US regional airlines may face acute pilot crunch

US regional airlines could face a shortage of pilots because the airline industry will be hit with a huge number of pilots retiring at the same time, an industry group has warned.

More than half of the pilots working today will be 65 years old in the next 15 years, the mandatory retirement age of a pilot in the United States, and younger pilots are not in place to ensure a smooth transition, industry experts said.

Regional airlines provide more than half of the air service in 30 states and more than two-thirds of the air service in 15 states, said the Regional Airline Association, which represents 18 airlines that operate 41 percent of the US' scheduled passenger departures and employ 62,000 people.

The pilot crunch is already having an impact on regional airlines, the RAA said, as more than 500 regional aircraft are parked but not being used, affecting 308 airports, or 72 percent of all those in the US.

Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the RAA, said larger airlines hired more than 13,000 pilots last year, but most came from small airlines. While more pilots got their licenses last year than ever before, she said they cannot fill the void.

A crucial role

"Without regional airlines, huge segments of the US population would not have access to scheduled, passenger air service without hourslong highway drives," Black said at a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing in April. "For this reason, regional airlines play a crucial role in upholding transportation safety."

In 2021, about 123 million passengers traveled on regional airlines, an increase of 73 million from 2020, the RAA said.

"Despite soaring passenger demand, a worsening pilot shortage has hindered the regional airline industry's recovery from the pandemic and is decimating small community air service," Black said. "This shortage has been growing for decades, driven by the inability to create a sustainable pipeline of new pilots."

Over the past few decades, the main source of pilots for the airline industry has been the US military, but that supply has dried up.

It is vital for Congress, the administration of President Joe Biden and interested stakeholder groups to safely address the impacts the pilot shortage is having on the industry, passengers and communities, Black said.

It is also important for more women to apply to expand the number of pilots, she said. Only 5 percent of pilots are women; The majority of pilots are white and male.