IN THIS MONTH'S EDITION:

IS THE PILOT SHORTAGE REAL?
FULL AIRPLANES. LOWER PROFITS.
MONTHLY AIRLINE HIRING UPDATE
BACKGROUND ISSUES? LET'S TALK ABOUT IT.
KEEPING A TIDY LOGBOOK

Vote Below! Do you think we have a Captain shortage or pilot shortage?

Captain Shortage

Pilot Shortage

Is the Pilot Shortage Real?

David Neelman, JetBlue founder and current founder-CEO of Breeze, sat down with FORTUNE magazine to discuss the recent pilot hiring cycle that has gone from bust to boom and back to somewhat of a bust again since COVID. As pilots, we have heard about the pilot shortage for many years and it seemed real at the time but now we question that thinking given the current hiring market. David Neelman thinks there is NOT a pilot shortage, yet there is a captain shortage.

Pay hikes that have come along with new pilot contracts make it enticing to upgrade to captain and possibly top-out at nearly $500,000. On the other hand, while controlling their schedule, a senior first officer can earn around $340,000 if they are on a wide-body aircraft. First-officer pay has increased enough lately that it makes upgrading to captain less enticing given the marginal pay increase. Additionally, these pilots would likely lose schedule control and take on much more responsibility which isn't worth it to some pilots.

Legacy airlines have thousands of applications on file for pilots who want to work there, yet captain positions go unfilled. United Airlines has recently had to force some new hires to take captain positions to fix their captain staffing issues. Given the current hiring market, it's safe to say that there is not a pilot shortage at all.

FULL AIRPLANES. LOWER PROFITS.

Fresh off Q2 earnings for the big three legacy airlines, we have seen a trend develop from the peak summer flying. Airlines have flooded the domestic market with as many seats as they can to capture the customer demand. This oversaturation has driven ticket prices lower than anticipated causing diminished profits in the domestic market. Profits at some airlines are down more than 40% from last year despite a record number of travelers this summer. This has caused some airlines, such as American, to announce that they are slowing their growth forecasts so demand can hopefully catch up. Meanwhile other airlines keep marching forward.

So what does this mean for the pilot hiring market? It's still an uncertain market, but as we see airlines such as Delta and United continue to hire, it seems that they are steadfast in their growth plans for the future. For other airlines such as Spirit, JetBlue, and Southwest who have paused hiring indefinitely, the future is uncertain. Falling profits have caused the low-cost carriers to do a major overhaul to their products to try and return to profitability while demand is still historically high.

There are many aircraft deliveries that are currently on the books and airlines will need pilots to fly them in the next few years. Unfortunately, these deliveries can be deferred to years down the road just as JetBlue has recently done. While airline pilot hiring is trending lower than in 2023, there are still opportunities for pilots to get hired at two of the three legacies. It is our projection that pending no economic downturn, this hiring slowdown could last for up to a year.

Airline hiring is constantly changing and these are the latest updates as of August 15, 2024

	LEGACY AIRLINES
AIRLINE	HIRING	DETAILS
Alaska	NO	Not currently hiring
Americ an	NO	All pilot hiring paused until ~Q1 2025
Delta	YES	2024 classes are full. Filling 2025 classes
Hawaiian	NO	First Officer hiring window is closed
United	YES	Hiring First Officers weekly

ATTENDING AN UPCOMING JOB FAIR?

We know first-hand that attending a job fair can be stressful. The dozens of recruiters and thousands of attendees all around you make them hectic events. Meanwhile your sole focus is making the best impression you can to the airline recruiters of your preferred airline.

If you are wanting to stand out from the rest when you have your one-on-one with a recruiter but don't know where to start, we can help!

Aero Crew Solutions offers a one-hour job fair preparation to help you stand out! We will review your résumé and help talk about any questions that may come up about your background. We will also help answer any questions you may have about you or the company.

For more information, or to sign up, CLICK HERE

	REGIONAL & LCC
AIRLINE	HIRING	DETAILS
Air Wisconsin	YES	Hiring DEC's
Allegiant	YES	Hiring First Officers
Avelo	YES	Hiring DEC's and First Officers
Breeze	NO	Not currently hiring
Cape Air	YES	Hiring DEC's and FO's
CommuteAir	YES	Hiring DEC's and FO's
Endeavor	YES	Hiring DEC's and FO's
Envoy	NO	All pilot hiring is paused
Frontier	NO	Classes paused for July and August
GoJet	YES	Hiring DEC's
Horizon	YES	Hiring Experienced First Officer's Only
JetBlue	NO	Paused hiring for rest of 2024
Mesa	NO	Not hiring and furloughed ~50 pilots
Piedmont	NO	All pilot hiring is paused
PSA	NO	Paused hiring. Offering leaves of absence.
Republic	APPLY NOW	Hiring DEC's and FO's with $100K bonus for DEC's upon completion of Captain OE
Silver	YES	Hiring DEC's and FO's
Spirit	NO	Not hiring with pilots furloughed
SkyWest	YES	Hiring DEC's and FO's
Southwest	NO	Not hiring through the end of 2024
Sun Country	YES	Hiring First Officers

HIRING FAQ OF THE MONTH

Q: I have background issues. Are my chances of being an airline pilot over?

A: The short answer to this question is simply, "No."

It's a long-held stereotype from the public that pilots have to be perfect their whole lives. The common theme is that one small mistake and your chances of chasing your dream are over. Well through our years of airline hiring experience, we are here to tell you that is not true.

Of course, having a squeaky clean background may get you a quicker interview from an airline, but it doesn't always guarantee success. The most important thing you can do is never hide anything on your application and be prepared to PROPERLY talk about whatever you have been through.

If you have made it to an airline interview, they want to hire you, however improperly explaining your background issue can tank your chances. So what are recruiters wanting to see from you? They want to see a change in character that shows them that your mistake doesn't define you. They want to feel confident that you won't make the similar mistakes again. You have to convince them to take a chance on you and make it known that you won't be a problem down the road for their company.

Additionally, if these issues occurred years ago, be able to show what you have done since then. When you were knocked down, did you get back up and press forward to being your best self; or did you continue to make the same mistakes? These are the questions you'll have to answer at your interview.

Each story that we hear is different and requires it's own unique approach. We have helped numerous candidates get hired despite various background issues. If you need help with how to handle yours, email us at:

candidate@aerocrewsolutions.com

TIPS FROM OUR RECRUITING TEAM

A pilot's logbook tells a story. That story starts with their very first flight and gets longer every time that pilot starts up an engine to go fly once more. It can tell a story of triumphs when adding new ratings and heartbreak when a check ride doesn't go as planned. As more and more flight time is added to a logbook, it's easy for it to get messy and include errors. When the time comes for your first airline interview, these errors can stack the odds against your chances of being hired.

As you are gaining flight time, you are more than likely entering multiple flights a day and if you are anything like us, you sometimes go weeks without adding up your times. Flipping through pages while doing manual math can often lead to mistakes. When it comes time to start applying at airlines, many of the flight categories that you have to add up aren't even something you have kept track of. The BEST and easiest solution to this problem is to keep an electronic logbook.

As former airline recruiters, there is nothing we loved more than seeing a candidate come into an interview with an electronic logbook printed and bound. It showed organization and professionalism from the very beginning. On the other hand, we have also seen too many messy logbooks to count. While a messy logbook doesn't necessarily ruin your interview chances, not disclosing what is in them can.

We have seen candidates try many tricks and think they can sneak a lot past us. From trying to hide check ride failures, count flight time that isn't legal to count toward ATP minimums, or just blatantly pad a logbook with fake hours, we have seen it all. Doing this can halt your interview before it ever begins. Honesty is the best practice and can help you succeed. If you have questions about what to count or disclose in your logbook, reach out to us and we can help clear that up.

We recommend starting to keep an electronic logbook sooner rather than later. There are many trustworthy options out there that are free or low cost and we believe the benefits are absolutely worth it.

Most of us at Aero Crew Solutions use LogTen Pro as our go-to electronic logbook. If you're interested in transitioning your logbook, checkout LogTen!

LogTen Pro Website

	CARGO
AIRLINE	HIRING	DETAILS
ABX	YES	Hiring First Officers
Ameriflight	YES	Hiring Direct Entry Captains
AmeriJet	NO	Stopped hiring with furloughs announced
ATI	YES	Hiring First Officers
Atlas	YES	Hiring First Officers
FedEx	NO	Has not been hiring for many months
Freight Runners	NO	Not currently hiring
Kalitta	YES	Hiring First Officers
Mountain Air	YES	Hiring DEC's and First Officers
Omni	NO	Not currently hiring. Offering LOA's
UPS	YES	Hiring 300 First Officers in 2024

UPCOMING RECRUITING EVENTS

OBAP Aug 21-23 Memphis, TN

LPA Sep 12-14 Orlando, FL

RTAG Oct 5-6 Fort Worth, TX

NGPA Feb 13-14 Palm Springs, CA

WAI Mar 27-29 Denver, CO

PAPA TBD Las Vegas, NV

TPNx TBD Minneapolis, MN

Direct-Entry Captain Opportunities

Republic Airways has immediate Direct-Entry Captain positions available. To learn more about what Republic can offer you, click below!

Republic DEC Opportunities

IMMEDIATE DIRECT-ENTRY CAPTAIN POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Aero Crew Solutions has immediate direct-entry captain positions open in which we can help place qualified candidates! If you are qualified with over 1,000 hours of Part-121 eligible flight time, reach out to us at candidate@aerocrewsolutions.com and we will be happy to help!

Need Help With Application Review, Interview Prep, Job Fair Prep, or General Career Advice?

Reach out to us at www.aerocrewsolutions.com and our team of former airline recruiters will help you get everything ready to further your career! Click here to schedule a FREE confidential consultation.