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[Kikapu]

Business Insider
An overwhelming number of furloughed airline pilots are applying to fly private jets - here's what top aviation executives are looking when hiring

Thomas Pallini
Sat, December 19, 2020, 2:29 PM GMT+1

The pilot shortage that once plagued aviation is now gone thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The aviation industry is experiencing a mass exodus of furloughed airline pilots trying to find work in private aviation.

With only so many vacancies to fill, the pilot shortage is gone and replaced by a highly competitive job market.

Business Insider spoke to three private aviation executives who revealed what they're looking for when they hire pilots.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Furloughed pilots are hoping to find new homes in the private aviation sector as they get notices from their struggling commercial airline employers.

The private aviation industry is currently experiencing a massive expansion with some firms rushing to purchase more planes and hire additional pilots to fly them. XOJET Aviation, for example, is looking to increase its fleet by 50% and hire between 40 and 45 pilots for every 10 planes it adds.

Transitioning out of the commercial airliners and into private aircraft is a great opportunity for a pilot to keep their wings and outfly the downturn. However, even the most eager applicant will need to contend with thousands of like-minded colleagues all with comparable levels of experience vying for the few available vacancies.

"I think the last I looked, we had something like 4,000 pilot resumes applying for XOJET Aviation," Kevin Thomas, XOJET Aviation's president and chief operating officer, told Business Insider in an interview.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/overwhelming ... 00334.html

[Paphitis]

Business Insider
An overwhelming number of furloughed airline pilots are applying to fly private jets - here's what top aviation executives are looking when hiring

Thomas Pallini
Sat, December 19, 2020, 2:29 PM GMT+1

The pilot shortage that once plagued aviation is now gone thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The aviation industry is experiencing a mass exodus of furloughed airline pilots trying to find work in private aviation.

With only so many vacancies to fill, the pilot shortage is gone and replaced by a highly competitive job market.

Business Insider spoke to three private aviation executives who revealed what they're looking for when they hire pilots.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Furloughed pilots are hoping to find new homes in the private aviation sector as they get notices from their struggling commercial airline employers.

The private aviation industry is currently experiencing a massive expansion with some firms rushing to purchase more planes and hire additional pilots to fly them. XOJET Aviation, for example, is looking to increase its fleet by 50% and hire between 40 and 45 pilots for every 10 planes it adds.

Transitioning out of the commercial airliners and into private aircraft is a great opportunity for a pilot to keep their wings and outfly the downturn. However, even the most eager applicant will need to contend with thousands of like-minded colleagues all with comparable levels of experience vying for the few available vacancies.

"I think the last I looked, we had something like 4,000 pilot resumes applying for XOJET Aviation," Kevin Thomas, XOJET Aviation's president and chief operating officer, told Business Insider in an interview.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/overwhelming ... 00334.html

I love articles like that bashing on pilots.

Yes it’s true some pilots that have been stood down are going back to old jobs where they can. Such as Royal Flying Doctors, Air Ambulance and even corporate jets.

That’s only if you are lucky because smaller executive operators won’t touch an airline pilot unless they are known by them. The reason is it’s costly to train them, and in a few months they will be going back to the airline unless they resign.

Fundamentally though, the pilot shortage is going to be twice as severe once the travel industry opens up. For instance, if the vaccinations are a success, the airlines won’t be able to ramp their pilot numbers up quick enough and even once they get the entire pilot population current, there will be severe shortages. Reason for this is that the resignation rate for the over 55s is massive. Many are choosing to retire early. Most are financially secure, have massive super probably at max levels of 2 million they can access, have their nice house, boat, caravan, 4WD and as such are choosing to hang their headsets.

It’s not uncommon now for pilots to be doing other jobs, but the airlines are calling them back adhoc for currency training and a couple of flights because the CAR257 training won’t be able to keep up when the world goes back to normal levels of air travel.

Pilot shortage will plague aviation for a very long time. It’s only are artificial surplus right now because of the down turn only bought about by the COVID pandemic.

[Kikapu]

Business Insider
An overwhelming number of furloughed airline pilots are applying to fly private jets - here's what top aviation executives are looking when hiring

Thomas Pallini
Sat, December 19, 2020, 2:29 PM GMT+1

The pilot shortage that once plagued aviation is now gone thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The aviation industry is experiencing a mass exodus of furloughed airline pilots trying to find work in private aviation.

With only so many vacancies to fill, the pilot shortage is gone and replaced by a highly competitive job market.

Business Insider spoke to three private aviation executives who revealed what they're looking for when they hire pilots.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Furloughed pilots are hoping to find new homes in the private aviation sector as they get notices from their struggling commercial airline employers.

The private aviation industry is currently experiencing a massive expansion with some firms rushing to purchase more planes and hire additional pilots to fly them. XOJET Aviation, for example, is looking to increase its fleet by 50% and hire between 40 and 45 pilots for every 10 planes it adds.

Transitioning out of the commercial airliners and into private aircraft is a great opportunity for a pilot to keep their wings and outfly the downturn. However, even the most eager applicant will need to contend with thousands of like-minded colleagues all with comparable levels of experience vying for the few available vacancies.

"I think the last I looked, we had something like 4,000 pilot resumes applying for XOJET Aviation," Kevin Thomas, XOJET Aviation's president and chief operating officer, told Business Insider in an interview.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/overwhelming ... 00334.html

I love articles like that bashing on pilots.

Yes it’s true some pilots that have been stood down are going back to old jobs where they can. Such as Royal Flying Doctors, Air Ambulance and even corporate jets.

That’s only if you are lucky because smaller executive operators won’t touch an airline pilot unless they are known by them. The reason is it’s costly to train them, and in a few months they will be going back to the airline unless they resign.

Fundamentally though, the pilot shortage is going to be twice as severe once the travel industry opens up. For instance, if the vaccinations are a success, the airlines won’t be able to ramp their pilot numbers up quick enough and even once they get the entire pilot population current, there will be severe shortages. Reason for this is that the resignation rate for the over 55s is massive. Many are choosing to retire early. Most are financially secure, have massive super probably at max levels of 2 million they can access, have their nice house, boat, caravan, 4WD and as such are choosing to hang their headsets.

It’s not uncommon now for pilots to be doing other jobs, but the airlines are calling them back adhoc for currency training and a couple of flights because the CAR257 training won’t be able to keep up when the world goes back to normal levels of air travel.

Pilot shortage will plague aviation for a very long time. It’s only are artificial surplus right now because of the down turn only bought about by the COVID pandemic.

I am not as optimistic as you are, Paphitis, that the airline industry will return anytime soon or that there will be pilot shortages. Also, many senior pilots in the USA may not be as wealth as you might believe them to be. Over the last 20-30 years, there has been many bankruptcies in the Aviation industry in the US, some chapter 11s and some chapter 13s where employees either lost their entire company pensions or greatly reduced, same with their Union work contracts, and now with Covid-19, early retirement by some airlines was only offered to those whom were to retire in the next 2-3 years with great benefits. For most which wanted to remain on the job were helped by the government, but that ran out couple of months ago which meant the pilots were either to take 50% pay reduction or be furloughed (let go). However, many thousands were still furloughed recently as they were not needed and are on unemployment benefits.

Too many people are placing their bets on the new vaccines to get life back to normal, but this is all premature at this point. UK just announced a new strand in Covid which may be causing a super fast spreader of Covid and it is not know if the present vaccines will work against it. Most of UK is now in a complete shutdown, therefore, I do not see return of normal air travel anytime soon or anything else for that matter. Recently some major airlines in Europe have cancelled their student pilot programs and told the students to look for another profession as they will not be needing new pilots anytime, not when there are thousands of pilots sitting at home. Trans Atlantic Flights are mostly cargo with few passengers, about 10-20% of normal flights before Covid. Not very pretty, Paphitis.

[Paphitis]

Business Insider
An overwhelming number of furloughed airline pilots are applying to fly private jets - here's what top aviation executives are looking when hiring

Thomas Pallini
Sat, December 19, 2020, 2:29 PM GMT+1

The pilot shortage that once plagued aviation is now gone thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The aviation industry is experiencing a mass exodus of furloughed airline pilots trying to find work in private aviation.

With only so many vacancies to fill, the pilot shortage is gone and replaced by a highly competitive job market.

Business Insider spoke to three private aviation executives who revealed what they're looking for when they hire pilots.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Furloughed pilots are hoping to find new homes in the private aviation sector as they get notices from their struggling commercial airline employers.

The private aviation industry is currently experiencing a massive expansion with some firms rushing to purchase more planes and hire additional pilots to fly them. XOJET Aviation, for example, is looking to increase its fleet by 50% and hire between 40 and 45 pilots for every 10 planes it adds.

Transitioning out of the commercial airliners and into private aircraft is a great opportunity for a pilot to keep their wings and outfly the downturn. However, even the most eager applicant will need to contend with thousands of like-minded colleagues all with comparable levels of experience vying for the few available vacancies.

"I think the last I looked, we had something like 4,000 pilot resumes applying for XOJET Aviation," Kevin Thomas, XOJET Aviation's president and chief operating officer, told Business Insider in an interview.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/overwhelming ... 00334.html

I love articles like that bashing on pilots.

Yes it’s true some pilots that have been stood down are going back to old jobs where they can. Such as Royal Flying Doctors, Air Ambulance and even corporate jets.

That’s only if you are lucky because smaller executive operators won’t touch an airline pilot unless they are known by them. The reason is it’s costly to train them, and in a few months they will be going back to the airline unless they resign.

Fundamentally though, the pilot shortage is going to be twice as severe once the travel industry opens up. For instance, if the vaccinations are a success, the airlines won’t be able to ramp their pilot numbers up quick enough and even once they get the entire pilot population current, there will be severe shortages. Reason for this is that the resignation rate for the over 55s is massive. Many are choosing to retire early. Most are financially secure, have massive super probably at max levels of 2 million they can access, have their nice house, boat, caravan, 4WD and as such are choosing to hang their headsets.

It’s not uncommon now for pilots to be doing other jobs, but the airlines are calling them back adhoc for currency training and a couple of flights because the CAR257 training won’t be able to keep up when the world goes back to normal levels of air travel.

Pilot shortage will plague aviation for a very long time. It’s only are artificial surplus right now because of the down turn only bought about by the COVID pandemic.

I am not as optimistic as you are, Paphitis, that the airline industry will return anytime soon or that there will be pilot shortages. Also, many senior pilots in the USA may not be as wealth as you might believe them to be. Over the last 20-30 years, there has been many bankruptcies in the Aviation industry in the US, some chapter 11s and some chapter 13s where employees either lost their entire company pensions or greatly reduced, same with their Union work contracts, and now with Covid-19, early retirement by some airlines was only offered to those whom were to retire in the next 2-3 years with great benefits. For most which wanted to remain on the job were helped by the government, but that ran out couple of months ago which meant the pilots were either to take 50% pay reduction or be furloughed (let go). However, many thousands were still furloughed recently as they were not needed and are on unemployment benefits.

Too many people are placing their bets on the new vaccines to get life back to normal, but this is all premature at this point. UK just announced a new strand in Covid which may be causing a super fast spreader of Covid and it is not know if the present vaccines will work against it. Most of UK is now in a complete shutdown, therefore, I do not see return of normal air travel anytime soon or anything else for that matter. Recently some major airlines in Europe have cancelled their student pilot programs and told the students to look for another profession as they will not be needing new pilots anytime, not when there are thousands of pilots sitting at home. Trans Atlantic Flights are mostly cargo with few passengers, about 10-20% of normal flights before Covid. Not very pretty, Paphitis.

They aren’t doing bad over there if you are employed by one of the big 3 - United, delta and American.

Now if you are employed by a regional owned by the 3 legacy carriers, that’s a different matter but they do pay 60K in retention bonusus and a quick track.

You better believe it Kikapu. If that vaccine works, airlines are going to be in a lot of trouble as they will be unable to mobilise the workforce quick enough.

Their problems will be exacerbated by the fact their has been increased churn, and they been letting pilots slip out of currency. The biggest problem is there are too many pilots not current, and not enough simulators.

[Paphitis]

Of course the smart operators are starting to roll through the recurrence training now.

I definitely know United is doing that. Probably Delta and American as well.

Regionals are a bit different.

I’m a bit luckier for now as I still got my job and the same salary as before but productivity is down about 65%. We are not flying anywhere near as much as ore COVID. We usually work 2 days a week. Sometimes 3 and sometimes only 1. Depends on what charters we have.

That’s after 12 pilots being let go without pay. 2 of which have gone back to Air Ambulance which is where they came from.

I know a few who tried to get back into the RAAF but the RAAF won’t touch them unless they get a 6 year commitment. This only applies to those of us who have discharged. It’s still a good option though. And you start with the discharge rank too and pay from day 1, but training on a new type is required in some cases.

If we knew COVID was going to happen many of us would have stayed and got the service pension by now. Pension for life that isn’t income or asset tested.

[Kikapu]

Aside from recurrence training in the simulator once in a while, doesn’t the pilots also need to fly certain number of hours to remain current. At the moment many pilots who have not flown for a while, they would need more than just recurrence training in the sims to be ready to get back to work on short notice, no?

Yes, you lucked out by about month or two from leaving you job in Australia to be hired in the US, then to lose that job too within a month or two due to Covid. Some others trying the same were not so fortunate sorry to say.

[Paphitis]

Aside from recurrence training in the simulator once in a while, doesn’t the pilots also need to fly certain number of hours to remain current. At the moment many pilots who have not flown for a while, they would need more than just recurrence training in the sims to be ready to get back to work on short notice, no?

Yes, you lucked out by about month or two from leaving you job in Australia to be hired in the US, then to lose that job too within a month or two due to Covid. Some others trying the same were not so fortunate sorry to say.

The Simulator Check is the main one. That's for CAR257 pilots. Basically, if you are a pilot under the CAR257 or FAR equivalent instrument. The regulation means that all pilot training is conducted in house by an approved organisation.

Most of us DO NOT have an Instrument rating that is current. So in other words, we can be qualified to fly a heavy, but can not fly a light aircraft under the Instrument Flight Rules. Because we operate under an instrument and have an Air Transport License. We need to do a Flight Test to reactivate our Instrument ratings with an approved Testing officer.

The requirements are:
1) a sim check per 6 months - with certain things covered such as one engine out ops, emergency descent, V Cuts (Engine failures at various stages of the Take Off Roll, Engine Failures After Take Off, stalls, Steep Turns, an ILS Approach with one engine out with Go Around, ILS to land, one holding pattern, and a Non Directional Beacon Approach or an RNAV Approach with one engine out. Also 3 night Take Offs and landings.

One engine Out is all Asymmetric flight. Basically the whole session is done with 1 engine out.

The entire exercise is at night and in zero visibility except when you break visual at minimas.

Once you have done all that, you are good for 6 months. If you fail any component, you repeat that part.

But...you also need the following,

2) an RNAV Approach every 90 days
3) an ILS Approach every 90 days
4) an NDB Approach every 90 days

An ILS Approach also covers off on VOR Approaches but not vice vers. So if you do a VOR it doesn't cover off an ILS requirement.

5) for night, 3 TOs and Landings at night per 90 days

We also have a line check halfway between sim checks. that's basically a checker sitting in the jump looking over our shoulders. It's only 1 sector. And they don't interfere with the flight, just observe.

All of the above is easy to achieve in normal line flying except for the NDB requirement.

Most pilots fall out of the NDB currency after 90 days from the sim check. We don't do these approaches often enough which is why they are tested in the sim check.

Pilots who are out of currency just need to conduct a sim check. That's 8 hours in the sim. If they expired by more than 4 days, they need to do 12 hours.

Sims are done in 7 hour blocks as follows:

day 1: Briefing 2 hours, 4 hours of sim, 1 hour debrief.
day 2: as above

If you expire by more than 4 days, there is a day 3.

I had to do that in the last one except they made me do 8 hours on day 2 with no brief in the beginning and no debrief. Plus we got it done in 6 hours, and powered down the sim and went to our hotel rooms buggered. It was just a box ticking exercise.

[Paphitis]

When you do your sim check, the checkers are in fact Approved Testing Officers and there is a form they fill out. On the form there is a box that if checked will give us an Instrument rating. they never tick it though because the airlines know that when they tick that box we can look for work.

You can request them to tick it and when you do that they will but they don't like it.

I did that 2 checks ago because I knew I was going in for testing for another foreign company in the US. They ticked it. So I now have an Instrument rating that is current. That was a requirement I had to meet for the US which recognizes all Australian qualifications fully.

But that rings alarm bells for the company because it's an indication that you are looking for work.

After I did that I was called up and asked directly what my plans were. They got even more sus when I was asking for leave to go down to Melbourne for an interview with US Embassy.

So you got to be a bit careful what you do.

In the end, I did confide to one of the management pilots of my intentions.

It's a bit confusing but an Instrument Rating isn't really a Instrument rating under CAR257. But you need one to get a job with our company or any other company.

[Londonrake]

Well, if you think Paphitis is really a flight steward - you surely have to agree - he's done an awful lot of homework on piloting.

[Kikapu]

Well, if you think Paphitis is really a flight steward - you surely have to agree - he's done an awful lot of homework on piloting.

Yes, I agree!