The resurgence of travel in the United States has been reflected in stiff competition to attract pilots among carriers, especially as America is the only region suffering a shortage of up to 8,000 pilots.
The US domestic aviation market has rebounded and returned to pre-pandemic levels much faster than other markets.
October domestic demand was only 0.8% below 2019 levels, while domestic demand for global travel was still 22% below pre-pandemic levels. According to the International Air Transport Association “IATA”.
As for international travel, demand in America in October was 10% lower than in 2019, compared with a 17.6% decline in Europe.
And a decline of about 57% in Asia and the Pacific, where travel restrictions remain in China, the largest market for international travel.
This resurgence of travel to America has translated into intense competition to attract pilots among American carriers, especially as America is the only region suffering from a pilot shortage, amounting to 11% or 8,000 pilots, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman in July.
This is mainly due to the experience hour requirement mandated by law in America at least 1,500 experience hours!
While in other parts of the world, major carriers such as Lufthansa and EasyJet.
It offers training programs that do not require any previous experience and allows trainees to work as co-pilots after the training programme.
This competition between US carriers has translated into a significant increase in pilot salaries, which Delta Airlines recently offered.
And in June, the local Piedmont airline doubled its first-year pay for pilots with the rank of captain, to $146 an hour.
And globally in Australia, Qantas’ low-cost airline Jetstar last month agreed to a two-year pay freeze followed by a 3% annual salary increase and a $6,800 one-time bonus.
While Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong intends to increase the basic salary of all company employees by around 3% in 2023.
Air France also increased the salaries of all its employees by 5% in September and offered a bonus of 1,000 euros in anticipation of salary negotiations scheduled for next year.
