds by the time I get 1,500 hours. Either way, I think they’ll still need pilots.”

He’s almost certainly right.

A pilot shortage continues to threaten service around the country. Earlier this month, American Airlines announced it was dropping service in a number of cities due to lack of pilots.

“I’ve never seen anything this bad,” not even after 9/11, said Robert W. Mann Jr., president of R.W. Mann & Co., Inc., a Long Island-based independent airline industry analyst. “This is like having a snowstorm or tornado every day for a two-and-a-half-year period” in terms of disruption.

Lack of pilots had been a growing problem for years before the pandemic, fueled by low wages and financial difficulties. But it got increasingly worse after the coronavirus shut down service for a period, creating dire financial situations and a flood of retirements, experts say. The shortage has been especially acute among regional carriers, like Republic, who lose pilots to the major airlines.

“We are losing captains like crazy,” said Ryan Hollinsworth, a first officer pilot for Republic who was working a booth at the job fair. He said his airline, which has a base in Philadelphia, needs “as many as we can take.”

“We need people in seats,” he said.

The free job fair, which featured 13 regional and charter companies, was held by the Future & Active Pilot Advisors (FAPA), an aviation career consulting company, aimed at encouraging more people to become pilots and matching those that are with available jobs. It was geared toward pilots who already have a commercial license or more than 250 hours of flying time. To fly large transport aircrafts, pilots need 1,500 hours. The event also included an afternoon information session for students and others interested in becoming pilots.

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The group has staged similar events across the country for years. It was last in Philadelphia in 2018. But its programs have become increasingly important given the pilot shortage.

“There were times when it was icing on the cake,” said Mann, the industry analyst. “Now, it’s more fundamentally helpful.”

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The problem is threefold, according to Tim Genc, chief adviser and executive editor at FAPA: Not enough pilots are coming into the profession, too many are leaving, and airlines are expanding, creating a greater need.

“Our needs are based more on our growth,” said Stevi Knighton, a recruiter for Jet Edge International, a charter company that serves high-end clients and had a booth at the job fair. “We are actually the fastest growing [charter] company in the world.”

The demand for pilots is expected to becoming even greater. In 2021, 5,426 pilots were hired by major airlines, Genc said, more in one year than ever before. This year, 6,681 have been hired, he said.

And over the next few years, 20% to 25% of pilots, roughly 30,000, are expected to retire, Mann said. The mandatory retirement age in the United States for pilots of large commercial aircraft is 65.

Airlines have been offering large bonuses and salary increases to recruit and retain pilots, who are scheduled to fly about 75 hours a month. Average pay for a first-year pilot on a major airline is about $85,000, Mann said. Veteran pilots with 20 years’ experience or more who do well can make more than $300,000, he said. Regional carriers pay less, perhaps starting at $50,000 to $60,000, with those at the top earning $130,000 or so.

Those who attended the job fair were looking for different opportunities. Carlos Pineda, 42, a native of El Salvador, works for a small commuter airline and wants to move up.

“I’m ready to fly jets,” he said.

Amy Amorosia, 36, of Newtown, is more interested in a charter company, such as Nicholas Air, which was at the fair.

“You can live wherever you want, and they seem family-oriented,” said Amorosia, who had been a flight attendant and then became a pilot.

At the fair with her were two other flight instructors who work for the same Medford company, where they are building their hours. She has almost 800. Tyler Perry, 31, of Bordentown, and Pat Lewis, 30, of Mount Laurel, each have 350.

Perry said he, too, is interested in flying for a charter company. Lewis thought he wanted to work for one of the bigger airlines.

“Now, I’m not so sure,” he said. “It seems like there are a lot of different opportunities out there.”